Explore best practices for creating inclusive apps for users of Apple accessibility features and users from diverse backgrounds.

All subtopics
Posts under Accessibility & Inclusion topic

Post

Replies

Boosts

Views

Activity

AppSettings DDM is not working as expected to enable the accessibility permission
We are testing the new Declarative Device Management (DDM) App Settings configuration on macOS 27 Golden Gate to manage Accessibility permission for our applications as suggested by the apple team in https://developer.apple.com/forums/thread/839536. We created a Jamf Blueprint with a custom com.apple.configuration.app.settings declaration and configured the required Accessibility settings. After applying the Blueprint to the User channel, we now receive the consent prompt shown in the attached screenshot. However, the permission flow does not appear to work as expected. Our understanding is that, after the user clicks Allow in this consent prompt, the configured Accessibility permission should be applied to the application without requiring an additional Accessibility authorization prompt. Instead, after selecting Allow, we still receive the subsequent prompt, which asks the user to choose either Open System Settings or Deny. The DDM declaration appears to have been successfully deployed and is shown as active on the system. Could you please clarify the following? Expected consent behavior: After the user selects Allow in the DDM App Settings consent prompt, should the configured Accessibility permission become effective without any additional Accessibility prompts? Consent scope: We are observing an Allow / Not Allow consent prompt for each DDM App Settings declaration. Is user consent expected to be requested separately for each declaration, or should macOS consolidate the Accessibility settings from multiple declarations into a single consent request? Additional Accessibility prompt: Why does the application continue to receive the Accessibility permission alert with Open System Settings / Deny even after the user has selected Allow for the DDM declaration? User interaction: Is there any supported way for an organization to manage or suppress these additional prompts so that no further user interaction is required after the initial DDM consent? Our goal is to understand the expected macOS 27 behavior and determine the supported management configuration for applications that previously received Accessibility permission through the PPPC payload.
3
0
951
2h
iPad app terminated by watchdog (0x8BADF00D) during navigation transition — only with AssistiveTouch enabled (iPadOS 26)
Our app is being killed by the watchdog on iPadOS 26 (iPad Pro 11, 3rd gen) when navigating between tabs after using search. The crash only occurs when AssistiveTouch is enabled — disabling it prevents the issue entirely. The crash stack shows the main thread blocked in CoreUI vector glyph rasterization (CUINamedVectorGlyph _layerNamesForRenderingMode:inRendition:) triggered during a UINavigationController transition while the keyboard is being dismissed: UINavigationController _startCustomTransition → UIKeyboardSceneDelegate _restoreInputViewsWithId → UITextField resignFirstResponder → SwiftUI ViewGraphRootValueUpdater.render → UIButton layoutSubviews → UIImageView _setImage → CUINamedVectorGlyph _layerNamesForRenderingMode:inRendition: The termination reason: FRONTBOARD domain:10 code:0x8BADF00D "Failed to terminate gracefully after 5.0s" WatchdogEvent: process-exit WatchdogVisibility: Foreground Key observations: Only reproduces with AssistiveTouch enabled iPad Pro 11 (3rd gen), iPadOS 26 Our code is not on the crashing thread — it's entirely UIKit/CoreUI/SwiftUI framework code Similar to issues reported in thread/808808 (https://developer.apple.com/forums/thread/808808) and dotnet/maui#32365 (https://github.com/dotnet/maui/issues/32365) Is this a known issue with AssistiveTouch + UINavigationController transitions on iPadOS 26? Is there a recommended workaround?
2
0
3.4k
23h
iOS 26 regression: `DeviceActivityEvent`: `eventDidReachThreshold` called immediately (instead of waiting till threshold is reached)
Hello Albert! I am experiencing some strange bugs around DeviceActivityEvents (part of the DeviceActivity framework) on iOS 26 / iOS 26.1 / iOS 26.2 beta: When creating a DeviceActivityEvent we can assign a threshold and applicationTokens. The idea is, that after the user has spent said threshold on said apps, eventDidReachThreshold() is called. The property includesPastActivity is set to false. On iOS 26 however, it happens (quite reliably after updating to a new beta seed) quite often that eventDidReachThreshold() is called immediately (after a couple of seconds) instead of waiting for the threshold to be met. Is anyone else seeing similar issues on iOS 26 / iOS 26.1 / iOS 26.2 beta? Only workaround I have found is to ask users to revoke and re-grant Screen Time permissions. This only holds for about two weeks though or at most until the next iOS 26 beta update is installed, so it is not a permanent solution unfortunately. Feedback (incl. sysdiagnoses and sample project) is filed under: FB18061981 FB18927456 One of our users has filed their own feedback request as well: FB20817853 Thanks a lot for any help on this!
29
5
16k
2d
Is it required to mention the downstream API provider name for the API provider which I am using in my app?
My app used 3rd party API to provide some services, but there's a possibility that those API use some other third party service and to approve my app for App Privacy Guidelines 5.1.1(i) - Legal - Privacy - Data Collection and 5.1.2(i) - Legal - Privacy - Data Use, developers must include third party API service name.
0
0
431
2d
Accessibility Questions
When VoiceOver is enabled, it sometimes reads auto-generated image descriptions such as 'a blue and white logo on a white background' or 'warning icon, image error' instead of the custom accessibilityLabel we've set on the icons. How can we prevent VoiceOver from reading these image-specific descriptions and ensure it only reads our custom labels? Just like UIAccessibility.isVoiceOverRunning lets us check if VoiceOver is active, is there an equivalent API to detect whether Voice Control is currently enabled?
2
0
1.1k
1w
Reply to 4. 3 Design: Spam????
您好,我们是中国的一家软件开发公司。我们应用程序的底层框架基于美国开源社区的 XMPP 协议框架。它是一个国际开源项目,许多中国软件公司以开源框架为基础,在美国开源社区框架之上开发 UI 和替换功能。但是当我们需要将应用上传到应用商店时,会收到提示(拒绝 4.3A 应用垃圾邮件),因为中国目前没有独立开发这个框架的能力。因此,我们不得不承认,我们的 app 使用了美国开源社区的框架,因为中国的很多其他公司也都使用了美国开源社区的框架。这导致我们在将应用程序上传到应用商店时出现提示 (reject 4.3A application spam),因为其他公司在将其上传到应用商店时也使用相同的底层开源框架。这会导致我们公司在将此应用程序上传到应用商店时收到提示(拒绝 4.3A 应用程序垃圾邮件)。我们公司在这个 App 上花费了大量的精力和金钱,如果不允许中国公司上传到 App Store,就会被拒绝。使用来自美国的开源框架,这导致很多中国公司在后期无法使用美国的开源框架作为开发的基础。我们恳请贵公司为中国的小企业提供指导,并就我们未来的发展提供建议。谢谢。
2
0
4.7k
1w
Enhancing age-appropriate experiences
With the declining literacy rates I think it would be incredibly valuable for apple to implement a separate keyboard experience for minors. One without auto or predictive text, swipe to text, or even potentially also voice memos. These are all very convenient features that I think could unfortunately contribute or even enable the literacy crisis as more and more children grow up and rely on technology. I also think bringing back the ‘look up’ tool on highlighted text into the main options would support and encourage more education (or even adding a thesaurus option as well) From: A Gen Z adult who grew up learning how to spell at the same time I learned how to text. Without relying on all of the convenience features that in turn can remove the mental friction that learning to fix your mistakes provides, my iPhone was teaching me how to spell with simple red lines that required me to interact with my spelling in order to correct my mistakes. Note: Autocorrect was still a feature at the time however was often turned off by most people because of text slang culture which coincidentally helped create more intentional spell check interactions. I believe the decision to turn off autocorrect should be considered a more conscious responsibility so it should not necessarily be left up to a child to decide for themselves.
1
0
1.2k
2w
Disable sleep/wake when in Autonomous Single App Mode (ASAM)
If a user enables/disables Guided Access, they can modify the session settings to disable the top (sleep/wake) button. In Single App Mode (SAM), there is a payload option for disabling the sleep/wake button via Mobile Device Management (MDM). In Autonomous Single App Mode (ASAM), there doesn't appear to be any way to disable the top button. ASAM does not honor the Guided Access sessions settings, and there is no payload option in the MDM. This is a glaring issue especially when ASAM is marketed as the solution for apps in a medical setting where the app is trading hands from a medical professional to a patient. Our app is used during a lengthy procedure and does not function properly if the patient puts the iPad to sleep. We're stuck asking our medical professionals to put the iPad in Guided Access, but the user experience is clunky and would be much improved by implementing ASAM. Is there some little-known API for disabling the sleep/wake button during ASAM that I'm just missing?
2
3
3.6k
3w
iOS 26.6: Guided Access becomes unavailable after disabling and re-enabling on iPhone 15
Device iPhone 15 iOS Versions iOS 26.5 iOS 26.6 Summary: I found a reproducible issue with Guided Access on my iPhone 15. After disabling Guided Access, it cannot be enabled again for approximately 30–60 minutes. The problem exists on both iOS 26.5 and iOS 26.6. Steps to Reproduce: Enable Guided Access. Use Guided Access for approximately 5–10 minutes. Disable Guided Access. Wait 1–2 minutes. Try enabling Guided Access again. Expected Result: Guided Access should enable immediately every time. Actual Result Instead of enabling, the phone displays: "Guided Access Unavailable" After this message appears, Guided Access cannot be enabled again. I must wait approximately 30–60 minutes before the feature becomes available again. Frequency 100% I can reproduce this every time using the steps above. Troubleshooting Already Tried Restarted iPhone. Force restarted iPhone. Turned Guided Access off and on. Updated from iOS 26.5 to iOS 26.6. The issue still occurs. Questions: Can anyone reproduce this on iPhone 15 or other iPhone models running iOS 26.5 or iOS 26.6? Has anyone found a workaround?
1
0
1k
3w
Is there a recommended WCAG checklist for native macOS and iOS apps?
I'm working on improving accessibility in a native macOS app and going through WCAG, but with so many success criteria it's hard to know where to focus for native Apple platform apps. 1. Does Apple recommend a specific subset or checklist of WCAG requirements for macOS and iOS? 2. If not, which criteria are generally considered essential, and how do developers typically validate them using Apple's accessibility tools and assistive technologies? I'm looking for a prioritized list of criteria that actually apply to native apps, rather than trying to implement every WCAG criterion individually.
3
0
945
3w
Opening specific Accessibility settings with a deeplink?
Heya! is there anyway to allow a user to open an accessibility setting from an iOS app? As currently you kinda have to explain how to enable it on your device and honestly thats kinda completely against how accessibility ux should work as it as it requires and expects a user to read+understand something they might as well can't because of accessibility issues in the first place and thus basically punishing a user for it. I tested this with some users and asking them to go trough 3-5 menu's with overwhelming settings is to complex and most give up, thus directing them would solve that problem.
3
1
2.2k
Jul ’26
Best practices for iOS Full Keyboard Access navigation?
Hi 👋, I’m working on improving Full Keyboard Access support in an iOS app and would love to hear about your experience. When developing for keyboard navigation, what approach do you usually take for navigating between UI elements? Do you mainly use Tab/Ctrl+Tab, arrow keys, or a combination of both? I’ve already watched some WWDC sessions and Apple's docs on this topic: https://developer.apple.com/design/human-interface-guidelines/keyboards https://developer.apple.com/videos/play/wwdc2021/10120/ https://developer.apple.com/videos/play/wwdc2021/10260/ https://developer.apple.com/documentation/UIKit/navigating-an-app-s-user-interface-using-a-keyboard However, I’d appreciate any recommendations for useful resources, documentation, or things to be aware of when implementing keyboard accessibility. :🙏
0
0
787
Jul ’26
Proposing Expressive Siri Offload via Private Cloud Compute (PCC) for 8GB Devices (Feedback ID: FB23178983)
Hi everyone, With the initial rollout of the iOS 27 Beta, the advanced configuration sliders for the new, highly expressive Siri voice models are currently hidden/disabled on devices operating under an 8GB RAM threshold. While the local AFM 3 Core Advanced engine is memory-gated to 12GB+ hardware due to local footprint constraints, this creates a significant barrier for users who rely on next-generation vocal expressivity and fluid dictation features for accessibility. To address this, I have filed a formal feature request (FB23178983) asking Apple to route the expressive Siri framework through Private Cloud Compute (PCC) on 8GB devices (like the iPhone 15 Pro or base iPhone 16 models). By utilizing server-side rendering over secure, stateless cloud nodes, Apple could easily deliver these vital accessibility configurations without exhausting the local 8GB memory footprint. I’m curious if other accessibility testers and auditors on this board are looking for this exact routing path? If you or your users rely on advanced speech synthesis features and are currently locked out by the local RAM gate, please consider filing a duplicate request or adding your diagnostic logs to FB23178983 to help increase visibility with the Core Accessibility and Software Architecture triage teams. Looking forward to hearing your thoughts and experiences with the current voice-indexing behaviors on 8GB hardware!
1
0
1.3k
Jul ’26
Feature Request: Native Acapela Voice Library Integration & Cross-Pipeline Voice Sharing:
Feature Request: Native Acapela Voice Library Integration & Cross-Pipeline Voice Sharing Associated Feedback Feedback Assistant Ticket: FB23666342 1. The Core Proposal On behalf of the assistive technology and screen-reader community, I am requesting the native system-level integration of the comprehensive Acapela Voice Library into iOS and macOS. This library should be added as a native synthesizer tier alongside existing options like Eloquence. Additionally, we request cross-pipeline voice compatibility, allowing the Siri assistant to utilize configured VoiceOver voice assets, and allowing VoiceOver to utilize Expressive Siri neural models. 2. Structural UI Layout Concept To maintain system cleanliness while maximizing user choice, we propose grouping the Acapela catalog exactly like the current native Eloquence implementation: A main, expandable heading titled Acapela inside the Speech rotor settings. Under this heading, voices should be strictly categorized by global regional dialects (including English U.S., English UK, Australia, India, Scotland, and all other languages offered to AT vendors). This deployment must include all specialized character profiles (such as the Little Creature variant) and their pediatric/child voices catalog. 3. Addressing Ear Fatigue and Equity While parametric synthesizers are excellent for high-speed text scanning, extended multi-hour document audits cause severe cognitive ear fatigue due to compressed, robotic waveforms. Integrating the full Acapela catalog—including both 22kHz HQ (High Quality) profiles for natural reading stamina and 22kHz CO (Colibri/Compact) profiles for rapid responsiveness—allows blind and low-vision power users to pick their preferred acoustic texture. Natively licensing this library eliminates the unfair financial barrier of third-party lifetime licensing fees, creating true out-of-the-box system equity. If you want to check out my post on expressive Siri, see below. Link: https://developer.apple.com/forums/thread/834920
0
0
645
Jul ’26
Hiding bracketed Braille Unicode characters when using Braille Dots Pattern - liblouis iOS Braille table on iPhone with Braille Displays via bluetooth on Safari
I have a question about rendering Braille Unicode patterns via VoiceOver on iPhone connected via Bluetooth with Braille displays. I’m developing a web app (users access via Safari) that uses raw Braille Unicode characters rather than using 8-dot, UEB contracted or uncontracted, because I want the characters to render the exact dots regardless of which braille table the user has theirs set too. My question is, can I hide the (bracketing?) characters [⣇ (1-2-3-7-8) and ⣸ (4-5-6-7-8)] that bracket Braille Unicode character passages? I find them unseemly from the perspective of the user, who may or may not be especially technologically savvy. Any suggestions for work arounds will be appreciated.
0
0
662
Jul ’26
Accessibility Feature Suggestion - Bring Back The Home Bar!!
Hi there, I am a day-to-day user of Apple Devices, whether it’s my iPhone, my iPad or Apple Watch. I originally suggested this feature to the Apple Support team, and through the Product Feedback site, back in September 2025 when iOS 26 and iPadOS 26 launched. All I want is a toggle option within the Accessibility settings to display the home bar permanently. This isn’t exactly much to ask for, and I am still waiting. Please help me! Thank you
0
0
875
Jul ’26
Full Keyboard Access support for custom MKAnnotationView in MKMapView
We’re working on improving the accessibility of a MKMapView that displays custom MKAnnotationView instances. Our implementation is fully accessible with VoiceOver: The custom annotation views expose the correct accessibility information. Users can navigate between annotations using custom accessibility rotors. The overall VoiceOver experience works as expected. However, we’re unable to make the custom MKAnnotationView instances accessible through Full Keyboard Access (FKA). Despite configuring the annotation views as accessibility elements and experimenting with focus-related APIs, the annotations never become reachable through keyboard navigation. They appear to be skipped entirely by the FKA focus system. Is there a supported way to make custom MKAnnotationView instances participate in Full Keyboard Access navigation? If this scenario is currently unsupported, is there a recommended approach or any plans to expose public APIs that would allow developers to provide a keyboard-accessible experience for custom annotations in MKMapView? Any guidance would be greatly appreciated.
4
0
954
Jul ’26
AppSettings DDM is not working as expected to enable the accessibility permission
We are testing the new Declarative Device Management (DDM) App Settings configuration on macOS 27 Golden Gate to manage Accessibility permission for our applications as suggested by the apple team in https://developer.apple.com/forums/thread/839536. We created a Jamf Blueprint with a custom com.apple.configuration.app.settings declaration and configured the required Accessibility settings. After applying the Blueprint to the User channel, we now receive the consent prompt shown in the attached screenshot. However, the permission flow does not appear to work as expected. Our understanding is that, after the user clicks Allow in this consent prompt, the configured Accessibility permission should be applied to the application without requiring an additional Accessibility authorization prompt. Instead, after selecting Allow, we still receive the subsequent prompt, which asks the user to choose either Open System Settings or Deny. The DDM declaration appears to have been successfully deployed and is shown as active on the system. Could you please clarify the following? Expected consent behavior: After the user selects Allow in the DDM App Settings consent prompt, should the configured Accessibility permission become effective without any additional Accessibility prompts? Consent scope: We are observing an Allow / Not Allow consent prompt for each DDM App Settings declaration. Is user consent expected to be requested separately for each declaration, or should macOS consolidate the Accessibility settings from multiple declarations into a single consent request? Additional Accessibility prompt: Why does the application continue to receive the Accessibility permission alert with Open System Settings / Deny even after the user has selected Allow for the DDM declaration? User interaction: Is there any supported way for an organization to manage or suppress these additional prompts so that no further user interaction is required after the initial DDM consent? Our goal is to understand the expected macOS 27 behavior and determine the supported management configuration for applications that previously received Accessibility permission through the PPPC payload.
Replies
3
Boosts
0
Views
951
Activity
2h
iPad app terminated by watchdog (0x8BADF00D) during navigation transition — only with AssistiveTouch enabled (iPadOS 26)
Our app is being killed by the watchdog on iPadOS 26 (iPad Pro 11, 3rd gen) when navigating between tabs after using search. The crash only occurs when AssistiveTouch is enabled — disabling it prevents the issue entirely. The crash stack shows the main thread blocked in CoreUI vector glyph rasterization (CUINamedVectorGlyph _layerNamesForRenderingMode:inRendition:) triggered during a UINavigationController transition while the keyboard is being dismissed: UINavigationController _startCustomTransition → UIKeyboardSceneDelegate _restoreInputViewsWithId → UITextField resignFirstResponder → SwiftUI ViewGraphRootValueUpdater.render → UIButton layoutSubviews → UIImageView _setImage → CUINamedVectorGlyph _layerNamesForRenderingMode:inRendition: The termination reason: FRONTBOARD domain:10 code:0x8BADF00D "Failed to terminate gracefully after 5.0s" WatchdogEvent: process-exit WatchdogVisibility: Foreground Key observations: Only reproduces with AssistiveTouch enabled iPad Pro 11 (3rd gen), iPadOS 26 Our code is not on the crashing thread — it's entirely UIKit/CoreUI/SwiftUI framework code Similar to issues reported in thread/808808 (https://developer.apple.com/forums/thread/808808) and dotnet/maui#32365 (https://github.com/dotnet/maui/issues/32365) Is this a known issue with AssistiveTouch + UINavigationController transitions on iPadOS 26? Is there a recommended workaround?
Replies
2
Boosts
0
Views
3.4k
Activity
23h
iOS 26 regression: `DeviceActivityEvent`: `eventDidReachThreshold` called immediately (instead of waiting till threshold is reached)
Hello Albert! I am experiencing some strange bugs around DeviceActivityEvents (part of the DeviceActivity framework) on iOS 26 / iOS 26.1 / iOS 26.2 beta: When creating a DeviceActivityEvent we can assign a threshold and applicationTokens. The idea is, that after the user has spent said threshold on said apps, eventDidReachThreshold() is called. The property includesPastActivity is set to false. On iOS 26 however, it happens (quite reliably after updating to a new beta seed) quite often that eventDidReachThreshold() is called immediately (after a couple of seconds) instead of waiting for the threshold to be met. Is anyone else seeing similar issues on iOS 26 / iOS 26.1 / iOS 26.2 beta? Only workaround I have found is to ask users to revoke and re-grant Screen Time permissions. This only holds for about two weeks though or at most until the next iOS 26 beta update is installed, so it is not a permanent solution unfortunately. Feedback (incl. sysdiagnoses and sample project) is filed under: FB18061981 FB18927456 One of our users has filed their own feedback request as well: FB20817853 Thanks a lot for any help on this!
Replies
29
Boosts
5
Views
16k
Activity
2d
Is it required to mention the downstream API provider name for the API provider which I am using in my app?
My app used 3rd party API to provide some services, but there's a possibility that those API use some other third party service and to approve my app for App Privacy Guidelines 5.1.1(i) - Legal - Privacy - Data Collection and 5.1.2(i) - Legal - Privacy - Data Use, developers must include third party API service name.
Replies
0
Boosts
0
Views
431
Activity
2d
Developer Website Navigation
So using the developer website in Safari....produces this. How? How is this even possible? I know.... they used Chrome to test and develop with... ;) I am on the latest Safari. Sad.
Replies
4
Boosts
0
Views
688
Activity
3d
TEST POST - please ignore, will delete shortly
This is a test post for security research purposes, will be deleted immediately after. Please disregard.
Replies
0
Boosts
0
Views
261
Activity
3d
Accessibility Questions
When VoiceOver is enabled, it sometimes reads auto-generated image descriptions such as 'a blue and white logo on a white background' or 'warning icon, image error' instead of the custom accessibilityLabel we've set on the icons. How can we prevent VoiceOver from reading these image-specific descriptions and ensure it only reads our custom labels? Just like UIAccessibility.isVoiceOverRunning lets us check if VoiceOver is active, is there an equivalent API to detect whether Voice Control is currently enabled?
Replies
2
Boosts
0
Views
1.1k
Activity
1w
Reply to 4. 3 Design: Spam????
您好,我们是中国的一家软件开发公司。我们应用程序的底层框架基于美国开源社区的 XMPP 协议框架。它是一个国际开源项目,许多中国软件公司以开源框架为基础,在美国开源社区框架之上开发 UI 和替换功能。但是当我们需要将应用上传到应用商店时,会收到提示(拒绝 4.3A 应用垃圾邮件),因为中国目前没有独立开发这个框架的能力。因此,我们不得不承认,我们的 app 使用了美国开源社区的框架,因为中国的很多其他公司也都使用了美国开源社区的框架。这导致我们在将应用程序上传到应用商店时出现提示 (reject 4.3A application spam),因为其他公司在将其上传到应用商店时也使用相同的底层开源框架。这会导致我们公司在将此应用程序上传到应用商店时收到提示(拒绝 4.3A 应用程序垃圾邮件)。我们公司在这个 App 上花费了大量的精力和金钱,如果不允许中国公司上传到 App Store,就会被拒绝。使用来自美国的开源框架,这导致很多中国公司在后期无法使用美国的开源框架作为开发的基础。我们恳请贵公司为中国的小企业提供指导,并就我们未来的发展提供建议。谢谢。
Replies
2
Boosts
0
Views
4.7k
Activity
1w
Enhancing age-appropriate experiences
With the declining literacy rates I think it would be incredibly valuable for apple to implement a separate keyboard experience for minors. One without auto or predictive text, swipe to text, or even potentially also voice memos. These are all very convenient features that I think could unfortunately contribute or even enable the literacy crisis as more and more children grow up and rely on technology. I also think bringing back the ‘look up’ tool on highlighted text into the main options would support and encourage more education (or even adding a thesaurus option as well) From: A Gen Z adult who grew up learning how to spell at the same time I learned how to text. Without relying on all of the convenience features that in turn can remove the mental friction that learning to fix your mistakes provides, my iPhone was teaching me how to spell with simple red lines that required me to interact with my spelling in order to correct my mistakes. Note: Autocorrect was still a feature at the time however was often turned off by most people because of text slang culture which coincidentally helped create more intentional spell check interactions. I believe the decision to turn off autocorrect should be considered a more conscious responsibility so it should not necessarily be left up to a child to decide for themselves.
Replies
1
Boosts
0
Views
1.2k
Activity
2w
How Do People Usually Navigate with Full Keyboard Access?
Hi, I'm new to Full Keyboard Access, and I was wondering how people typically navigate UI components with an external keyboard. Do people usually use Tab/Ctrl+Tab, or are the arrow keys more commonly used?
Replies
4
Boosts
0
Views
2.9k
Activity
3w
Disable sleep/wake when in Autonomous Single App Mode (ASAM)
If a user enables/disables Guided Access, they can modify the session settings to disable the top (sleep/wake) button. In Single App Mode (SAM), there is a payload option for disabling the sleep/wake button via Mobile Device Management (MDM). In Autonomous Single App Mode (ASAM), there doesn't appear to be any way to disable the top button. ASAM does not honor the Guided Access sessions settings, and there is no payload option in the MDM. This is a glaring issue especially when ASAM is marketed as the solution for apps in a medical setting where the app is trading hands from a medical professional to a patient. Our app is used during a lengthy procedure and does not function properly if the patient puts the iPad to sleep. We're stuck asking our medical professionals to put the iPad in Guided Access, but the user experience is clunky and would be much improved by implementing ASAM. Is there some little-known API for disabling the sleep/wake button during ASAM that I'm just missing?
Replies
2
Boosts
3
Views
3.6k
Activity
3w
iOS 26.6: Guided Access becomes unavailable after disabling and re-enabling on iPhone 15
Device iPhone 15 iOS Versions iOS 26.5 iOS 26.6 Summary: I found a reproducible issue with Guided Access on my iPhone 15. After disabling Guided Access, it cannot be enabled again for approximately 30–60 minutes. The problem exists on both iOS 26.5 and iOS 26.6. Steps to Reproduce: Enable Guided Access. Use Guided Access for approximately 5–10 minutes. Disable Guided Access. Wait 1–2 minutes. Try enabling Guided Access again. Expected Result: Guided Access should enable immediately every time. Actual Result Instead of enabling, the phone displays: "Guided Access Unavailable" After this message appears, Guided Access cannot be enabled again. I must wait approximately 30–60 minutes before the feature becomes available again. Frequency 100% I can reproduce this every time using the steps above. Troubleshooting Already Tried Restarted iPhone. Force restarted iPhone. Turned Guided Access off and on. Updated from iOS 26.5 to iOS 26.6. The issue still occurs. Questions: Can anyone reproduce this on iPhone 15 or other iPhone models running iOS 26.5 or iOS 26.6? Has anyone found a workaround?
Replies
1
Boosts
0
Views
1k
Activity
3w
Is there a recommended WCAG checklist for native macOS and iOS apps?
I'm working on improving accessibility in a native macOS app and going through WCAG, but with so many success criteria it's hard to know where to focus for native Apple platform apps. 1. Does Apple recommend a specific subset or checklist of WCAG requirements for macOS and iOS? 2. If not, which criteria are generally considered essential, and how do developers typically validate them using Apple's accessibility tools and assistive technologies? I'm looking for a prioritized list of criteria that actually apply to native apps, rather than trying to implement every WCAG criterion individually.
Replies
3
Boosts
0
Views
945
Activity
3w
Opening specific Accessibility settings with a deeplink?
Heya! is there anyway to allow a user to open an accessibility setting from an iOS app? As currently you kinda have to explain how to enable it on your device and honestly thats kinda completely against how accessibility ux should work as it as it requires and expects a user to read+understand something they might as well can't because of accessibility issues in the first place and thus basically punishing a user for it. I tested this with some users and asking them to go trough 3-5 menu's with overwhelming settings is to complex and most give up, thus directing them would solve that problem.
Replies
3
Boosts
1
Views
2.2k
Activity
Jul ’26
Best practices for iOS Full Keyboard Access navigation?
Hi 👋, I’m working on improving Full Keyboard Access support in an iOS app and would love to hear about your experience. When developing for keyboard navigation, what approach do you usually take for navigating between UI elements? Do you mainly use Tab/Ctrl+Tab, arrow keys, or a combination of both? I’ve already watched some WWDC sessions and Apple's docs on this topic: https://developer.apple.com/design/human-interface-guidelines/keyboards https://developer.apple.com/videos/play/wwdc2021/10120/ https://developer.apple.com/videos/play/wwdc2021/10260/ https://developer.apple.com/documentation/UIKit/navigating-an-app-s-user-interface-using-a-keyboard However, I’d appreciate any recommendations for useful resources, documentation, or things to be aware of when implementing keyboard accessibility. :🙏
Replies
0
Boosts
0
Views
787
Activity
Jul ’26
Proposing Expressive Siri Offload via Private Cloud Compute (PCC) for 8GB Devices (Feedback ID: FB23178983)
Hi everyone, With the initial rollout of the iOS 27 Beta, the advanced configuration sliders for the new, highly expressive Siri voice models are currently hidden/disabled on devices operating under an 8GB RAM threshold. While the local AFM 3 Core Advanced engine is memory-gated to 12GB+ hardware due to local footprint constraints, this creates a significant barrier for users who rely on next-generation vocal expressivity and fluid dictation features for accessibility. To address this, I have filed a formal feature request (FB23178983) asking Apple to route the expressive Siri framework through Private Cloud Compute (PCC) on 8GB devices (like the iPhone 15 Pro or base iPhone 16 models). By utilizing server-side rendering over secure, stateless cloud nodes, Apple could easily deliver these vital accessibility configurations without exhausting the local 8GB memory footprint. I’m curious if other accessibility testers and auditors on this board are looking for this exact routing path? If you or your users rely on advanced speech synthesis features and are currently locked out by the local RAM gate, please consider filing a duplicate request or adding your diagnostic logs to FB23178983 to help increase visibility with the Core Accessibility and Software Architecture triage teams. Looking forward to hearing your thoughts and experiences with the current voice-indexing behaviors on 8GB hardware!
Replies
1
Boosts
0
Views
1.3k
Activity
Jul ’26
Feature Request: Native Acapela Voice Library Integration & Cross-Pipeline Voice Sharing:
Feature Request: Native Acapela Voice Library Integration & Cross-Pipeline Voice Sharing Associated Feedback Feedback Assistant Ticket: FB23666342 1. The Core Proposal On behalf of the assistive technology and screen-reader community, I am requesting the native system-level integration of the comprehensive Acapela Voice Library into iOS and macOS. This library should be added as a native synthesizer tier alongside existing options like Eloquence. Additionally, we request cross-pipeline voice compatibility, allowing the Siri assistant to utilize configured VoiceOver voice assets, and allowing VoiceOver to utilize Expressive Siri neural models. 2. Structural UI Layout Concept To maintain system cleanliness while maximizing user choice, we propose grouping the Acapela catalog exactly like the current native Eloquence implementation: A main, expandable heading titled Acapela inside the Speech rotor settings. Under this heading, voices should be strictly categorized by global regional dialects (including English U.S., English UK, Australia, India, Scotland, and all other languages offered to AT vendors). This deployment must include all specialized character profiles (such as the Little Creature variant) and their pediatric/child voices catalog. 3. Addressing Ear Fatigue and Equity While parametric synthesizers are excellent for high-speed text scanning, extended multi-hour document audits cause severe cognitive ear fatigue due to compressed, robotic waveforms. Integrating the full Acapela catalog—including both 22kHz HQ (High Quality) profiles for natural reading stamina and 22kHz CO (Colibri/Compact) profiles for rapid responsiveness—allows blind and low-vision power users to pick their preferred acoustic texture. Natively licensing this library eliminates the unfair financial barrier of third-party lifetime licensing fees, creating true out-of-the-box system equity. If you want to check out my post on expressive Siri, see below. Link: https://developer.apple.com/forums/thread/834920
Replies
0
Boosts
0
Views
645
Activity
Jul ’26
Hiding bracketed Braille Unicode characters when using Braille Dots Pattern - liblouis iOS Braille table on iPhone with Braille Displays via bluetooth on Safari
I have a question about rendering Braille Unicode patterns via VoiceOver on iPhone connected via Bluetooth with Braille displays. I’m developing a web app (users access via Safari) that uses raw Braille Unicode characters rather than using 8-dot, UEB contracted or uncontracted, because I want the characters to render the exact dots regardless of which braille table the user has theirs set too. My question is, can I hide the (bracketing?) characters [⣇ (1-2-3-7-8) and ⣸ (4-5-6-7-8)] that bracket Braille Unicode character passages? I find them unseemly from the perspective of the user, who may or may not be especially technologically savvy. Any suggestions for work arounds will be appreciated.
Replies
0
Boosts
0
Views
662
Activity
Jul ’26
Accessibility Feature Suggestion - Bring Back The Home Bar!!
Hi there, I am a day-to-day user of Apple Devices, whether it’s my iPhone, my iPad or Apple Watch. I originally suggested this feature to the Apple Support team, and through the Product Feedback site, back in September 2025 when iOS 26 and iPadOS 26 launched. All I want is a toggle option within the Accessibility settings to display the home bar permanently. This isn’t exactly much to ask for, and I am still waiting. Please help me! Thank you
Replies
0
Boosts
0
Views
875
Activity
Jul ’26
Full Keyboard Access support for custom MKAnnotationView in MKMapView
We’re working on improving the accessibility of a MKMapView that displays custom MKAnnotationView instances. Our implementation is fully accessible with VoiceOver: The custom annotation views expose the correct accessibility information. Users can navigate between annotations using custom accessibility rotors. The overall VoiceOver experience works as expected. However, we’re unable to make the custom MKAnnotationView instances accessible through Full Keyboard Access (FKA). Despite configuring the annotation views as accessibility elements and experimenting with focus-related APIs, the annotations never become reachable through keyboard navigation. They appear to be skipped entirely by the FKA focus system. Is there a supported way to make custom MKAnnotationView instances participate in Full Keyboard Access navigation? If this scenario is currently unsupported, is there a recommended approach or any plans to expose public APIs that would allow developers to provide a keyboard-accessible experience for custom annotations in MKMapView? Any guidance would be greatly appreciated.
Replies
4
Boosts
0
Views
954
Activity
Jul ’26