Apple Vision Accessibility: The 2024 AppleVis Report Card

AppleVis is pleased to unveil our 2024 Apple Vision Accessibility Report Card. The only report of its kind to focus specifically on the needs of people who are blind, DeafBlind, or who have low vision, the Apple Vision Accessibility Report Card provides valuable insights into the lived experiences and opinions of this user group.

Inspired by the Six Colors Apple Report Card and now in its third year, the aim of the Apple Vision Accessibility Report Card is to present information to Apple, our community, and other key stakeholders about the real-world user experience for Apple product users who are blind, DeafBlind, or who have low vision. In so doing, it is our hope that this report card will be the starting point for constructive discussions about the current state of accessibility on Apple’s platforms; influence Apple’s 2025 accessibility roadmap; and be a force for positive change.

To compile the ratings and comments included in this report card, we conducted a comprehensive survey where blind, DeafBlind, and low vision participants rated their experience using Apple's major platforms (iOS, iPadOS, macOS, watchOS, and tvOS) with the available vision accessibility features provided in the software. (visionOS was not included in the survey at this time.) The ratings were on a scale of 1 to 5, with 1 being the least favorable rating and 5 being the most favorable. Additionally, we invited participants to provide detailed written feedback and suggestions for enhancing Apple's vision accessibility features and user experience. The survey also included questions that assessed Apple's performance in addressing vision-related bugs, as well as the new vision accessibility features added in 2024.

The report card is separated into the following sections (all navigable by heading):

• Ratings Snapshot: This section gives an overview of the highest and lowest ratings across all surveyed platforms and vision accessibility options, including a listing of the most-changed ratings in 2024.
• VoiceOver: This section presents ratings and selected participant comments regarding VoiceOver features and user experience across Apple’s platforms.
• Braille: This section presents ratings and selected participant comments regarding braille features and user experience across Apple’s platforms.
• Low Vision: This section presents ratings and selected participant comments regarding low vision features and user experience across Apple’s platforms.
• Other Ratings and Comments: This section presents:
  • Ratings and comments regarding the new accessibility features for blind, DeafBlind, and low vision users introduced by Apple in 2024;
  • Ratings and comments regarding Apple’s performance in 2024 in addressing VoiceOver, braille, and low vision-related bugs;
  • Comments on how Apple can improve their vision accessibility experience and better serve their blind, DeafBlind, and low vision customers; and
  • Additional feedback on the experience of using Apple products as a person who is blind, DeafBlind, or who has low vision.

Each rating includes the corresponding values for 2022 and 2023, allowing readers to compare changes over time. Ratings were also assigned a letter grade; the grading scale may be found at the end of this report under the “Grading Scale” heading.

In addition to rating the vision accessibility features on Apple’s platforms, we asked survey participants to provide comments on each of the aspects being rated. Included with each rating is a curated selection of the responses we received. Participants were asked whether they would like their comments to be quoted anonymously or attributed to their AppleVis user name. To ensure accurate and authentic representation of community voices, AppleVis did not edit the content (diction, grammar, spelling, etc.) of participant comments. Comments were lightly formatted to ensure consistency of presentation.

We hope you find our 2024 Apple Vision Accessibility Report Card to be both helpful and informative. If you have questions or feedback, please feel free to post a comment below. For media inquiries, please see the “Media Inquiries” section.

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Ratings Snapshot

Below is a listing of the categories which received the highest and lowest ratings across all surveyed platforms and features, as well as a listing of the most-changed ratings in 2024:

• Highest Ratings:
  • iPadOS Low Vision User Experience (4.5)
  • iOS VoiceOver Features (4.4)
  • iOS VoiceOver User Experience (4.3)
  • iOS Braille Features (4.3)
  • iOS Low Vision Features (4.3)
  • iOS Low Vision User Experience (4.3)
• Lowest Ratings:
  • MacOS VoiceOver Features (3.5)
  • watchOS Braille Features (3.5)
  • tvOS Low Vision User Experience (3.5)
  • macOS Braille User Experience (3.3)
  • macOS VoiceOver User Experience (3.2)
  • Apple's Performance in 2024 in Addressing VoiceOver, Braille, and Low Vision-Related Bugs (3.2)
• Notable Increases in Satisfaction:
  • The New Accessibility Features Introduced in 2024 for Blind, DeafBlind, and Low Vision Users (4.0, 3.7 in 2023)
  • tvOS VoiceOver User Experience (3.8, 3.5 in 2023)
  • iOS VoiceOver User Experience (4.3, 4.1 in 2023)
  • iPadOS VoiceOver User Experience (4.2, 4.0 in 2023)
  • watchOS VoiceOver User Experience (4.1, 3.9 in 2023)
  • iOS Braille Features (4.3, 4.1 in 2023)
  • tvOS Braille User Experience (3.6, 3.4 in 2023)
  • Apple's Performance in 2024 in Addressing VoiceOver, Braille, and Low Vision-Related Bugs (3.2, 3.0 in 2023)
• Largest Decreases in Satisfaction:
  • tvOS Low Vision Features (3.7, 4.3 in 2023)
  • macOS Low Vision Features (4.2, 4.7 in 2023)
  • macOS Low Vision User Experience (4.0, 4.5 in 2023)
  • tvOS Braille Features (3.6, 4.0 in 2023)
  • tvOS Low Vision Features (4.1, 4.5 in 2023)
  • tvOS VoiceOver Features (3.7, 4.0 in 2023)
  • watchOS Braille User Experience (3.6, 3.9 in 2023)
  • watchOS Braille Features (3.5, 3.7 in 2023)
  • macOS Braille User Experience (3.3, 3.5 in 2023)

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VoiceOver

VoiceOver Features

• Grade: B

Satisfaction with VoiceOver features on iOS and iPadOS increased somewhat compared to 2023, while macOS, tvOS, and watchOS saw decreases in user satisfaction. The highest level of satisfaction was with VoiceOver features on iOS (4.4), while the lowest was with VoiceOver features on macOS (3.5).

• Overall: B (4.0)
• iOS: A (4.4)
  • 2023: A (4.3)
  • 2022: A (4.5)
  • Satisfaction with VoiceOver features on iOS rose slightly from 2023 to 2024, but is not as high as it was in 2022.
• iPadOS: B (4.2)
  • 2023: B (4.1)
  • 2022: B (4.2)
  • Satisfaction with VoiceOver features on iPadOS rose slightly from 2023 to 2024 but is at the same level as in 2022; suggesting that user satisfaction has remained nearly constant since our first report card.
• macOS: C (3.5)
  • 2023: C (3.6)
  • 2022: C (3.6)
  • Satisfaction with VoiceOver features on macOS declined slightly in 2024 compared to 2023 in 2022. This is also reflected in participant comments.
• watchOS: B (4.0)
  • 2023: B (4.1)
  • 2022: B (4.1)
  • There was a slight decrease in satisfaction with VoiceOver features on watchOS in 2024 when compared to 2023 and 2022.
• tvOS: B (3.7)
  • 2023: B (4.0)
  • 2022: C (3.5)
  • Satisfaction with VoiceOver features on tvOS decreased somewhat from 2023 but is not as low as it was in 2022.

Selected Comments on VoiceOver Features

Summary: Overall, survey participants expressed satisfaction with the VoiceOver features available on iOS. Several participants expressed a desire for deeper AI integration for functionality like image description, photo labeling, voices, and screen recognition. Multiple participants expressed dissatisfaction with the VoiceOver features available on macOS, particularly when compared to iOS. People who use devices in languages other than English reported particular issues with VoiceOver unique to their language. Multiple participants expressed a desire for Apple to prioritize fixing existing bugs before introducing new features.

“Voiceover on iOS is consistantly more reliable, more stable, and more up-to-date with features such as screen recognition and live recognition. Its web rendering is infinitely better with no responsiveness issues, and overall it is a thoroughly pleasant experience. Voiceover on the Mac could not be more different. It is lagging far behind alternatives on Windows in terms of features, particularly OCR, screen / image recognition, and performance within applications.” – Ashley

“Over the last few years, the standards set by apple for accessibility in their products appears to be slipping; even as new issues are created in areas like basic browsing etc, the approach in addressing them have been lackadaisical, at the same time, my personal view is that apple hasn't at all utilized new aveniews offered by newer developments like AI for making their products accessible fully.” – Gokul

“I think it would be good if they consolidate the rotor features such as character, word, line, and heading into one setting where you can flick one finger up and down to choose between them.” – Anonymous

“IOS is definitly the most full featured apple product. There are so many in fact that even though I have been using IOS VoiceOver for 7 years now, I am still discovering new ones that I didn't know about. In particular, Screen reconition has gotten me past many spots which just fell short of accessible. I also love and use Braille screen input every day, which also helps me keep my braille skills up.
I personally still love the VO experience on Mac OS, dispight all its objective flaws, but I must admit that it does suffer when comparing its feature set to IOS. I would especially like to see more of the new AI reconition features added to IOS (I would think my M3 powered MacBook would have more AI then my old Iphone SE). I think a native equivlent to braille screen input using the keyboard would also be cool to have on Mac OS. Still, it seems like Apple is slowly moving in the right direction with the last few updates, I just discovered recently that they had added a speak indention feature to Mac OS which makes coding much much easier.” – AERobert

“1. VoiceOver fails to auto-switch to Persian even when Persian Dariush, or Espeak Persian, gets selected as the TTS engine. In other words, unlike most other languages, users have to switch to a Persian voice manually, via the Rotor, whenever Persian text is encountered.
2. VoiceOver lacks comprehensive online, AI-based image description features. It can't describe the current screen this way either. Android screen readers are ahead in this arena.” – Amir Soleimani

“The VoiceOver features on iOS encompass a wide range of uses, which is very commendable. The Mac still falls behind.” – Devin Prater

“The features aren't consistent across devices. For instance, screen recognition isn't available on macOS, but it is on iOS - not a major issue for me, but it might be for some users.” – Jason White

“I think it would be extremely useful to have more Voices, especially with AI natural voices coming more into the mainstream.
Regarding Voiceover, I feel that more screen reader customization would make the Mac experience even more powerful.
In terms of Voiceover overall, I would like stronger and smoother connectivity with non Apple bluetooth devices. At the moment, Voiceover lags with certain headsets and smart glasses.” – DarkWingsRaven

“As am an egyptian user, I need the arabic language to be improved liek the english” – Ramy

“They are pretty good but it would be great if bugs were worked out before release.” – Grace

“Mac Voiceover features are very deficient and rudimentary. It seems Apple does not expect blind users will be buying any macbooks and so doesn't care to improve it. Voiceover on Iphone is however quite good.” – Simply

“Could do with an injection of, you guessed it, AI, I'm thinking especially in the photos app. Automatic detailed labelling of images could be a very powerful feature.
On that matter, VOCR, should be purchased by apple for a billion pounds and integrated. It's the evolution of mac voiceover that apple seems to have given up on.
I'd also like some more good voices like the microsoft voices, though I forget the names of them. Not a must have, but a little good variation would be appreciated.
I still don't think keyboards voiceover and iPad work well together, though I've not tried for some time. I feel that, more and more, iPad is becoming the device most of us need but, in terms of reliability for accessibility, behaviours in things like safari, navigation, text editting, it is stil rough around the edges.” – Oliver

“They are exceptionally good. An improvement would be to be aable to hear text attributes when reading, such as underlining, boldface, etc. I know these are available in apps like Pages, but it could be helpful to have access to this kind of information anywhere.” – Christo

“Fantastic standard built-in functionality I could not do without.” – Anonymous

“I have always been grateful to Apple for adding accessibility functions including VoiceOver to each device. However, as the functions of the system become more and more complex, and many design ideas of the system are now completely from a visual-friendly perspective, it is difficult for VoiceOver users. What we feel is that many of the system's new features are either not supported by VoiceOver or are very awkward to use.” – Anonymous

“When it comes to iOS, Apple have knocked it out of the park in terms of new features this year with the release of iOS 18. The new Braille Screen input features are incredible, and the VoiceOver tutorial has been needed for a long time and will be a huge help to new users of the iPhone.” – Callum Stoneman

“I appreciate that Apple is trying to provide access to new visual features like genmoji as they have with other features throughout the years. Generally VoiceOver features are equalizers for me. I'd much rather experience fixes and adjustments for focus and other reported issues with VoiceOver.” – Jenine

“Several positive moves were made in this direction in 2024, such as the VoiceOver tutorial and revamped Braille Screen Input experience in iOS 18, as well as the unified command customization model and revamped VoiceOver tutorial in macOS Sequoia. Apple also gets credit in this category for finally including a "What's new in VoiceOver" sheet in VoiceOver Settings on iOS, something that's long been requested and that could increase the discoverability and overall awareness of new VoiceOver features. Apple's documentation of these, and other features, in my opinion, could still be improved, however their inclusion directly into the operating system is a step in the right direction.” – Tyler

“Voiceover has definitely made it possible to use my iPhone and overall it's been a gamechanger. The features are very customizable especially the lock screen (Customizing the lock screen should have been implemented eons ago.) Voiceover has enabled me to use the iPhone in ways that I couldn't have imagined.” – Ann Marie B

“navigating through the island isn't always acurat or even there at all. I am aware that this feature will disappear when there is no continuous activity.
It would be helpful if there was a way to spesify voiceover volume depending on if you are using headphones, Bluetooth speaker or the Phone speaker.
Evry time a bluetooth speaker is connected the Voice Over volume drops dramatically, but it does still come out of the phone. am unaware if this is a bug or deliberate, but either way I feel the way it was routed before worked better.
Having a feature like touch-dial instead of direct typing would be more acurat especially responding to swichboards that have a number menu navigation system.” – mcox

“Personally, I find the Apple ecosystem extremely liberating and productive. At this point, I am still more enthusiastic about bug fixes than I am about new features, but I do greatly appreciate the improvements in Braille Screen Input on iOS.” – Anonymous

“I'd prefer Apple to fix the existing VO bugs on all platforms especially Mac os before intruducing new features. Also for Apple to ndcarry out thorough stress tests of Voiceover across all platforms before OS updates are released to the wild. If there is a killer bug that can't be fixed before release time, it is down to Apple to make this known to the blind/low vision community through this website plus all other media outlets so as to prevent users downloading and installing software that could have a major detrimental impact on peoples lives.” – Graham

“VoiceOver on the iPhone is pretty stable for the most part, and I think we’ve got a really great product here. I love how it’s built directly into the iPhone, and it works well overall. The issue, though, isn’t with VoiceOver itself—it’s with third-party apps and software.
Take something like GarageBand or iMovie, for example. These apps are great tools, but they’re nearly impossible to use efficiently without being able to see the interface. In 2025, with all the progress we’ve made in artificial intelligence, there’s really no reason we shouldn’t have more integrated voice commands, especially for apps like these.
What I’d love to see is a conversational AI system built into these tools. For example, in GarageBand, I should be able to say something like, ‘Load audio files into Track 1. Start with an instrumental intro, then Verse 1, Chorus, Verse 2, and a bridge.’ Then, I could follow up with, ‘Add a drum transition between the intro and Verse 1,’ or ‘Layer in a guitar solo at the bridge.’
The AI could handle all of this in real time, and the results would be so much better than me struggling to learn these interfaces by touch alone. As a blind person, trying to navigate complex timelines or drag files manually is incredibly frustrating—and for many, especially those who only have access to an iPhone, it’s just not practical.
We already have Siri, so why not use it to its full potential? Give us the option to use voice commands to work directly with these apps. It would make a huge difference, not just for blind users, but for anyone looking for a more efficient way to work.
It’s time to start listening to the community and making accessibility about more than just screen readers. Let’s push for a future where technology is truly inclusive and easy to use for everyone.” – Winter Roses

“Overall Apple accessibility is very elegant and polished. VoiceOver is an amazing and intuitive system, especially on iOS/iPadOS. Finally, Braille Screen Input (BSI) is boss!” – Brian

“It's an often repeated narrative that the VoiceOver experience on mac is stagnating. Unfortunately I feel this is still the case - however, I hope that Apple will dedicate resources to optimizing VoiceOver for Mac, so it will be on par with other platforms productivity-wise.” – Anonymous

“On my iPhone 15 Pro, I often have voiceover freeze. I could be working on something and voiceover will just stop, that is very frustrating and weird because I'm not used to that happening since I installed iOS 18 I wish that could be fixed. Other than that, I love all the voice features and new tools. I often praise the accessibility features on the software annual updates.” – Martin

“I really like the new features of VoiceOver on iOS and Mac OS. One thing I'd like to see, however, is the recognition features on Mac OS expanded just like they are on iOS. For example, VoiceOver Recognition on the iPhone contains a few sections. I've used them briefly and they are very helpful. It would be nice to see those features make their way over to the Mac as well.” – Anonymous

“Voiceover across the Apple platform is a great screen reader. Once you learn how to use it on one platform, it's easy to transfer that knowledge to others and to pick up a new device with minimal fuss. The exception to this is Mac OS, though the voiceover experience is still a pleasant one there. All that said, with the incorporation of AI into Apple products, I am hoping it can be a game changer for inaccessible apps, allowing AI to read and label controls.” – Anonymous

“VoiceOver almost across the board is a highly-mature, functional, feature-rich screen reader. It's fast, fluid, and easy to use.
On iOS, VoiceOver has an abundance of features. Whether you use them all or not (or whether you even know they exist) it's fantastic to be given this level of control over how we use iOS and iPadOS as blind people. Due to the sheer number of settings, sometimes it takes me a second to remember where I can adjust things, but that's a far better problem to have than the alternative.
I would argue that VoiceOver on Mac leaves a little more to be desired; it's generally considered to be not as mature as screen readers like NVDA or JAWS on Windows or even VoiceOver on iOS, but when it works well it's generally a very positive experience. Plus, Apple are introducing more features to VO on Mac that make it more comparable to other screen readers.” – Minionslayer

“The features themselves are adequate. I think there could be a more robust set of features on mac OS for straight up productivity.I think the interaction methods inside the new versions of mac OS are a step backward. For example, in older versions, navigating to the next heading happened regardless of where the VO cursor was in the window. Now, you need to explicitly interact with a scroll or web area to navigate by heading. Tasks take a little longer. I haven't encountered anything that prevents me from task completion. Music app has dropped the ball in terms of VO accessibility as searching in the mac OS app is just about useless.” – Anonymous

“I just wish that they would fix most of these bugs before introducing new features. I am aware that they all are exciting, but if we cannot even use the bear bones features correctly, then what is the use of introducing new?” – Jennie A Facer

“Apple has repeatedly demonstrated innovation and leadership in the development and release of their accessibility features. However, when it comes to maintaining those features, Apple has repeatedly fallen short, especially with regards to MacOS.” – Paul Martz

“I really haven't found the features introduced over the past year to be very applicable to my day-to-day. Additionally, I'm finding that the performance of my phone has really become sluggish this past year. I know--it'll be 5 years old in Nov, but frankly, it's been meeting my needs quite well till now. I'm not 1 of those who needs the latest & gratest.” – AbleTec

“I feel like Mac OS and iOS offer a plethora of features for voiceover users, but I feel like more features, especially audio ducking could be implemented on Watch OS.” – Moopie Curran

“I truly appreciate this feature. And thank you for giving us more voices. I truly love the image and screen recognition description. I love the new haptic feedback when voice over starts. I appreciate the new way to adjust voice over and media volume. And I love the magic tap, when you double tap with two fingers. I can play and pause videos, audio. I can dictate by using this gesture. Thank you for the rotor. It makes it very simple to navigate the screen.” – Aaron

“The VoiceOver feature set is quite impressive. I would rather Apple invested in bug fixing rather than adding new features at this stage.
On the Mac, it would be good if there was a way to help use apps that aren't accessible. Something like VOCR perhaps.
And although I appreciate the auto-generated image descriptions, I think this is something that Apple Intelligence could greatly improve on.” – mr grieves

“VoiceOver on the iPhone is great! It works exactly how I would like it too. There are no bugs and everything is working just as it’s supposed to.” – Seamus

“I am fully satisfied with the voice-over features, however, I am encountering numerous accessibility issues lately. Every iOS update brings anxiety due to the potential for new accessibility problems.
Furthermore, the new voice-over features introduced in iOS 18 exhibit significant slowness. While the live demonstrations appear promising, the actual responsiveness is quite delayed.
I strongly request that you thoroughly test voice-over features with all updates before their official release to ensure a smooth and accessible experience for all users.” – Minal Singhvi

“I love the voice-over features of voice-over on Mac and iPhone. I wish the features for voice-over on Mac could match the Voice-over features on iPhone.” – Anonymous

“Most of the voiceover features are great on ios and tvos, bun the mac... Much work needs to be done. There are many bugs which haven't been resolved for a long time now despite feedback beeing filed.” – Anonymous

“VoiceOver is now an excellent and very advanced screen reader on iOS and iPad OS, with a lot of customisation showing its maturity. Where it still falls down for me is productivity, in particular using an iPhone or iPad with a hardware keyboard. Word processing and spreadsheet apps for example remain next to impossible to use with VoiceOver. I would also really like more gestures, in particular one finger multi-directional gestures as an option to unlock more power.
VoiceOver on Mac OS feels like it needs a rebuild from the ground up in my opinion. It is inconsistent depending on what kind of app you use, and simply lacks the advanced capabilities you need and expect from a desktop screen reader. I've said it before and I will again, I am the only person on a team of ten people at work using Windows, everyone else is using Mac, because Mac simply isn't an option for me. I love the system though and use it at home, which is why it's frustrating to find I can't use it full time.” – Dave Nason

“I'm thankful for the voiceover improvements, including a much improved BSI features. I do wish more bugs were taken seriously on the Mac side, however. I still find VO to be jumpy and unresponsive at times on Safari.” – Melissa Roe

“My biggest gripe with Apple accessibility is that since Ios17 they made more compact the voices and they sound awful. Therefore I am using an Ios16 device, because I can't stand them. How can a voice that is now 200MB sound the same since it was before 600MB?” – Blackadder

“Apple is known for just works and consistent features across various apple devices, but the voice over feature difference between mobile platform and the lap top is huge . The desktop and laptop features and working of voice over requires a serious rethinking and lot of shortcus has to be included to make the web navigation a breeze.” – Arya

VoiceOver User Experience

• Grade: B

Satisfaction with the VoiceOver user experience on all five platforms surveyed increased in 2024 when compared to 2023. With the exception of macOS, satisfaction was also higher than that from 2022 as well. The highest level of satisfaction with VoiceOver user experience was on iOS (4.3), while the lowest was on macOS (3.2).

• Overall: B (3.9)
• iOS: B (4.3)
  • 2023: B (4.1)
  • 2022: B (4.2)
  • Satisfaction with the VoiceOver experience increased somewhat from 2023.
• iPadOS: B (4.2)
  • 2023: B (4.0)
  • 2022: B (4.0)
  • Satisfaction with the VoiceOver experience on iPadOS increased somewhat from 2023 and 2022.
• macOS: C (3.2)
  • 2023: C (3.1)
  • 2022: C (3.3)
  • Satisfaction with the VoiceOver user experience on Mac increased slightly from 2023 (3.1) but is not as high as it was in 2022 (3.3).
• watchOS: B (4.1)
  • 2023: B (3.9)
  • 2022: B (3.9)
  • Satisfaction with the VoiceOver user experience on watchOS increased somewhat from 2023 and 2022.
• tvOS: B (3.8)
  • 2023: C (3.5)
  • 2022: C (3.4)
  • Satisfaction with the VoiceOver user experience on tvOS increased somewhat from 2023 and even more so from that in 2022.

Selected Comments on VoiceOver User Experience

Summary: As with the comments on VoiceOver features, participants spoke most favorably about the VoiceOver user experience on iOS; however, long-standing bugs, like the issue with focus jumping, remain and detract. macOS was widely criticized for a more complex, inferior VoiceOver user experience despite multiple participants expressing appreciation for the OS overall. Opinions on watchOS were mixed, with some reporting a smooth user experience while others reported sluggishness and a lack of overall refinement.

“It is very clear that Apple's priority when it comes to VoiceOver is the iOS and WatchOS platforms (I can't speak for iPadOS as I don't use it). This has resulted in a hugely satisfactory experience with my iPhone and Apple Watch for the most part.
Unfortunately, the same cannot be said for my experience with MacOS. I was a happy Mac user for over 10 years, but I have definitely noticed a steady increase in significant VoiceOver bugs and very little being done to resolve them. This has resulted in my selling my MacBook at the end of last year (2024) and I'm now using Windows full-time for my computing needs. I find this a real shame because I love the Mac as a device, and I love the seamless connectivity with the rest of the Apple ecosystem, but the long standing issues with VoiceOver leave me feeling that I cannot use the Mac as productively as I would like. The recent 'Safari not responding' bug is probably the best example I can give of this. Having something as essential as the browser often locking up for several minutes at a time, without explanation, with no reliable pattern as to what is causing it and no way to resolve it, and having this bug persist for many months and MacOS releases is not an acceptable experience. I don't necessarily agree with the analogies that are often used to compare accessibility issues to those that sighted people might face, but I do think that if the browser was crashing regularly for everyone and not just VoiceOver users, it would have been fixed in a matter of weeks at the most.” – Callum Stoneman

“VoiceOver on Apple products is why I love them so much. It allows me to get things done and be productive Keep up the good work.” – Jimmy V

“Some random bugs still persist after years of being present.” – Misty Dawn

“VoiceOver on watchOS and tvOS always feels less responsive and sluggish.” – Anonymous

“The user experience while overall good compared to other platforms, has been following a declining trajectory over the last few years.” – Gokul

“Voiceover works wonderfully under iOS. It is stable, generally reliable, responsive and performs well with many applications. Voiceover on the Mac is a chor. It is unreliable, often extremely buggy, works poorly on the web especially in Safari, does not handle the newer interfaces of cross-platform apps very well, is lackluster when it comes to text editing, terrible in the terminal, and frequently breaks compatibility with apps and websites. There are rarely resolutions from Apple when it comes to the Mac, it seems they simply don't care, even when they've broken access to a paid Apple service such as the recent bug affecting Apple Music that has persisted for several months.” – Ashley

“On Mac, I like the new VoiceOver command that lets you pop all the way to the top from down within groups.” – Anonymous

“I find the Rotor very difficult, and I can't really get on with touch screens after 14 years, but I feel Apple do their best with a form factor that I'm not that keen on” – Anonymous

“I wish the personal voices people created were higher quality.” – KE8UPE

“There could be less bugs on iOS, especially with reading books in Apple Books, and using Say All when a notification comes in, but overall it's a great experience. I'd love to see iOS' VoiceOver be ported to MacOS.” – Devin Prater

“On the mac, iphone mirorring is still unusable as sighted user would use this feature as navigation is still very convoluted. They have solved a mathml bug, some symbols and capitalization bugs, minor improvements in iwork apps, and just added new shortcuts, but for one year of development and coding time this is nothing less than lazy. I feel that VO on mac is still an afterthought. Garageband on ios have documentation with VO, on mac you are left alone and it's been the case since forever. The activities that we got on sonoma work only in xcode and the rest is just a bloat of the ui as nothing works and they have been made aware of this but done nothing to correct it in 1.5 years. The new features in safari like the content blocking one is still not accessible with VO on mac while on ios it's at least better.
Appname does not respond is there at least once a week for me, and 90% of the time whenever there is an update VO will freeze in the license page because it can't handle such a large amount of ui change and information at once. The VIM bug and the fact that I need more than an m2 pro to run unix terminal apps normally (for VO cursor to follow properly) is unforgivable for me as it just shows how VO is unoptimized in its very codebase.
MacOS 15.2 brought more bugs than ever and most of them are still there as of the betas of 15.3. The improvements in Preview and the commander are the only reasons why I still use this version daily as it's a real quality of life update.
For watchOS, I don't like at all that now we have to manage the VO volume and that of the watch separately as it creates more problems, and apple told me that they don't intend to fix these as it ‘works as designed’. Basically the quality and the base amount of VO voices at 60% of watch volume will not be the same at 80% or 100% of the watch volume even if you drop or raise VO volume to compensate, a subtle difference but one that I hear everyday now. The volume bug in 11.2 which's been fixed in the betas of 11.3 is a critical one that should never have slipped through the stable version.
The new voiceover tutorial on mac and ios is great but I heard that on ios it won't launch automatically in the setup, if this is true then it's still not very useful as you have to do it yourself and for that you need to know how to use VO.
For mac we are still waiting the equivalent of native OCR for documents and apps.” – TheBllindGuy07

“I think my current experiences on IOS and Mac OS are roughly equivlent. IOS VO generally has less bugs and more features, yet I still much prefer using my Mac for most things because I just really like the Operating System. When something is accessible on Mac OS, its usually works really well. Unfortunately, there are many places where the reverse is true, when something isn't very accessible, its usually because it just isn't usable at all, and there is no screen reconition to try getting past those spots.” – AERobert

“Overall, the user experience of voiceover is quite smooth and intuitive. The gestures are simple and useful, and have made my day-to-day use of technology very productive and enjoyable.. However, there are still quite a few bugs that diminish the user experience. I have come across instances where the volume of voiceover will randomly increase or decrease when it comes across an unusual symbol or special character, some small inaccuricies while typing with BSI and the general difficulty of navigating the App Library” – jelly_beans_1

“While there is always room for improvement, voiceover has been an amazing addition to the iPhone and changed a lot of our lives for the better. I sometimes feel like the accessibility team doesn’t take reports seriously unless they’re given by a group such as the Apple this team. That said, I am grateful to have it.” – ICarolyn

“My current macbook can't run anything higher than mac OS high Sierra, so perhaps some issues I have to contend with have been resolved.
There's a really weird quirk in watch OS: if I turn the crown the wrong way, I get stuck in the notification center and the only option I have when that happens is rebooting my watch.
The VO experience on my phone is more or less the same as it's been for several years now, so whatever quirks there are, they've pretty much become normal for me at this point. I think the biggest issue I have to deal with is with lack of consistency in web browsers. For example, double-tapping buttons or links on certain web pages does absolutely nothing in Safari, but the same page works as expected in Edge. There doesn't seem to be any rhyme or reason to these issues, so I'm thankful that I have installed a couple of browsers on my phone.” – Missy Hoppe

“Although focus issues persist, I'm generally able to do what I need on iOS and mac. I continue to be frustrated by the lack of attention to VoiceOver issues in Text Edit. As this app on mac is a huge part of my worflow daily, I'm questioning Apple's ability to address concerns across teams. translation: do the people responsible for Text Edit ever converse with the VoiceOver devs?” – Jenine

“Pretty good in general. Stable, consistent for the most part. Certainly better on IOS than mac which has a highly convoluted means of use which I think puts off a lot of users and, even as a user of mac for 17 years, still baffles me from time to time.
There are some rough edges on TV OS, though I think this is likely down to the 3rd party devs. There should be a button to stop VO talking, akin to hitting control on mac. There could also do with tighter rules on audio description and 3rd party apps. AD on means AD on everywhere rather than having to go into each app and turn it on... Looking at you, netflix.
there should also be easier ways of seeing what is audio described across platforms. It's hidden away, and is rather useless. Could there not be alt text on titles with audio description meaning we don't have to delve into the informational tab to find out? It might also be worth us knowing which services have it with AD and which don't, as I know there are variations.
There is still an issue with voiceover volume when connected to a bluetooth speaker in that when entering an edit field, voiceover on teh phone will boost to full volume for a short period. It's jarring and sometimes terrifying. Would love to have this resolved. An implementation of the android means of changing the volume of media and speech independently, I think it requires holding fingers on the screen whilst using the volume buttons to change the TTS volume, might solve this. We do need a faster way of independently changing voiceover volume in relation to media anyway, beyond that of the new ducking controls which are good, but just not quite there yet.” – Oliver

“One bug I’ve noticed for a while is that Voiceover focus often jumps around. This is especially noticeable with text fields, but can happen in other circumstances as well.” – DarkWingsRaven

“It's mostly usable, but there are too many bugs (especially on macOS), and Apple takes far too long to address them.” – Jason White

“Overall, the experience is good, but I do have issues where VoiceOver will suddenly freeze and not respond unless I turn it off and back on. It is also sometimes frustrating not to be able to escape because there is not always a back button available and sometimes an app needs to be closed to escape from a part of it.” – Jennifer W.

“Overall experience is great. Yes there are bugs sometimes, but they are easy to deal with.” – Tarja

“VoiceOver for MacOS has the worst experience and I have to work on Mac every day and it is harder for each new day” – Jonathan Chacón

“The Rota is a bit of a awkward fiddle, but I believe it's possible to create other ways of achieving the same results - though I haven't invested any time in finding these out.” – Anonymous

“I think for users like me who have used Apple products for more than ten years, this year’s VoiceOver experience on Apple products can be described as very bad. First of all, I am using Chinese voices. Apple has added a lot of new Chinese voices on both iOS and Mac OS, but these voices have no value except taking up storage space because they have not been debugged. So if you use these new voices, you will find that your device will not work properly because normal speaking of words will be very difficult for them. So can I use the original voice? The answer is not really. Because the original voices has also become very bad this year. For example, serious errors will occur when reading numbers. The most intuitive example is that VoiceOver will now read iOS18.2 as iOS10.2. On Mac OS, the problem will become more serious. For example, the VoiceOver sound will often interrupt, or if you set the sound parameters and restart the Mac, it will return to the default state. Problems like these make daily use crazy” – Anonymous

“Other than bugs with every new iOS updates and the fact that voiceover can only support barely 50 languages. Everything else is OK.” – Sam Nik

“Voiceover is very easy to use and I couldn't use my iPhone without it. Voiceover is very customizable and makes organization a breeze.” – Ann Marie B

“I believe that the iOS experience for voiceover users can be improved.
One of the issues that i am currently experiencing is voiceover continues to say contacts and the name of a contact followed by a sound that is made when double tapping an app on one's home screen to open an app. This bug occurs at ramdom times and needs to be fixed.” – Isaac Hebert

“In general, I find the VO experience to be intuitive and enjoyable to use. Particularly on the Mac, inconsistencies in focus are in need of improvement.” – Anonymous

“I'm very satisfied overall, but I wish I could truly change voices on my watch. It's not cool to download voices into a nonexistent rotor item.” – Carrie Teichman

“VoiceOver is a powerful system. It feels as if Apple has thought of nearly everything when it comes to the gestures and commands of this screen reader. It feels almost as if Apple devices were made exclusively for the blind, which which is admittedly an odd statement, as Apple devices are mainstream, with a plethora of accessibility accommodations. Yet, my iPhone feels like it was made for me.
I gave the user experience a three for macOS only on account of the laundry list of bugs currently available in the latest version. Otherwise, I do still feel like it is a very elegant system, especially for users who are unfamiliar with computers in general.” – Brian

“There are one or two bugs, such as focus jumping, that simply won't go away, but on the whole I find VoiceOver very stable on iOS and iPad OS these days. Features are well thought out and implemented for the most part, and I've seen evidence that community feedback is listened to. It's intuitive and flexible, keep up the great work. VoiceOver on Mac is again less satisfying. It's buggy and inconsistent, but has so much potential.” – Dave Nason

“Right now, Watch OS seems to be the most stable accessibility experience. While VoiceOver is good at what it does when it works correctly, there are several bugs that have continued to exist for months or even years.
Many of us, myself included, feel like reporting issues is a waste. Apple gives us the generic we'll look into it response, but it seems like our complaints are falling on deaf ears since nothing is ever done about some of these issues.
The most common one I have is VoiceOver either no longer speaking or losing focus when a notification comes in after using the two-finger swipe down gesture.” – Anonymous

“I think for the most part VoiceOver on iOS, tvOS and watchOS is wonderful. I love all the features and looking forward to seeing what's next.” – Martin

“The VoiceOver screen reader in iOS is an exceptional and truly outstanding tool. Through this program, I have been able to use iPhone devices with ease for a long time, just like anyone else, with no difference between me and sighted individuals. However, I do have some suggestions regarding VoiceOver for future iOS updates.
Utilizing advanced artificial intelligence technologies could make VoiceOver significantly better. For instance, integrating image and video description technologies into upcoming iOS systems with VoiceOver would undoubtedly be amazing for visually impaired individuals.
Additionally, we need high-quality voices to work with VoiceOver to make it even more remarkable for users, as well as leveraging superior AI-generated voices in general that support multiple languages.” – Fari

“The experience is generally solid, however there are times when voiceover performance suffers significantly. When it does, the system becomes unusable. On Mac OS, I have found voiceover (or perhaps the OS itself) less intuitive.” – Anonymous

“VoiceOver is generally very easy to get started with and learn on iOS and iPadOS. The basic gestures are as easy as it gets. And it's even easier to learn about VO features thanks to the new tutorial and what's new features introduced in iOS 18. All I hope for is that these are updated consistently with each new OS release.” – Minionslayer

“There are numerous bugs that require navigating on a daily basis. These bugs have been around for years, and do not seem to be being tackled.” – Pat Ships

“I think the interaction methods inside the new versions of mac OS are a step backward. For example, in older versions, navigating to the next heading happened regardless of where the VO cursor was in the window. Now, you need to explicitly interact with a scroll or web area to navigate by heading. Tasks take a little longer. I haven't encountered anything that prevents me from task completion. Music app has dropped the ball in terms of VO accessibility as searching in the mac OS app is just about useless.” – Anonymous

“I think that Apple has done a very good job in providing this service to us. I don't think we thank them enough. We sure complain about bugs which is what they want us to, but they also deserve our thanks.” – Jennie A Facer

“In addition to the sluggishness mentioned in my prior comments, I lost speech entirely when updating to IOS 18. I was using a Siri voice at the time. After the upgrade, VO sounded like an AM radio in a thunderstorm, all static & no intelligible sound. I had to phone Apple accessibility for help changing the voice to Samantha (not my favorite but I can hear her the best now), in order to restore my phone to normal operation. Definitely took a chunk out of my day.” – AbleTec

“

1. Issues with Photos App and Arabic Interface
   Users who set their iPhone interface to Arabic face specific problems that do not occur when the interface is set to English:

• Photos App: When selecting a photo or video using VoiceOver, the wrong item is often highlighted. For example, selecting a video might instead highlight the one before or after it. This issue is especially problematic when attaching files in apps like Mail. To work around this, users have to capture multiple images to ensure they can select the correct one.
• Emoji Keyboard: When navigating emoji categories in the Arabic interface, VoiceOver frequently selects the wrong category. For instance, choosing the 'Flags' category might instead open the “Objects” category.

These problems appear to be specific to the Arabic interface. Switching the iPhone’s language to English resolves these issues, suggesting they are linked to how VoiceOver interacts with Arabic UI settings.

2. Pronunciation Issues in Arabic Voices
   There are widespread pronunciation errors in VoiceOver’s Arabic voices. Examples include:

• The word “???” (night) is pronounced as “???” instead of “????”.
• The word “?????” (two swords) skips the letter “?”.
• The word “??????” (morning) doubles the letter “?” unnecessarily.
• The word “????” (mail) skips the letter “?”.
• The word “????” (my house) omits the second “?” after “?”.

These errors reflect a broader issue with Arabic language support in VoiceOver and significantly hinder its usability.

3. Problems with the New “Majed” Voice
   The new “Majed” voice, introduced in iOS 16, has serious issues:

• It sounds robotic and unnatural, making it uncomfortable for extended use.
• It contains numerous pronunciation errors, some of which were not present in the older version of the “Majed” voice.
• The older “Majed” voice was much clearer and more human-like, offering a significantly better experience.

The removal of the older voice in iOS 18 has forced users to either adapt to the new, problematic voice or remain on older iOS versions.

4. Siri Voices in VoiceOver
   The new Siri voices introduced in recent iOS updates are high-quality when used with Siri itself, but their implementation in VoiceOver is poor:

• These voices sound robotic and lack the clarity and naturalness they exhibit in Siri.
• Despite improvements in iOS 18, they remain unsuitable for regular VoiceOver use.

5. Bilingual Voice Switching Issues
   VoiceOver struggles with automatic switching between Arabic and English voices (e.g., between “Majed” for Arabic and “Samantha” for English):

• Words in one language are often pronounced incorrectly with the voice of the other language, leading to confusion and miscommunication.
• Earlier iOS versions, such as iOS 9, handled bilingual voice switching much better.
  This feature is critical for users who regularly work in both Arabic and English, and its current state is a major limitation.

6. Lack of a Dedicated Arabic Accessibility Team
   The persistent issues with Arabic language support in VoiceOver highlight the absence of a dedicated Arabic accessibility team at Apple:

• Problems such as pronunciation errors, bilingual voice switching, and interface bugs require the involvement of Arabic-speaking professionals to be addressed effectively.
• Without such a team, Arabic-speaking users will continue to experience subpar support in VoiceOver.

7. Third-Party Voices and Screen Readers
   Although Apple introduced the ability for third-party developers to add voices for VoiceOver in iOS 16, no developers or companies have provided such options to date:

• Major voice providers, such as Acapela, Vocalizer, and others, have not released apps or voices on the App Store, possibly due to Apple’s policies.
• The absence of third-party voices makes the feature essentially useless.
  Apple should not only encourage third-party developers to provide voices but also allow users to install and use third-party screen readers. Competing screen readers often offer features and functionality superior to VoiceOver, especially for non-English languages.

Conclusion
These issues collectively illustrate significant shortcomings in VoiceOver’s Arabic support. Addressing them requires:

• Fixing pronunciation errors in Arabic voices.
• Improving bilingual voice switching.
• Resolving interface bugs in the Arabic UI.
• Encouraging third-party developers to provide additional voices and screen readers.
• Establishing a dedicated Arabic accessibility team to ensure ongoing improvements.

Thank you for considering this feedback.
” – علي حسين المرفدي

“I think that the VoiceOver experience is mostly good, however I have noticed that focus does tend to jump around. This can be particularly annoying and even dangerous because it could mean that you press a button that you don’t want to, for example, paying for something. I also think VoiceOver navigation could be a bit smoother on websites particularly when there’s videos on the website because hearing the videoprogress constantly is pretty annoying and also sometimes VoiceOver just says close repeatedly even when there’s no close button.” – Anonymous

“My experience with VoiceOver is quite positive. I am generally productive and able to use MacOS and iOS at a comparable level to my sighted peers. That being said, each new release of iOS and MacOS brings changes that negatively impact my productivity. Subtle changes to app layouts require me to develop new muscle memory, something that’s significantly more difficult to do with a vision impairment. Unexplained changes in VoiceOver behavior draw me away from work and into AppleVis discussion forums. Time that could’ve been spent being productive is instead wasted on discussions of reproducer steps, whether changes are bugs or features, and filing Feedback reports that are frequently ignored. In summary, each new iOS or MacOS release has become something to approach with caution.” – PaulMartz

“I feel like Voiceover is top tier, especially on iOS and Mac OS, with the exception of bugs, but every software will have some bugs. But the voiceover in Watch OS, while it's quite good, I feel like it could improve. Maybe that's because I'm a fairly new Apple Watch user, and maybe it's because I expect more.” – Moopie Curran

“Apple has shown time and time again that it can deliver impressive and well-thought-out accessibility features on its platforms; however, the overall experience continues to be held back somewhat by the regular introduction of new bugs and Apple's failure to address many of them in a timely manner.” – Tyler

“The iPhone is easy to use with VoiceOver. On the iPad, I often find myself lost. VoiceOver on the Mac is disappointing.” – Pa. Joe

“Change the Voice over voices please. They sound awful.” – Blackadder

“The MAC version of voice over requires a work from the ground up to keep up with the latest web technology. Voice Over always sruggles with aria elements in the web page and web apps.” – Arya

“I have a love/hate relationship with my Mac. On the one hand, the potential for a great experience is there. Using the NumPad is a satisfying way to navigate my computer. However, the problem is that bugs are being introduced at a faster rate than they are being fixed. So each major version feels like a step backwards. Using the Mac is often a test of patience.
There are a number of problem areas. Firstly, the focus is incredibly loose, particularly when web browsing. I regularly find web sites that just don't work in Safari (like Amazon, the Glidance FAQs and various parts of Bitbucket and Jira that I rely on for work. Chrome doesn't have anywhere near as many issues. I'm finding it more and more common that Safari just can't handle even simple web sites properly.
But whether I choose Safari or Chrome, the focus regularly just shoots off and I have to go round and round in circles trying to complete a basic task.
The terminal is potentially great but just is degrading with each release, and just having it speak the output as it happens has been broken since the introduction of Sonoma.
Not to mention the very long-standing bug where up and down arrow keys randomly act like left and right arrow keys for no reason. This happens all the time and it is maddening. I regularly wonder why menus aren't working properly or the text I am trying to read won't. Then I realise it has happened again.
Text editing continues to be problematic.
And I find some of the built-in Apple apps like Podcasts, Home etc utterly baffling to use compared to significantly easier interfaces on the phone.
It is also incredibly frustrating that VO+J which was a very popular and useful feature became entirely broken with Sonoma and still remains useless. The Mac really needs the equivalent of F6 on Windows to quickly jump around the useful parts of an app. VO+J more or less did this. But no more, and windows spots also seem useless. The problem is that the behaviour is undocumented so it's unclear what these features should do, so it's hard to call them broken even though everyone seems to hate how they work now.
And it seems impossible to select text on a web page.
iOS does have its share of nasty problems. Editing text on the phone is horrible - VoiceOver will often just speak text that isn't there in place of blank lines, and it's just totally unreliable. The focus is also a bit floaty and difficult at times.
I think it is less of a problem for me because the interface is generally simpler. Navigating headings is much easier than having to deal with collections inside collections inside collections, and being able to explore by touch gives a good backup when swiping goes AWOL. And I can avoid typing most of the time. So generally I am happy with the way the phone works even though it could be tighter.
My experience with the Watch seems to get a little worse with each version. I Have a Watch Ultra and it feels less responsive and glitchy these days. The widgets have made the experience more confusing. It's usable but not usually a great experience. I often have to tap multiple times, raise my wrist up and down and repeat until it responds. And notifications regularly interrupt me when I am trying to read something. Often to tell me the thing I was half way through reading anyway.” – mr grieves

“It would be nice if VoiceOver had better image description with the use of generative AI. Also, native video description could be entirely possible. Braille screen input, whilst amazing, could also be more accurate sometimes.
It would be nice to have full braille input on a QERTY keyboard on both iPad with magic keyboard, and IOS.” – Anonymous

“I strongly recommend Apple products to visually impaired individuals for an exceptional user experience. Apple devices are renowned for their accessibility features, offering smooth, fast, and intuitive interactions that can significantly enhance productivity and independence.” – Minal Singhvi

“descriptions for non English characters should not be handled by voiceover, instead they should be handled by the current speech synthesizer. Example to these symbols could be Turkish characters İ, ı, ö, ü, ğ, ç, ş and cyrillic characters.
Latin letters should be interpreted by the next prefered latin language, if the IOS language is set to a language that uses non-latin symbols.” – faith

“I'm disappointed that AI-generated images don't have descriptions. Usually apple makes sure everything is accessible at launch but that doesn't seem to be true universally anymore.” – PinkCupcake5

“The voice-over experience on MacOS is not the same as the voice-over experience on iOS. I wish it wouldn't keep saying ‘not responding’ every time something goes wrong or the computer freezes.” – Anonymous

“I do encounter challenges in some aspects of the Voiceover iOS User Experience, but in fairness, some of the things I struggle with may admittedly stem from gaps in my understanding of and skill level in using Voiceover functionality on my iPhone. Text Selection is one area where I have difficulty, but again, I acknowledge the possibility that these difficulties are owing to my own inexperience and lack of acquired skills. Another concern I have has to do with Apple's move towards eliminating the "Home" button on future generations of iPhone models like the SE. If a crosswalk detailing how functions currently performed using the "Home" button vs. how these functions are performed on iPhones without a "Home" button exists, I have not yet found it. The totality of my iPhone experience thus far has been on iPhones with a "Home" button, and I am concerned about making the transition to an iPhone without a "Home" button which I sense I will be required to do fairly soon based on what I have read recently. I will be deeply grateful for anything Apple can do to make the transition from iPhones with a "home" button to iPhones without this button less challenging and stressful for their legacy customers; particularly those in the differently abled community.” – Sasquatch

“The experience on macos is... severely lacking. Bugs which have been reported go unresolved for months if not years, with some bugs beeing serious and disrupting one's workflow. While work has been made in mac to make the experiense better and closer to par with ios, it still has a way to go.” – Anonymous

“For the most part voiceover works well on iOS and iPadOS. Where voiceover falls down is on the Mac. The not responding bug is still quite present. Also voiceover is falling behind the windows screen readers in features. For example all the A I features that are in JAWS are not present in voiceover. The windows screen readers are also much more configurable than voiceover on the mac is.” – Greg Wocher

“On MacOS, more needs to be done with Microsoft Office, PDF files and ways to make professional looking documents. Voiceover itself is amazing, however that is the one reason I keep windows around for personal use.” – Anonymous

---

Braille

Braille Features

• Grade: B

Satisfaction with braille features across Apple’s platforms is mixed. iOS and iPadOS saw increases in satisfaction from 2023 to 2024; macOS remained constant; and watchOS and tvOS saw decreases. Of note, user satisfaction with braille features on watchOS has decreased steadily from 2022 (4.3), to 2023 (3.7), to 2024 (3.5). The highest level of satisfaction with braille features was on iOS (4.3), while the lowest was on watchOS (3.5).

• Overall: B (3.8)
• iOS: B (4.3)
  • 2023: B (4.1)
  • 2022: B (3.9)
  • Satisfaction with braille features on iOS has increased steadily since we began the report card for the 2022 year.
• iPadOS: B (4.2)
  • 2023: B (4.1)
  • 2022: B (3.8)
  • Satisfaction with the braille features on iPadOS increased from 2023.
• macOS: C (3.6)
  • 2023: C (3.6)
  • 2022: C (3.3)
  • Satisfaction with braille features on macOS remained the same as in 2023 after an increase from 2022 to 2023.
• watchOS: C (3.5)
  • 2023: B (3.7)
  • 2022: B (4.3)
  • Satisfaction with the braille features on watchOS has decreased steadily since 2022.
• tvOS: C (3.6)
  • 2023: B (4.0)
  • 2022: C (3.4)
  • Satisfaction with the braille features on tvOS has decreased from 2023 but is not as low as it was in 2022.

Selected Comments on Braille Features

Summary: Apple received high praise from participants for the new Braille Screen Input features introduced in iOS 18 and iPadOS 18. Several participants reported issues with the cursor jumping when using a braille display, and others reported issues when using particular displays and concerns about overall ease-of-use of braille display functionality.

“I came back to the iPhone after a few years of using an android phone because of the braille features that Apple offers. However, I have been disappointed because often while I am using Braille the focus will jump. For example, when I am typing a text message the focus will suddenly jump to the top status bar, and I need to come out of that to continue typing. This happens frequently. There are also issues with Braille in Facebook, which I recognize may not be Apple‘s fault but they are frustrating. Braille is not the seamless experience that I wish it was. I do appreciate having the option to use it though especially for texting or using teams while in transit to work.” – Jennifer W.

“I think Apple has done a great job with braille features on Apple products, particularly with iOS. In fact, the Braille Screen Input feature is one of my favorite features, and I use it often. With that being said, though, I do feel that Apple could improve braille display support on Apple devices. Often, when I use a braille display with my iPhone, the cursor will jump to random places in the text field when typing. I hope Apple will work to address what I've been calling the ‘cursor jumping bug’, because I would love to use my braille display with my phone more often than I currently do.” – Anonymous

“The new BSI on ios18 was worth it all the bugs in the beta cycles as it's a game changer, and even more so on ipad which I don't own but can just imagine. For me the only feature I use daily is the new gestures on the far edges and that now we can write all 6 dots at once too, but still the best feature overall.” – TheBllindGuy07

“I appreciate the ability to easily connect a braille display to my device. I absolutely love the braille features that are offered, especially BSI. IOS 18 has made it such an amazing experience. I love the new gestures to enter BSI, the keyboard clicks, the simple interface and the option of using command mode.” – jelly_beans_1

“Things have definitely improved in My experience using a braille display with the iPhone. I do not make use ofbrail screen input. But I really enjoy when I can use the display with the iPhone. Right now, the only display I have access to is from Humanware. My experiences with keyboards versus braille display, and even the people at accessibility told me that there are typically problems interacting between Humanware displays and the iPhone. Since the e-reader is available throughout the US, why hasn’t this been addressed.” – ICarolyn

“I love using Braille Screen input on my devices since Apple updated them. Even though I give this a 5 rating, I only wish that Braille displays connected more automatically to the device.” – Anonymous

“The improvements to BSI in 18 are amazing” – Grace

“I've only just gotten back into brail and very much enjoying it. I love how they've really upped their game with the new BSI commands but also adding in things like a shortcut to reconnect brail displays and even braille typing on qwerty keyboards. It's all very cool indeed.” – Oliver

“I feel that braille is one of those features that can always be improved upon. I think being able to control the device from a braille display without having to touch the screen is the kind of feature that I’m looking for.” – DarkWingsRaven

“braille management is not enough opened for developers. I developed 2 new apps and I had to create my own braille management because the accessibility API is not enough to split the user experience for braille and for voice” – Jonathan Chacón

“Braille on iOS is the best out of any mobile OS.” – Devin Prater

“iOS18 brought an incredible improvement. I hardly ever need to use MBraille anymore. In some apps like Facebook when creating a post, BSI tends to be a little flakey and unreliable and does not give proper feedback. That is about my only criticism.” – Christo

“Apple still has a long way to go to equal the Braille capabilities of, ssay, JAWS.” – Misty Dawn

“I love the braille screen input on iPhone because it makes it so much faster for people familiar with braille to type.” – Tallen

“What Apple has done with braille accessibility for Apple products is phenomenal. Apple seems determined that there is no such thing as a person who cannot use an Apple product.” – Brian

“As mentioned, braille screen input can be inaccurate At points.
When using a braille display on iPad, the curser jumps around and behaves strangely when using pages.” – Anonymous

“I love the new Braille Screen Input. That is so awesome to be able to invoke it right off the bat.” – Jennie A Facer

“I like the Braille features on iOS and MacOS. I think it's a bit complicated to set up a Braille display on MacOS and iOS for the first time with entering the pin. In some Braille displays that don't suppot the Hid protocol, entering the pin times out.” – Anonymous

“I find braille screen input very useful as it is often easier to type with then VoiceOver” – Alyssia

“The Braille features are improving all the time. The highlight is Braille Screen Input reworking in iOS 18. It just gets better and better and now it is a true power feature.” – Anonymous

“I find the Braille accessibility features in iOS leaps and bounds above those on android. I'm quite pleased with the fact that iOS can now automatically go into BSI when you start typing.” – Moopie Curran

Braille User Experience

• Grade: B

Satisfaction with the braille user experience is mixed. iOS and tvOS saw gains in user satisfaction, while iPadOS, macOS, and watchOS all saw decreases. The highest level of satisfaction with the braille user experience was on iOS (4.1), while the lowest was on macOS (3.3).

• Overall: B (3.7)
• iOS: B (4.1)
  • 2023: B (4.0)
  • 2022: B (3.7)
  • Satisfaction with the braille user experience has increased somewhat from 2023.
• iPadOS: B (3.9)
  • 2023: B (4.0)
  • 2022: C (3.5)
  • Satisfaction with the braille user experience on iPadOS has decreased slightly from 2023 but is not as low as it was in 2022.
• macOS: C (3.3)
  • 2023: C (3.5)
  • 2022: C (3.2)
  • Satisfaction with the braille user experience on macOS has decreased from 2023 but is not as low as it was in 2022.
• watchOS: C (3.6)
  • 2023: B (3.9)
  • 2022: B (4.2)
  • Satisfaction with the braille user experience on watchOS has decreased steadily since 2022.
• tvOS: C (3.6)
  • 2023: C (3.4)
  • 2022: C (3.6)
  • Satisfaction with the braille user experience on tvOS has increased from 2023 but is at the same level as it was in 2022.

Selected Comments on Braille User Experience

Summary: Overall, participants expressed that the braille user experience on Apple products is not as refined as it could be—of particular concern for people who are DeafBlind. The steep learning curve for braille features, and less robust support and documentation on macOS, was also mentioned.

“Braille still often seems to get short shrift, especially when it comes to external Braille displays. This problem is especially critical for DeafBlind users for whom Braille is the only option.” – Misty Dawn

“On macOS, basic functionality such as panning the display does not work reliably., e.g., text in the VoiceOver cursor is sometimes skipped while panning the display to the right. This has been a problem for years, and it still hasn't been resolved. There are other issues, e.g., cursor tracking in some applications, where the spoken output is correct, but the Braille does not follow the cursor properly. I don't understand why Apple can't redesign the code and reimplement.” – Jason White

“Apple should focus more on braille. I would like to see more customiization of the braille advance feature. I would also like to see more braille displays added.” – Renita Rogers

“All in all, I think the user experience is quite good. However, I have noticed that since iOS 18.2 BSI has been a little bit inaccurate with regards to recognizing what I'm typing, especially when I'm using dots 4, 5 and 6 together. I also think that the experience is a small bit more clunky on iPad” – jelly_beans_1

“VoiceOver is somewhat useful in that it allows braille to be used with an iPhone. My concern is that being allowed to use braille with the iPhone often interferes with the use of both internal and external keyboards. Both reading and writing of messages and emails can be completely locked up. this has happened to me twice and I’ve had to go back to accessibility who blamed the issue on the NLS E-reader/Humanware. Placing that blame on Humanware doesn’t fix the issue, doesn’t send it up the chain of command to get fixed.” – ICarolyn

“I can't really blame apple for this one, I don't think, but my display is quite old, Vario Ultra 20, and, though it connects more reliably than it did, it's still not 100 % of the time. This is also using the shortcut to reconnect brail displays.
There are also issues with the Kindle app where large sections of text are skipped. I don't know if this is an issue with voiceover brail, the way it tracks the kindle text, or simply kindle itself, but it has made the app too frustrating to use. It would be nice if apple accessibility and amazon accessibility put their heads together over this one.” – Oliver

“I use a Mantis Q40 with my iPhone and find the overall experience to be fantastic. There are occasions where controlling the phone using the keyboard will still work but Braille feedback stops working, which is frustrating, but it can often easily be resolved by disconnecting and reconnecting the Braille display. It is hard to know what is an iOS issue and what is a Braille display issue.
It is worth noting that the Mantis Q40 is a Braille display but with a standard QWERTY keyboard for input, so I am not dealing with Braille translation when typing on my device. I hear there are a lot of translation issues, but these won't affect me in my use case.” – Callum Stoneman

“Braille output, particularly seems to still have occasional bugs. MacOS support for Braille remains severely lacking.” – Justice

“Braille Screen Input is amazing! The level of thought Apple has put into command mode simply blows me away. Just with BSI alone, I feel as if iOS 18 is one of the best versions of iOS in several years. ????” – Brian

“Feedback on Braille with iPhone:
Braille support on the iPhone is excellent, but Braille devices are extremely expensive, which makes them inaccessible to many users, including myself.
Additionally, the method for typing in Braille on the iPhone screen is very complicated. It often requires using multiple fingers (e.g., three, four, or even seven fingers simultaneously), which is not practical on a small screen.
There is also no beginner-friendly guide or tutorial for learning how to use Braille on the iPhone effectively, making it even harder for new users to adopt. Because of these challenges, I do not use this feature.
Thank you for addressing these concerns!” – علي حسين المرفدي

“There is a delay wen working with Liblouis Braille tables with BSI.
In addition, the device becomes unresponssive and frees.” – Lielle ben simon

“On MacOS, the Braille experience isn't known as much. It's often difficult to know what commands to use to control the computer. There isn't any tutorial on how to use, and what options are available under the Braille section in the Voice-over utility. After pairing the Braille display, I'm not sure what to do to control the computer, like interacting, navigation, etc.” – Anonymous

“sometimes,dot four appears several times in a row, even though I have not touched the screen. I am not sure why that happens.” – honest nan

“Overall, Braille is great. The highlight for me would be if multi-line displays like the Monarch were supported, (as I own one and think it is truly incredible technology.” – Anonymous

“The Braille experience is pretty buggy still. As new features become available, it seems like Braille is being left out. I really don't want that to happen! I use Braille on a daily basis with my devices, and I am having more and more trouble with each update. Now that I have vented, I am so grateful that Apple has included Braille in their products right out of the box.” – Jennie A Facer

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Low Vision

Low Vision Features

• Grade: B

Across the board, satisfaction with the low vision features offered on Apple products decreased from 2023. The highest level of satisfaction with low vision features was on iOS (4.3), while the lowest was on macOS (4.0). Due to the smaller sample size, it is possible that there is a larger margin of error.

• Overall: B (4.2)
• iOS: B (4.3)
  • 2023: A (4.4)
  • 2022: B (3.9)
  • Satisfaction with low vision features on iOS decreased slightly from 2023 but is still above the level in 2022.
• iPadOS: B (4.2)
  • 2023: B (4.3)
  • 2022: C (3.5)
  • Satisfaction with low vision features on iPadOS decreased slightly from 2023 but is still well above the level in 2022.
• macOS: B (4.2)
  • 2023: A (4.7)
  • 2022: C (3.5)
  • Satisfaction with the low vision features on macOS decreased significantly from 2023 but is still higher than the level in 2022.
• watchOS: B (4.0)
  • 2023: B (4.1)
  • 2022: C (3.0)
  • Satisfaction with the low vision features on watchOS decreased slightly from 2023 but is well above the level in 2022.
• tvOS: B (4.1)
  • 2023: A (4.5)
  • 2022: C (3.0)
  • Satisfaction with the low vision features in tvOS decreased from 2023 but is still above the level in 2022.

Selected Comment on Low Vision Features

“I use VoiceOver more for Apple products, but do sometimes use low vision features like Zoom. I do find myself using Zoom more now that I have a phone with an action button, where I can quickly turn Zoom on and off and not double up on the triple click accessibility shortcut. I Do use the Magnifier app every single day though and love this feature. I especially like that I can use the new Camera Control button to launch Magnifier instead of the Camera app. I use this all the time! I would love to see the zoom in and out gesture for the Zoom app to be changed to something less clunky. It's one of the most difficult gestures for new users to get used to. I don't know why, if Zoom is on, the regular pinch to zoom gesture can't just over-ride an app's pinch gestures. Everyone is already familiar with punch to zoom, and it's far less clunky than that double tap and hold and drag nonsense.” – Anonymous

Low Vision User Experience

• Grade: B

Satisfaction with the low vision user experience on watchOS increased slightly when compared to 2023, whereas all other platforms saw decreases in satisfaction. The highest level of satisfaction with low vision user experience was on iPadOS (4.5), while the lowest was on tvOS (3.5). Due to the smaller sample size, it is possible that there is a larger margin of error.

• Overall: B (4.1)
• iOS: B (4.3)
  • 2023: A (4.4)
  • 2022: B (3.7)
  • The level of satisfaction with the low vision user experience on iOS decreased slightly from 2023 but is above the level in 2022.
• iPadOS: A (4.5)
  • 2023: A (4.5)
  • 2022: C (3.4)
  • Satisfaction with the low vision user experience on iPadOS was unchanged from 2023 and is well above that in 2022.
• macOS: B (4.0)
  • 2023: A (4.5)
  • 2022: C (3.4)
  • Satisfaction with the low vision user experience on macOS decreased significantly from 2023 but is still above the level in 2022.
• watchOS: B (4.1)
  • 2023: B (4.0)
  • 2022: C (3.0)
  • Satisfaction with the low vision user experience on watchOS increased slightly from 2023.
• tvOS: C (3.5)
  • 2023: B (4.3)
  • 2022: C (3.0)
  • Satisfaction with the low vision user experience on tvOS decreased significantly from 2023 but is still higher than the level in 2022.

Selected Comment on Low Vision User Experience

“I had a negative experience on MacOS many years ago when smart invert was introduced. Most of us invert colors because white text on a black background is easier to see. Smart invert doesn't invert the colors of images, even images that contained text. Since smart invert replace standard color invert, this left low vision users with no effective way to read screenshots of text. I recall this issue was addressed, but it took a significant amount of time for the fix to become available, and those of us with low vision were left to suffer for several months, if I recall correctly. I want to thank Apple for fixing it, but I feel it necessary to point out that the issue should never have existed in the first place. This smart invert anecdote is not a one-off, and Apple's tendency to implement-before-thinking is certainly not limited to low-vision features.” – PaulMartz

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Other Ratings and Comments

The New Accessibility Features Introduced by Apple in 2024 for Blind, DeafBlind, and Low Vision Users, in Terms of Their Effectiveness and Usefulness in Enhancing the Experience With Apple Software

• Grade: B

When compared to 2022 and 2023, users were more satisfied with the new accessibility features introduced in 2024 for people who are blind, DeafBlind, or who have low vision.

• 2024: B (4.0)
  • 2023: B (3.7)
  • 2022: C (3.5)
  • Satisfaction with Apple’s yearly accessibility feature introductions has increased since we began publishing this report card in 2022.

Selected Comments on the New Accessibility Features Introduced by Apple in 2024

Summary: While opinions on the utility of the new accessibility features introduced in 2024 were not universal, a large number of users praised Apple's efforts in this regard. In particular, participants expressed appreciation for the improvements to Braille Screen Input (including Command Mode); Live Recognition; the Voices Rotor; the customizable Commanders in macOS; Audio Ducking enhancements; and the VoiceOver Tutorial on iOS. Some users reported difficulty using the Vocal Shortcuts feature. Some expressed that VoiceOver is stagnating, while others expressed a wish for Apple to prioritize fixing bugs and existing features before implementing new ones. Multiple participants expressed a desire for Apple to improve image descriptions using artificial intelligence.

“As I said earlier, they really don't seem applicable to my admittedly limited day-to-day needs.” – AbleTec

“It is great to finally be able to have more flexibility in the speech/voices rotor. I regularly switch between different voices for different tasks, and I find it much easier to get the voices and settings I want with the new options available.
I'm also glad to see live recognition added to the rotor. There are many great features in there, but they were too hidden away in the Magnifier app.
Finally, the new ‘command mode’ in Braille Screen Input is absolutely fantastic! I regularly hear from people that they would like an iPhone, but really struggle with all the different taps, swipes and other gestures, so being able to use Braille note taker-like commands directly on the screen will make the transition so much easier for them. It is nice that it is available natively on the device now, without the user needing to purchase an additional piece of hardware to get this functionality.” – Callum Stoneman

“The fact that visionOS is accessible from the very start shows the high priority that Apple gives to accessibility, generally speaking.” – TheBllindGuy07

“Love the new BSI” – Grace

“I know there were several new features introduced in 2024, but the 2 that I found to be most remarkable, were the Live Recognition feature, and Braille Screen Input. I realize Live Recognition has been around for a little while, but in 2024 it became available to everyone, on all devices that could support iOS 18. Even though there are third-party apps that essentially do the same thing, it is nice to see Apple giving us this feature natively, and as I have already mentioned about BSI, it is simply boss” – Brian

“as far as IOS is concerned, no really useful feature (where usefulness is measured by the impact of the feature on daily life) was introduced in 2024. BSI was inpactful to an extend but that's only to people who use braille input on a regular basis.” – Gokul

“I like the effiency of choosing voices better now. I also like separating default command sets for VoiceOver on Mac from the user defined command set, the separation of the quick nav command, and being able to pop all the way out from nested groups.” – Anonymous

“The adding of voices had become more complicated and it takes forever to add a voice. The experience is not easy and a pain.” – Holger Fiallo

“I've covered this in a previous answer but the development of BSI is fantastic. It's made iPad a really interesting option for blind users, so much so I'm looking to get the new bottom of the line iPad 11 when it is released and whatever keyobard that works with it... Though, there are still issues with bluetooth keyboards and putting ipads to sleeps, as I understand it.
I think brail was the focus this year. I'm excited to see what the focus is for IOS 19. I'm suspecting it might be AI related.” – Oliver

“I would hope for more useful features, such as long image descriptions system-wide like Be my eyes does and a true multilingual support based on AI.” – Anonymous

“I think the enhancements were great. I’m excited to see even more. I’d love to see smoother connectivity with braille displays and even more robust commands for qwerty and braille keyboard models.
I’d also like to see continued improvements with braille screen input.” – DarkWingsRaven

“As mentioned earlier, what VoiceOver lacks is an online, AI-based image and screen describer. Moreover, the new Siri voices still don't deliver the supreme audio quality VoiceOver users deserve.” – Amir Soleimani

“I love them so much specially the braille advantages in Ios 18” – Ramy

“some useful minor enhancements, but nothing groundbreaking and nothing in comparison to other platforms.” – Ashley

“I really love the new flexibility, especially when it comes to audio ducking I love the always option, because it allows me to listen to music in the background, while still being able to hear what voiceover is saying I also love having a voiceover tutorial for those new to iOS.” – Jimmy V

“In general, I thought this was a great year for new VoiceOver features compared to previous years. In particular, I like the much broader selection of shortcuts on my Mac. I also really, really love the braille screen input updates, it feels smoother when typing, and I use the command mode for a fairly significant amount of my navigation now. I only wish that it were easier to change the chords in BSI's command mode.” – AERobert

“They are very good, though ‘Live recognition’ still needs very much work to make it really usable. In my experience ‘Vocal shortcuts’ are pretty unreliable and needs more work to get them to be usable.” – Christo

“Whilst they have potential I have to be honest and say I really don't use them very much. Maybe as they develop and adapt they will be more useful.” – Lee

“I like the ability to customize voiceover voices further, and be able to set up audio ducking to suit my preferences. I also love everything to do with braille screen input” – jelly_beans_1

“These new features are awesome, especially live recognition, improved voices rotor (primary and secondary voices), improved audio ducking” – Tarja

“I feel like the new features don't live up to my expectations at all. There are two aspects of the functions I expect. On the one hand, I hope to use Apple Intelligence's large model to enhance the description ability of pictures. Now Apple's one-sentence description of pictures cannot meet my needs at all. On the other hand, I hope that Mac OS can also get the same screen recognition function as iOS as soon as possible, so that if we encounter an APP with poor accessibility, we will not be at a loss on Mac.” – Anonymous

“One of the features in 2024 that is a great new voiceover feature is the voiceover tutorial. This feature will allow new voiceover users toget up to speed on how to use voiceover with there iPhone.” – Isaac Hebert

“I don't feel that the overall end-user experience was very well thought out, or tested. the Email summary is not particularly easy to navigate, and some button lables are missing.
During usige of the new photos app I was unable to have iOS summarise the content of them.” – mcox

“I am really excited for Apple Intelligence as I upgraded my equipment over the Christmas holiday, I think it is featured packed, and I hope to see more features coming to it one day!” – Anonymous

“I love that Apple FINALLY included a keyboard click sound when using the Braille Screen Input keyboard. I know that's not much of a feature per-say, but it's definitely a welcome addition to the Braille Screen Input keyboard. Also, while I'm on the topic of the Braille Screen Input keyboard, I love that Apple added a command mode to the BSI keyboard. It makes using my phone even easier, now that I have a whole set of virtual braille commands at my fingertips. Well done, Apple! I hope you continue making improvements to the Braille Screen Input keyboard.” – Anonymous

“I've marked this down as I've not updated due to the bugs which would have a negative impact on my usse. Hopefully these will get resolved in a future update but for now I'm staying on IOS/Ipad17” – Graham

“I really like the new changes to BSI on IOS, it's made using BSI system-wide feel far more intuitive, seamless and native. Before, it felt like it was something that was just tacked on to Vo, some places it would work great, most places it worked but occasionally dinn't, and some places it could never work well, (Safari for instance). Now, the experience is much much better.” – Justice

“I absolutely love the enhancements to braille screen input, audio ducking and live text for iOS” – Anonymous

“In general, I am always less interested in new features than in a smooth, responsive, predictable set of standard features.” – Doug Greene

“I like the new Braille Screen Input system, and I like that VoiceOver finally has a tutorial.
I do wish Apple would prioritize fixing bugs and issues with existing accessibility features before releasing new ones.” – Anonymous

“In 2024, Apple did not focus much on VoiceOver features; the emphasis was more on Braille. I hope that Apple will focus in future updates on enhancing the VoiceOver screen reader, adding new features, and fixing issues related to right-to-left languages in the Photos app and emoji selection.” – Fari

“We need apple intelligence to be in Arabic.” – Anonymous

“Are there any? Features have been provided, like vocal shortcuts but these are useless once the phone is locked none others spring to mind.” – Pat Ships

“The features introduced this year, especially on iOS, are great. I'm not a heavy Braille Screen Input user, but for the times I do use it the new command mode and extra sound and haptic feedback is a welcome addition. The expanded audio settings, including the equalizer and options to adjust the audio ducking amounts on the other hand are very useful and I find myself using audio ducking far more now that I can make it not as strong. I also appreciate access to the Japanese and Chinese Eloquence voices. And I can't forget the fact we were now told about these additions right after installation, which is a very welcome change.
On the mac I'm happy I can now make custom commands that use the VoiceOver keys, while the system has over all become more responsive. I just wish some of the new iOS features, like the expanded control over audio ducking or the equalizer would have also made their way across, but sadly they have not.” – Piotr Machacz

“I love the new Braille Screen Input feature that was revised in 2024. It has made my life much easier when working with the onscreen keyboard.” – Jennie A Facer

“I haven't had much cause to use these new features, and when I have, they haven't been very effective for me.” – Anonymous

“Feedback on New Accessibility Features Introduced by Apple in 2024:
Apple has not introduced any significant or advanced accessibility features in 2024, especially for screen readers like VoiceOver. As a dedicated VoiceOver user, I have lost hope in its development. The progress is extremely slow, and VoiceOver continues to lag far behind competing screen readers in terms of functionality and innovation. The features introduced this year are either minor or lack practical value, failing to address the core needs of users who rely on accessibility tools. There have been no advancements that genuinely improve the experience for blind or visually impaired users.
We urgently need meaningful updates, such as AI-driven enhancements, improved text recognition (especially in Arabic), better Braille support, and competitive alternatives to VoiceOver. Without these, Apple’s accessibility offerings remain stagnant and underwhelming.
Thank you for considering this feedback!” – علي حسين المرفدي

“On the Mac, I the keyboard is more customisable, but the downside is that it is now really overwhelming to edit. I preferred the individual commanders as it felt like I had a better idea of which buttons I could use, plus it was more compartmentalised so it felt safer. So far I've not dared touch it.
Otherwise I've not noticed much difference with Sequoia.
iOS did seem to have a lot of additions this time, but I've not really used any of them. The changes to BSI sound impressive and I may go there one day. The changes to the Siri voice for VoiceOver sound good, but aren't available in the UK voices. I'd love a version of Siri I could use with VoiceOver that could pronounce single letters or digits properly.
It was disappointing to see so many unlabelled buttons in the photos app at launch. This osrt of thing should be caught at compile time. The app itself feels like Apple has 'done a Sonos' and just thrown everything into one big complicated mess. But at least it is accessible now even if the experience is poor.
On the Watch, I've no idea what was new except for some unwanted changes to how the volume works. With the latest update I believe the volume has become totally reckless so I am refusing to update it, even though the Watch constantly nags me about it.
I do have the Air Pods Pro 2s now, partly for the noise reduction but also for the new hearing test feature that I was keen to try. However, I can't get past the fit test to try it so that was disappointing.
So I don't think I'm actually using any of the new features.” – mr grieves

“The new BSI is amazing. Keyboard clicks have made such a difference to me.” – Anonymous

“I love the Chat GPT integration - however, I cannot get it to read responses using speak screen so would like to see this improved. They have significantly improved my daily independence.” – Anonymous

“With the introduction of BSI command mode, BSI and braille displays are now functionally equivalent. This was a brilliant idea. I want to buy the developer a beer.” – PaulMartz

“I think the new features are very good. I like the audio ducking especially.” – Dennis Long

“They haven't really changed how I do things or anything new.” – PinkCupcake5

“I like the new voice rotor, the new audio ducking options and the new braille screen input gestures.” – WellF

“Hi, I really find the new audio ducking feature useful. It is excellent Thank you very much!main feature that I like is the pop-up menu for our context menu. This makes it a lot easier to do a lot of things. That was a big step forward.” – gregg

“I feel I need to be mindful of the maturity of VoiceOver, and set my expectations for additional features accordingly. In that light, I think Apple's done a great job in continuing to develop and enhance VoiceOver year on year. On iOS, the tutorial, although not needed myself, is a huge addition for new users and evidence that Apple is paying attention to feedback.
The new ability to customise keyboard commands in Mac OS is the highlight this year on that platform, and I hope a sign that more attention is being paid to Mac.” – Dave Nason

“Braille screen input reworking was the highlight feature for me personally. I know it's not a new feature as such, however it is brilliant!” – Anonymous

“In 2024, I have to say that the accessibility features have been really impressive. Even though I don’t use all of them myself, I can see the thought and care that went into features like Personal Voice. Having the ability to create a personal voice is revolutionary. Sure, not everyone loves hearing their own voice—I’m definitely one of those people—but the option to preserve it is so important. Anyone can lose their voice at any time, or just want to have that option. Even if it’s synthesized or compressed, it’s still a huge step forward.
Live Speech is another feature I really appreciate. It’s incredibly useful, and I know it’s made communication much easier for a lot of people. That said, when it comes to the new voices introduced recently, it feels like we’re just seeing the same ones repackaged in different ways. I think it’s time to create some truly new voices. Why not use artificial intelligence to mix and match voice samples and develop fresh, human-like options?
I understand the concerns some people have about AI voices, but let’s be real—how many people would actually volunteer to lend their voice to a project like this? Recording all the phrases a screen reader uses is no small task. So if AI can help fill in the gaps and provide more variety, I’m all for it. It’s not about replacing human voices; it’s about giving people more options. And no one’s being forced to use features they don’t want, so why not expand the possibilities?
Another area that could be improved is voice control. For blind users especially, this has so much untapped potential. Imagine being able to say, “Double-tap the caption,” or “Fill in this text field,” and have AI handle it seamlessly. Voice control and VoiceOver don’t integrate well right now, and fixing that could open up so many opportunities. AI could even be used to help with visual tasks, like identifying on-screen elements or navigating complex menus.
One frustration I have is with the way new features are rolled out. Sometimes Apple introduces something new and makes it the default setting, which can be really confusing. Last year, when they changed how primary and secondary voices worked, I was completely lost. It would be so much better if new features weren’t automatically turned on. Let me discover them on my own. When I open an app, explain what’s new, show me how to use it, and then let me decide if I want to enable it.
As a blind user, adjusting to new technology can be time-consuming and challenging. If something isn’t broken, don’t fix it. And if there’s a change, don’t make it default without giving me a choice. Just leave my setup as it is and let me explore new features at my own pace.” – Winter Roses

Apple’s Performance in 2024 in Addressing VoiceOver, Braille, and Low Vision-Related Bugs

• Grade: C

User satisfaction with Apple’s 2024 performance in addressing VoiceOver, braille, and low vision-related bugs is low but has increased slightly over time.

• 2024: C (3.2)
  • 2023: C (3.0)
  • 2022: D (2.8)
  • Satisfaction with Apple’s performance in addressing VoiceOver, braille, and low vision-related bugs has slightly increased from 2023.

Selected Comments on Apple’s Performance in 2024 in addressing VoiceOver, Braille, and Low Vision-Related Bugs

Summary: While some comments were positive, most participants expressed varying levels of dissatisfaction with Apple's performance in 2024 in addressing VoiceOver, braille, and low vision-related bugs. Multiple participants expressed frustration with reporting bugs to Apple's Accessibility Team, from receiving 'cookie-cutter responses' to feeling 'dismissed' when calling to report issues. Many participants also provided specific details on bugs that they are experiencing, and some participants shared concerns about Apple’s communications relating to accessibility fixes in software releases.

“Utterly appauling. Apple seems not to care at all, particularly when it comes to the Mac. I'm starting to think we are a box-ticking exercise. Cookie cutter responses from Apple Accessibility, zero response at all to anything submitted via feedback assistant, and nothing gets fixed. Accessibility rarely gets a mention in the release notes and even Apple's own applications are either full of accessibility-related bugs, or are completely inaccessible at all on release. 2 great examples being the new calculator and iPhone Mirroring on MacOS. If Apple can't commit by their actions to take accessibility seriously in the development of their own software, why should app developers be expected to do so?” – Ashley

“Honestly, dealing with Apple and accessibility-related issues is just… exhausting. I used to have the time and energy to address these things—when I was younger, I’d sit down, produce detailed screen recordings, write up explanations of the problems, and email them to Apple. That’s how I’d try to show what was going wrong and even suggest how to fix it. For a while, they’d respond. There was a time when they actually seemed like they cared. They’d acknowledge the issue, and I’d see changes. Now? Now it’s just a default email: ‘We got your screen recording, thanks for the feedback, we’ll send it to the appropriate team.’ And then… nothing. Crickets.
I feel like once they’ve covered the basics of accessibility and rolled out a new product, everything else just gets lost in the details. The small, everyday issues that make a difference to users? Forgotten. At this point, I don’t even bother reaching out anymore. I don’t have the time or energy to fight over the same things again and again, especially when I know I probably won’t see any change.
I have an older device, and yeah, I don’t get to use the shiny new features. But you know what? It works. It’s functional. I don’t have the finances to upgrade, and honestly, I don’t think I’m missing much, because these recurring issues—pronunciation problems, random glitches—still haven’t been fixed. For example, there’s this weird bug where my screen reader just picks up random snippets of text. And the only way to fix it? Restart the entire phone. Or the Speak Screen feature—sometimes it’ll activate, and I can’t turn it off, no matter what I do. I collapse the screen, expand it, swipe every which way, and nothing. I have to restart the device just to stop it.
And GarageBand? Don’t even get me started. I just wanted to do some basic audio editing, have a little fun, you know? Nothing fancy. But nope, the accessibility is so broken that I gave up. Same with iMovie. I wanted to create a simple project—add some audio to a generated image, something basic like a picture of a dog walking in the park. You’d think that would be straightforward, right? But no, iMovie hasn’t been fully accessible in years. YEARS. The thing is, Apple needs to do better. It’s not just about rolling out a product and saying, ‘Look, it’s accessible!’ They need demos, real ones—public tutorials showing us how to use these features in practical ways. Not some one-on-one session that nobody knows about. Sit down, create an actual video, and show me how to use GarageBand. Show me how to use iMovie. Update these resources and make them easy to find.
The older I get, the less time I have for this. Life is hard enough as it is—trying to keep food on the table, a roof over my head, just surviving day to day. So when Apple doesn’t do what they’re supposed to do, it’s like screaming into the void. I want to fight for better accessibility, but I’m tired. We’re all tired. And at some point, you have to pick your battles.
It shouldn’t be this hard. These are basic, fundamental things, and yet they take so long to address. It feels like they’re just waiting us out, hoping we’ll stop complaining. And honestly? Some of us already have—because we’re human. We’re tired. We’ve got other things to deal with. Apple could be doing so much more, but it’s like they’ve decided “good enough” is where they’ll stop. And that’s just… disheartening.” – Winter Roses

“on Iphone, can't understand how things like real-time-recognition (I use iOS in Spanish so don't know wat's the exact term for this) has been downgraded and broken since iOS 18. For example reading text by pointing with finger doesn't work since the update and has been no resolved yet.
Also volume adjustments while using voiceover has been a mess in iOS 18 and watchOS 11, while in iOS 17 and watchOS 10 they were working properly.” – Karina Velazquez

“Apple continues to regularly introduce new bugs, even in relatively minor updates, and provides very little communication to users as to when such bugs will be addressed. Furthermore, Apple's relative lack of documentation on the expected behaviors of various functions presents an ongoing challenge to creating meaningful, high-quality reports.
An example of this is the current inability to dismiss the Dock on macOS using the Escape key, a function that has existed since VoiceOver's initial release with Mac OS X 10.4 Tiger in 2005. While it is possible to dismiss the Dock by pressing VO-Escape, it is not clear from any of Apple's documentation whether or not this is working as designed, and if a deliberate change was made in Sequoia, what the rationale was for making it.
Another example is with Writing Tools on macOS, when selecting text, VoiceOver sometimes announces ‘Writing Tools in Action menu.’ Lacking any additional context, it is not clear to me, the user, why this is sometimes, but not always, announced when selecting text, and with no accompanying documentation or communication from Apple Accessibility, it is not clear to me, as a user and tester, how this feature is supposed to work.” – Tyler

“In one Word it has been a Terrible! job. It has taken far to long!!!! If these were bugs for sighted users You wouldn't ship the product!!! We are no less important!!!!!” – Dennis Long

“I do feel more heard this year. Bugs remain, but things do seem to be moving in the right direction more. You can tell by the posts on here. SNR, safari not responding, was a big issue. This year safari and amazon no longer play nice, which apple are aware of but, unlike with SNR, I have more faith there will be a fix that doesn't take several years.” – Oliver

“We are still expected to volunteer to help so much and there are many bugs that they just don't seem to understand, this despite them having some very helpful blind staff” – Anonymous

“Voiceover on the mac is still a mess and I can't recommend a mac with the same confidence than an iPhone unless you are an experienced user and ideally a developer.” – TheBllindGuy07

“I wish more attention was given to bugs, like the one I mentioned above, where Voiceover users cannot change the playback speed of audio messages. Also, I wish they'd fix the long-standing bug, where if your mail app is in a folder & the number of unread messages hits or exceeds 1,000, only the number before the comma is spoken by Voiceover, but if a sighted person looks at the folder, the full number is shown.” – KE8UPE

“I think braille screen input can be improved. Occasionally not all dots pressed are recognized, so you need to constantly readjust the dot positions on the screen” – Anonymous

“Apple is doing a great job. I suggest making more strides in the field of AI-based, high-quality voices for VoiceOver.” – Amir Soleimani

“I know Apple has fixed some reported bugs, but they have also not fixed some long standing bugs that have been in IOS for years. One particularly annoying one is the focus jumping VoiceOver issue. When you tap an item to focus on something, sometimes VO just decides to randomly jump focus quickly to somewhere else, and you end up activating the wrong item or control. Please, please fix this... In IOS 18 specifically, there is also this random volume bug that hasn't been fixed, where when I play media, the volume of said media is randomly normal, or lowered. Sometimes turning VO off and on again brings the volume back to normal, but not always. Random volume levels can also be hard on the ears, like when I'm usign a bluetooth headset, answer a call, and have the call volume jump to insanely high. I would love to see Apple address these.” – Anonymous

“I use my iPhone and Apple Watch in Spanish and the voices read me words that have the sound sh as j. I sent an email to Apple early on May, but the bug has not been resolved yet.” – Anonymous

“Bugs are addressed slowly, if at all. The lack of response by Apple to issues submitted via Feedback Assistant has been documented publicly. There needs to be a better process for reporting, reproducing and fixing accessibility-related issues.” – Jason White

“Faster bug fixes and treating accessibility issues with the same priority as other mainstream effecting bugs would be great.” – Anonymous

“there are bugs that seem to carry over from one major update to the next. i wonder if the bug reports are really getting through to apple. things like losing focus in the contacts app every time you fill out a field, it goes back up to the top rather than to the next field. this bug has been around for years.” – jennifer

“As someone who doesn't use IOS all that heavily, IOS18 so far seems like a it smoothed over some of the prominate rough spots from the last few releases. I seem to remember regretting installing IOS16 and 17 when they came out, so its definitely improved.
Unfortunately, I can't say the same about Mac OS. The issues in previus releases were not really fixed at all in Mac OS 15, and in deed I have found that a few more appeared with the new update, although Apple does seem to have removed some of these in the incremental updates.” – AERobert

“VoiceOver is now worse in iOS18.0 as far as performance. Things like autoreading of notifications,texts, and so forth has stopped. VoiceOver is a nightmare using the new photos app.” – Rick

“I feel that Apple has been slower to respond for to these types of bugs. It seems as though voiceover accessibility is not as much of a priority as it used to be. For example, when the new feature of being able to use the telephone keypad to find a contact was introduced. It took several updates for the bug to be addressed that Was that voiceover did not read the contact names." – Jennifer W.

“They’re fixing them more quicker this year, for example, the bug where you were not able to add apps to folders” – Tarja

“It seems that there are a lot of bugs/quirky behaviors that have been around for many years now. In most cases, I don't feel as though they're worth the potential stress of attempting to report them on a regular basis. Most issues I have, I've just learned how to work around them.” – Missy Hoppe

“They need to address them before public release” – Grace

“Apple continue to demonstrate that VO bugs are not address ASAP. Some bugs continue from previous iOS until now.” – Holger Fiallo

“While I feel that Apple has done well responding to more recent bugs, there are bugs that have been around for a while that haven’t been addressed. I’d like to see a heavy focus on fixing those, even if it means new features have to take a back seat for a little bit.” – DarkWingsRaven

“Yes they have done many changes on how voice over works, many bugs on my iPhone 12 even though running the latest update I am experiencing the issues since IOS 15 and I have reported them to apple through various channels including mailing them at their accessibility help mail ID. I have provided logs, screen recordings etc. However, the team at apple accessibility has not replied or acknowledged my mail but through phone support I was able to give them all the data they require to investigate the issue. No resolution. Issues with Mail, Phone, Dictation, Siri, VoiceOVer etc.” – Mister Kayne

“To be fair they do fix issues. My gripe is that they seem to always have bog generic feedback so you don't really know if they are talking about your issue or just passing the buck.” – Lee

“Whilst I appreciate once a release has gone live it's difficult to provide quick fixes to problems that have been introduced. However, it should be appreciated that some of these "breaks" may render a device or app useless - this is devastatingly life changing!” – Anonymous

“I would say Apple's overall performance in detecting and addressing Voiceover and Braille-related bugs on iOSo is very slow. Users should not be kept waiting over a couple of updates for minor bugs to be dealt with.” – rachel

“At least for users who use Chinese, Apple has not solved any existing bugs this year, but has created many new bugs.” – Anonymous

“The most significant issue I face on iOS is the Mail app, specifically composing new email messages. Since around iOS 16, composing new email messages has been so much more difficult than it needs to be. Focus is inconsistent when trying to review the message, the 'misspelled words' rotor option does not work, and, as of iOS 18, VoiceOver seems to say random words and insert text in random places when trying to edit part of a message using Braille Screen input. I see a lot of great progress in issues being resolved and new features added, but composing messages in the Mail app appears to be getting worse.
Regarding MacOS, it has been a long time since I can confidently say that a lot has been done to address MacOS VoiceOver bugs. See previous comments.” – Callum Stoneman

“I'm concerned that initially during the dev beta some focus issues with VoiceOver seemed to have been solved but when the public versions came out, the issues had returned.” – Jenine

“it doesn’t get so much better with new updates. for example, We still have the focus issue that has been going on for a long time.” – Sam Nik

“The bug where voiceover randomly says contacts followed by the person's name and the app opening sound still has not been fixed.” – Isaac Hebert

“Response has been rather slow but resonable when they were eventually addressed.” – mcox

“The fact that there are some longstanding, moderate bugs, does cause issues, and it really detracts from the excellent work that is being done by Apple Accessibility.” – Justice

“I can really only speak on iOS 18/iPadOS 18. In 2023, iOS 17 was released. It was a nightmare for many of us users. Without going into too much detail on that, let me just say that in 2024 iOS 18 fixed a lot, a lot, of the issues that plagued iOS 17. Overall I am very pleased with iOS 18!” – Brian

“VoiceOver screen reader issues in iOS updates
Firstly, in languages written from right to left, there are some problems in the Photos app. When selecting an image or video, the screen reader selects a different image or video than the one chosen. Similarly, when choosing emoji categories, VoiceOver highlights a category other than the one actually selected by the user.
Interestingly, these issues appear only in right-to-left languages and are not present in other languages.
Additionally, recently we have noticed an issue with language switching. For example, when setting the default language in the rotor to Arabic in the Settings app, where there is both Arabic and English text and the device is set to Arabic, the Arabic VoiceOver voice reads both the Arabic and English text. This happens even though the rotor is set to default or the default voice in iOS 18. This indicates that language switching has partially stopped working in some Apple apps on iOS.
I hope these issues will be resolved as soon as possible.” – Fari

“Apple is a big company with a lot on their plate, so I think it's fair to say that they're doing a nice job addressing performance issues that might arise. They might not always do things as fast as we'd like them too, but they are aware of these issues and are working hard to address lots of things in a timely fashion.” – Anonymous

“Every time Apple launches a new version of iOS, I really love every single feature I use as a blind person. However, I think some bugs can be a little frustrating—like the VoiceOver losing focus issue that’s been around since iOS 16 or 15, or how, when I’m using the Eloquence voice and update the iOS version, the Eloquence voice disappears after the iPhone restarts. These kinds of bugs are a bit frustrating, but I think they could be fixed. Other than that, it’s all good.” – Sara

“The shortcut app, the playground app, and Imovie app are not fully accessible. We need to be able to produce videos easily in Imovie, and Edit Videos in the camera app.” – Anonymous

“They haven't addressed any long-standing issues. And there are quite a few. No TLC whatsoever as far as I can hear.” – Pat Ships

“While bugs do get resolved eventually, rarely do I see them mentioned in iOS beta release notes (or release notes in general.) This can present the impression that Apple isn't doing much to maintain and fix bugs in accessibility features, which could disenfranchise blind/def blind users.” – Anonymous

“This is the part where I'm less complimentary. Apple have introduced several bugs to VoiceOver in every platform I've used it on. Unfortunately, many of these bugs have not been addressed (and this is despite the majority of them existing in iOS 17 and MacOS 14 Sonoma). This is very disappointing; a company of Apple's size has no excuse to be slacking in fixing accessibility bugs and we deserve and should expect better. The only reason I have rated this aspect as high as I have is because some of the bugs have already been addressed.” – Minionslayer

“Fix Music. Fix Music. Fix Music. Fix Music. Fix Music.” – Anonymous

“I feel like Afple waited too long to fix bugs. Apple fixed all accessibility bugs in iOS 18.2.” – Ayub Abraham Flores

“It seems like not much effort is being put into addressing these, but, having said that, I reported a bug in the calendar app when using it for recurring appointments, & that hasn't been fixed either. It feels like Apple's so into AI that everything else is pretty much going by the boards.” – AbleTec

“Feedback on Apple’s Performance in 2024 Regarding VoiceOver, Braille, and Low Vision Issues:
Apple has consistently failed to address the concerns of blind users who rely on Arabic-language support. Despite the critical issues I’ve raised (as detailed earlier), there has been little to no progress in resolving these problems.
For instance:
1. VoiceOver: Numerous issues persist, such as poor Arabic pronunciation, robotic and error-prone new voices, and the lack of advanced bilingual support. These problems severely affect usability, yet Apple has not taken any significant steps to improve them.
2. Braille: Braille input on the iPhone remains overly complicated, with no beginner-friendly guides. This makes the feature inaccessible for many users.
3. Low Vision: Apple has not provided meaningful advancements in accessibility tools for low-vision users, nor have they resolved longstanding issues like VoiceOver misbehaving in the Photos app and emoji keyboard when using the Arabic interface.
I have personally contacted Apple Support multiple times in Arabic, including sharing detailed videos demonstrating these issues. I submitted everything to their Accessibility department, but no solutions were provided. The response to blind users’ needs, particularly those who rely on Arabic, has been extremely poor.
It has become clear that Apple does not prioritize addressing these concerns. This lack of attention forces us to consider alternative platforms and screen readers that offer more reliable and advanced accessibility features.
Thank you for taking this feedback seriously.” – علي حسين المرفدي

“Again, focusing keeps jumping around when navigating and this has been an issue for awhile. Also, when connecting to a Bluetooth device the volume of VoiceOver goes to 100%. It would be really helpful if this didn’t happen.” – Anonymous

“I appreciate that there is a dedicated accessibility line. I have called once. The person was great. I love that apple is aware of our feedback, and are actually listening. I am able to do more with apple products.” – Aaron

“they arnt vary good at addressing bugs, i've bin having voiceover focus jump around ever since iPadOS 15 and have reported it to apple more times then i can count but it's still not fixt” – Anonymous

“There is one existing bug with iOS18 that they still have yet to address. That iss audio messages received in the messages app do not play with voiceOver. This was reported to them.” – Ahmat

“With Sonoma, it was good that some of the new bugs were fixed, but even so it still overall has more bugs than Ventura so still felt like a step backwards.
Sequoia has fixed two long-standing bugs with pronouncing punctuation, but otherwise the overall experience seems a touch worse again - focus is more erratic, the terminal is worse and some other problems have been triggered in 3rd party applications (e.g. in PyCharm various menus are totally broken despite me using the same version of the app as on Sonoma)
I should also say that currently Safari Not Responding is a much less frequent occurrence although I have been here before and seen it reappear. I do experience reasonably frequent occasions where my Mac appears to lock up for maybe a minute before responding again. This is on an M2 Pro Max Macbook Pro with 32gb RAM.
I dream of the day when a new version comes out that adds no features, fixes existing bugs and doesn't add in any new ones!
It seems that the most severe iPhone bugs do get sorted which is good.
It is a shame that what appears to be a showstopper bug on the Watch with regards volume is having to wait months for the fix.” – mr grieves

“Please address the bugs that were introduced years ago” – Anonymous

“Personally, I think Apple makes every reasonable effort to address accessibility-related bugs as quickly as practical. Accessibility, while obviously of preeminent importance to differently abled users, is only one component of the universe of bugs Apple is expected to address by its customer base. Responsiveness in this space can always be improved, but I think some outliers in the differently abled community harbor unreasonable expectations when it comes to Apple's ability to research, develop, and implement fixes for accessibility-related bugs. It is one thing to express a legitimate concern. It is quite another to level harsh criticisms. Not a sermon... just a thought.®” – Sasquatch

“As others have stated in the past, Apple should focus more on fixing bugs. I think a aa team of accessibility bug testers would be helpful.” – Renita Rogers

“I think iOS and iPad OS are very stable now, though have a few lingering issues like focus jumping. So I'm very satisfied overall there. Mac OS feels like it needs more focus, though I know efforts have been made on some serious issues. I was a little disappointed to see a fairly serious bug with volume ship with Watch OS 11.2.” – Dave Nason

“Some of them are just plain stupid. Clearly, Apple failed to include the blind in product development and give weight to blind input in beta testing.” – Bruce Harrell

“The Mac is what drags this rating down for me. While there was a lot of bug fixing done during the beta phase, a few new issues have krept in recently, such as escaping out of the dock not working as well as VoiceOver not seeing most content in the "browse" section of the Apple Music app. Also, VoiceOver on Mac still has a number of issues that make tasks involving coding or using a terminal far more frustrating than they should be. I wrote the following last year, and can just paste it again verbatim:
Eloquence still runs multicase strings together which no other synthesizer does, loading custom punctuation schemes still requires a VoiceOver restart for them to start working which makes them unusable as part of an activity while the default "all" scheme is extremely verbose for coding, and the Terminal app still reads really badly by default requiring a dedicated screen reader. Also, unlike iOS when a notification of any kind comes speech gets interrupted rather than getting queued, which can get very frustrating when I'm trying to read a longer article when a chat group becomes very active.” – Piotr Machacz

“I think they are falling down on the job when it comes to bugs. There are long standing bugs, like the not responding bug on mac, that are not getting fixed. There have been focus issues with iOS for at least the last 3 or four versions. On iPad OS you cannot use full keyboard access with voiceover on or it causes all kinds of issues. This has been present since full keyboard access was introduced and has still not been addressed.” – Greg Wocher

“Addressing of bugs for Voice Over users has taken a back seat, as many of the bugs made it through to the official releases inspite of reporting them in the beta cycle, which basically defeats the purpose of public beta cycle.” – Arya

“Apple do listen and although bugs might take a while to fix, the accessibility time is dedicated and truly committed to the best user experience for people with disabilities they can bring.” – Anonymous

“I find VoiceOver bugs to take quite a while to be resolved at times. When I call to report a bug, I am usually left to feel like I was dismissed. I am often told to explore a variety of different settings, when really all I want is for the bug to be reported. I don't feel heard when I report these issues, and fixing accessibility issues is not as high priority as it should be.” – Anonymous

“There is a growing sentiment in the AppleVis community that Apple places too much emphasis on flashy new features of questionable utility at the expense of maintaining and ensuring quality of existing features. I’m confident that I speak for many VoiceOver users when I say that the next new “accessibility feature” should be the resolution of long-standing VoiceOver bugs and a redoubled effort to test and ensure VoiceOver quality prior to release, on every Apple OS, but particularly on MacOS. By citing MacOS specifically, I don’t want to minimize the recent efforts at Apple to eliminate the long-standing Safari Not responding issue. I believe it’s gone for the vast majority of VoiceOver users, and we all appreciate the fix. Nonetheless, for every step forward on MacOS, the VoiceOver experience seems to take two or three steps back, and if this progression proceeds unchecked, MacOS will soon become unusable.” – PaulMartz

Selected Suggestions for How Apple Can Improve its Vision Accessibility Features and User Experience, and Better Serve the Needs of Their Blind, DeafBlind, and Low Vision Customers

Summary: Participants shared a wealth of suggestions for how Apple can improve their vision accessibility features and the user experience for people who are blind, DeafBlind, or who have low vision. Responses to this question fall broadly into two categories: feature suggestions and company culture changes. Some participants shared lists of feature requests; including quality-of-life improvements to braille support, rebuilding VoiceOver on macOS from the ground up, adding additional speech synthesizers and updating existing ones, bringing accessible games to Apple Arcade, adding AI-based features to make visual content accessible, and more. In terms of how Apple as a company can improve, suggestions include showing users of accessibility features that they are not a 'box-ticking exercise'; focusing less on accessibility as a 'marketing tool'; communicating openly with users and the community; sharing demos of using advanced/creative features of Apple software with accessibility features; pushing third-party developers to make their apps accessible; and prioritizing fixing existing features over releasing new ones.

“Work with the community. Add LLM image description to VoiceOver. Focus on MacOS VoiceOver. Add accessible games to Apple Arcade. Allow video game emulators to use JIT, so that blind people can play retro games more efficiently, using screen recognition or future LLM image description for accessibility. Continue updating the Eloquence community dictionary. Add DecTalk as a speech synthesizer. Support the Cadence 2D Braille display. Support Braille formatting in more apps, like Safari. Add speech formatting, changing speech qualities to convey italics, bold, ETC. Add more effects we can add to voices, like placing them in a 3D audio space when wearing AirPods.” – Devin Prater

“Apple can be more transparent about VoiceOver or other accessibility services. At least with major iOS releases, we should get clear changelogs about new accessibility features and fixes.” – Amir Soleimani

“I think that one thing that can be addressed is the quality of Voiceover voices. Some of them are too quiet to use, while others just sound plain awful. On my watch, I use one of the Siri voices, and it studders.” – Anonymous

“Better automated testing and quality control would be useful, as would a more responsive bug handling process. Apple continues to innovate in some areas, e.g., the accessibility of iPhone mirroring on macOS. I think a strategic review of macOS VoiceOver and accessibility infrastructure is warranted, with a view to making whatever architectural and code changes are desirable to make it more reliable and maintainable over the long term.” – Jason White

“Listen. Listen to what the blind in particular are asking for. Dedicate resources to squashing bugs that have existed for years. Show us that we are not a box-ticking exercise, and that accessibility is a commitment that you will uphold and not just another feature. Dedicate a round of OS releases to bug fixes instead of new features, improving speed and responsiveness. And make Voiceover open source, with documented code,. That way we as a minority community can contribute, find and fix bugs and make improvements that can be included in future releases. If we're not going to be afforded the respect we deserve as paying customsers of apple products, by being given the same level of access as any other user, at least give us a chance to fix the tools that make these products accessible to us.” – Ashley

“I'm not sure if this is part of the new Apple Intelligence features or not, but I'd really love it if VO could give meaningful assistance with regards to taking pictures. For example: I got a gift card for Christmas, but it ended up getting damaged in such a way that I couldn't redeem it. I had to provide pictures, and still don't think I was able to provide exactly what was needed. Yes, there are some seriously awesome image recognition apps, but they don't really help when it comes to taking decent quality pictures that actually get saved to my photo library.” – Missy Hoppe

“When a customer calls to report a bug, I believe that it should be assumed that they took all of the troubleshooting actions before calling to report it. Being able to take a call just to report an issue should be acceptable.” – Anonymous

“I am deeply grateful to Apple for including and continuing to develop screen reading and Braille features in their products. I personally think that the best thing Apple can do for Voiceover users is to continue to strive to get app developers to creat their products in an accessible way so that I can have some confidence that, if I get an app from the app store, it might be accessible using Voiceover. Perhaps the app store could include a phrase about the accessibility of an app in the same way as we are given age information.” – Rammland

“Employ more of us, and find a less difficult motor gesture than the rotor” – Anonymous

“my suggestion, in regards to iOS, would be to make VoiceOver start up automatically on setup screen. By doing this, the user would feel more independent, and not have to rely on assistance to turn on accessibility.” – Jimmy V

“As always, I think we need more transparency of what is being fixed and when. We're not asking for a peep into the magical labs, but some site with a listing of known issues and the progress in resolving them might save us a lot of stress. We rely on the suite of accessibility features for our devices and so, when they go wrong, it cuts us off from using them. Using the example of the issues between safari and the amazon site on mac, it would be as if a sighted person saw the site flashing in rapid and confusing ways.
We understand that things can't be fixed straight away, but I still think there is space to improve trust. A response from apple accessibility saying they are on it, is great, but that seems to be the end of the line in terms of feedback on the solution. I'd like to hear what is being tested, when the fix is found and which release it will be pushed to. We shouldn't have to hop on the beta train in the hope our essential accessibility tools are fixed, we should know before leaping.
that's my ask, anyway.” – Oliver

“I think that Apple needs to take Voice into consideration when apps are developed and when updates are put into place even more than they have been. I also think that the Braille experience needs to be addressed and made smoother and more seamless. This is particularly important for deaf, blind users. I do appreciate some of the new Voice features that have been introduced in iOS 18, especially being able to pick multiple voices and have them on the rotor.” – Jennifer W.

“1. Apple should add a separated braille support in the Accessibility API for developers to show different data and formats for voice and braille
2. Apple developer teams should be bigger or Apple should have more specialists to fix all accessibility bugs
3. Apple should contact with developers who are working in accessible apps. I know the big developers like Microsoft BeMyEyes or similars have contact with Apple but there are small teams with awesome experiences about developing accessible apps” – Jonathan Chacón

“Again, I would like to reiterate that fixing Bluetooth lag with non apple bluetooth devices, Fixing Text field jumping, and continuing to enhance braille features is the most important thing to me. I value fixing what’s already broken and adding in small new features that work over implementing huge new features at the moment (though I do have some new features on my wishlist).” – DarkWingsRaven

“Making VoiceOver more responsive. Dedicating accessibility in mind when releasing new apps.” – Rick

“there needs to be a dedicated form for low vision and voiceover feedback that people can submit feedback to Apple Accessibilities, with some clear expectations about response times to forms submitted and timely updates about systemic issues.” – jennifer

“I would like to see the editing experience in the Pages app be less clunky. I am working with an iPad mini and Mantis 40 braille display. I wish there was a shortcut keyboard command for find like there is in windows.” – Anonymous

“Apple need to focus on accessibility as a priority instead of of last minute or address them later. Apple need to focus on communication with those who report the bugs to their engineersand those who write the report and send them to the appropriate group.” – Holger Fiallo

“Selecting copying pasting cutting editing text in iphone should be made simpler and not so cumbersome as it is at present. Definite gestures should be assigned for these tasks instead of thhe rotor which is a pain.” – Simply

“Apart from what I have already mentioned, 'Screen recognition' could do with much improvement. In my experience it messes up much more than it fixes.” – Christo

“As I said above, we need an option to have images described automatically using Siri or ChatGPT. A good OCR is also needed on Mac. A better way of navigating Mac would be nice like using the insert key for example, just like on Windows, that could also help users who switch from Windows to Mac or those who use both systems.” – Victor Dima

“Give the same attention to mac voiceover than you do with ios and ipados. Allocate real resources, funding and developers time to fix mac voiceover in the deepest level of its code, including the set of accessibility APIs. Listen to user feedback and how they would want to use a desktop. Give mac garageband user guide a voiceover section like you did on ios.” – TheBllindGuy07

“Become more efficient at detecting and addressing accessibility issues in a much more timely manner, even if doing so means more time is taken up for testing before updates are released...” – rachel

“I think Apple should fine-tune every feature in terms of accessibility, rather than pursuing how many new features it launches every year. Even VoiceOver, which is already very mature, has become very rough in many aspects. At the same time, I hope that Apple's accessibility features can be as inclusive as possible, rather than having special settings for some expensive models. After all, for visually impaired people in many countries, it is still very difficult to spend money to buy the latest Pro model.” – Anonymous

“I would love to see Apple's accessibility team become more open and available to the community. Right now, we have the accessibility email address and there is the phone number available in certain countries and these are great methods to contact the accessibility team, but the most we get in response is "we're looking into this", 'we've passed it onto the relevant team' etc. It is very rare to receive a follow up on previously submitted issues, and it is definitely rare to get an estimate as to when an issue might be fixed.
In the last few years, Google and Microsoft have really stood out to me as companies who are showing their commitment to accessibility rather than just saying it. If we use Microsoft as an example, their disability answer desk is available via phone, email, live web chat and even via video call through the Be My Eyes specialised help service. If users report an issue, they're often kept informed about progress and given estimates as to when an update will be released to fix whatever they reported. Microsoft also jumped at the chance to add Be My AI to their disability answer desk, making it even easier for users to get answers to Microsoft-related questions. We also regularly see Microsoft and Google at community events, such as the RNIB Inclusive Design Conference, and the Sight Village events just to give a couple of UK-based examples. They're happy to chat to users and even record interviews for podcasts, albeit once they've had approval from their press teams. I was at a conference recently where people from Google's and Microsoft's respective accessibility teams were in the same room, and although they're rival companies, it was clear that for the purposes of accessibility, they were working together and it was great to hear them passing ideas back and forth, arranging follow up meetings etc.
With Apple, we don't see any of this. I understand that it goes completely against Apple's long-standing culture of secrecy, but it would make me feel so much more involved and connected if we saw more from the accessibility team rather than it just being an email address that we go to when something isn't working as expected. They could very easily do this without giving away all their secrets. Rather than their being a phone number that is only available in the US (unless you're willing to pay for an international call of course), why can't anyone call them through Be My Eyes? Is it really giving away too much to say ‘Ah yes, we're aware of that bug and it is on track to be fixed in iOS 18.x’?” – Callum Stoneman

“I would encourage more people to participate in the public betas and that Apple set up a specific beta program for its accessibility features with structured contact with Apple staff across areas, not just devices but also types of controls and content.As is, I often feel as if my suggestions and concerns are falling into a black hole. This is evidenced in serious issues with Text Edit and VoiceOver. I and others have consistantly reported unexpected behaviors to no avail. I'd like more communication from Apple about what they've managed to correct rather than what's new.” – Jenine

“Really listening to our community searching for comments and recommendations. Whenever we see a bug we discuss it on Facebook Blind iPad and iPhone user page. Also I encourage Apple to add Farsi Persian to voiceover languages.” – Sam Nik

“New voices for voiceover users would be great. Also apple can include some apple intelligence features on older iPhones such as Siri capabilities.” – Ann Marie B

“Now that we have Apple Intelligence, I think it could be put into great use when it comes to describing certain pictures on the website, especially when it comes to portfolios on home, improvement, projects, lighting, projects, and so much more! That is also true when it comes to looking at photo galleries of certain vehicles on the manufacturers website, etc.” – Anonymous

“I think that apple needs to make sure that before releasing an update to iOS, make sure that the update has been tested including making sure that bugs that has ben previously reported are addressed.” – Isaac Hebert

“A large majority of blind/low vission and DeafBlind users only use Apple products, because by enlarge, they are effective, reliable and work well. In my view, a dedicated team who's job it is to advicate for, and test accessibility features would be fantastic, and only enhance Apples credibility and commitment to making all of it's products accessible to everyone.” – mcox

“I think they are well aware of what they could do, it’s just other things have a higher priority.” – Diego Garibay

“It'll probably never happen but I almost wish #VoiceOver could have its own API o that fixes wouldn't necesarily have to be tied to OS releases.” – Anonymous

“Fix bugs, especially long-standing ones, and improve already existing features. Don’t almost continually give us the ‘boiler-plate’ response of “we’re investigating when we bring up an issue” but give us concrete information on what, if anything, you are doing to address problems.” – Misty Dawn

“Apple needs to step up with a dedicated accessibility channel. Here’s the thing—if you know your products and third-party apps aren’t as accessible as they should be, then do something about it . It’s not rocket science. Get a blind person—or someone with low vision—who actually works at Apple to demonstrate these features in real-time. Show us how to use iMovie, GarageBand, Pages, Keynote, Numbers—everything. Not just the basics, but the more advanced, creative stuff. Teach us how to handle complicated tasks.
We shouldn’t have to rely on walking into an Apple Store to get this knowledge, because not everyone has that luxury. Some people don’t even have an Apple Store nearby. And honestly, even if they do, you can’t expect them to drop everything and trek to the store every time they hit a wall. So, put out high-quality, detailed demos. Make them widely accessible. Show us how to create a video from scratch, edit audio, or design a presentation. Don’t just assume we’ll figure it out because your UI is ‘intuitive.’
And another thing—stop acting like people need the latest model to get things done. Sure, I get it, older devices might not have the processing power for everything . But don’t use that as an excuse to withhold innovation. Integrate tools like ChatGPT or open-source models for voice control and creativity. Let us say, ‘Create a picture of a dog lying on a red blanket,’ and then modify it: ‘Change the blanket to blue. Add a beach background.’ These are not unreasonable requests; this is the kind of creativity accessibility should unlock.
Look, I know programming this stuff isn’t a cakewalk, but it’s doable. And the impression a lot of us get is that Apple just holds back, claiming it’s about ‘refinement’ or ‘ethics.’ Meanwhile, accessibility users like me are stuck waiting—our blindness isn’t going to pause for your ‘moral’ deliberations. If you’re holding back features just to trickle them out year after year, stop. Technology should move forward as fast as possible, especially when it’s for something as basic as allowing people to create and innovate.
Put out hands-on demonstrations. Don’t just tell me how to use VoiceOver—show me. Make videos where someone actually uses VoiceOver to edit a video, design a spreadsheet, or create a presentation. Let me see it in action, not some vague explanation or half-baked tutorial. Accessibility isn’t about dumbing things down; it’s about giving people the tools to reach their full potential.
So, Apple, the ball’s in your court. You’ve got the resources. You’ve got the talent. Now give us the accessibility tools we deserve.” – Winter Roses

“focus on fixing accessibility bugs particularly those that affect efficiency, and also make it easier for apps to be accessible by pushing larger developers to put in more effort to ensure their apps comply with accessibility guidelines.” – Justice

“I would humbly suggest a stronger accessibility development team. Apple's operating systems are really, really well thought out. For the most part. However, there are still bugs that plague these systems, they have persisted for years. I feel as if Apple would do it its customer base a justice, if they put more time and energy into strengthening their accessibility development team, in an effort to fix these issues, and better stabilize their technology with regards to both hardware and software.” – Brian

“Like I mentioned earlier, I'd love to see Apple more open and transparent with their accessibility updates and fixes. They don't need to be so secretive all the time. I'd love to see more communication when submitting feedback via E-mail or the Feedback app. I'd also love to see long standing bugs fixed, and not re-broken going forward. Overall, Apple has introduced many great accessibility features that make using their devices much easier. I'd also love to integrate AI and wearables into Apple's accessibility in the future. The Meta Rayban glasses are a great first step, but would be curious how a native Apple glasses would integrate blind and low vision accessibility. Finally, the Apple Vision Pro needs to come down in price, and needs to include a native Magnifier app just like iPhone and iPad have. This would be a huge selling point for a headset like this for low vision users like myself.” – Anonymous

“I simply wish Apple had more public interaction on sites like this; it would put my mind to rest at least if there was an open dialogue (as un-apple as this is). I know there have been employees of Apple that have worked on Logic Pro on this forum at points in order to get feedback, so I don't see why this couldn't be done on a larger scale. At the very least, I want there to be more of a focus on a11y feature testing and refinement at Apple. It certainly feels like some aspects of Apple software is barely tested with VoiceOver for example.” – Minionslayer

“Please prioritize any issue which causes devices to not be accessible.” – Anonymous

“The VoiceOver experience for Mac still needs a bit of an overhaul. Kudos to Apple for being one of the most consistent champions of accessibility, however!” – Anonymous

“Apple should have a team that is in direct contact with their users specifically for testing accessibility, and give us updates in regards to finding solutions to issues.
I don't expect special treatment, but our needs need more consideration than they've been receiving over the past couple years since we are paying the same price for these products.” – Anonymous

“Continue on the beaten track, because generally speaking Apple is doing a great job with accessibility. More testing in pre-releases for VoiceOver bugs would be appreciated, since the .0 OS versions tend to have some quite glaring problems in one area or another, problems that is remarkable that they slipped through testing. Embrace the accessibility possibilities with AI in the privacy-focused manner of Apple, including the possibility to have content described that normally is not (avoiding AI "censorship").” – Anonymous

“In my opinion, Apple needs to be more proactive in seeking feedback from its disabled users. In addition, I would say Apple should hire people to work on the features they use daily. That is to say, hire more blind engineers to improve the voiceover experience, braille users to improve braille display functionality, etc.” – Anonymous

“One feature request for mac OS: Create a way to navigate back through VoiceOver utterances.” – Anonymous

“There've been a lot of problems reported for a long time. I think Apple just needs to concentrate on making the current user experience the best it can be, & only once that happens dive head-1st into all their AI features. Not gonna happen, of course.” – AbleTec

“Suggestions for Improving Accessibility Features for Vision in Apple Products:
First, I would like to thank the team at Be My Eyes for creating this survey and facilitating communication with Apple to highlight the needs of blind, DeafBlind, and low-vision users.
To better serve blind and visually impaired customers, Apple must take the following steps:
1. Create a Dedicated Arabic Accessibility Team:
Apple should establish a specialized team fluent in Arabic to address issues unique to Arabic-speaking users. This team would ensure better support for VoiceOver, Braille, and low-vision features in the Arabic language, including fixing errors in pronunciation, grammar, and user interface.
2. Enhance VoiceOver Functionality:
Implement AI-driven technology for more accurate and detailed image descriptions, as seen in third-party screen readers like JAWS and NVDA.
Improve bilingual switching for VoiceOver to handle transitions between Arabic and English more smoothly.
Provide better text recognition in Arabic, especially in documents and images.
Address the persistent issues with Photos app navigation, emoji keyboard selection, and other Arabic interface bugs.
3. Expand Braille Support:
Simplify the Braille typing experience on iPhone screens by redesigning the input method for smaller devices.
Introduce tutorials or guides for beginners to make Braille features more accessible.
Collaborate with third-party developers to make more affordable Braille devices compatible with Apple products.
4. Encourage Third-Party Development:
Open the platform further to third-party screen readers and voices, as Apple’s VoiceOver lacks features offered by competitors like TalkBack or Chinese screen readers.
Simplify the policies for developers to release voice applications and accessibility tools in the App Store.
5. Enhance the Dictionary (Customization and Updates):
Allow users to share custom dictionaries between devices or other users. This would prevent the loss of personalized entries and save users from having to rebuild their dictionaries manually.
Enable frequent dictionary updates without requiring full iOS updates. Waiting for a major iOS release to address dictionary-related bugs is inefficient. A separate, quicker update process for the dictionary would provide faster resolutions.
Provide the ability for third-party developers, such as Arabic-speaking developers, to create and distribute dictionaries or voices directly, offering users more customization options.
6. Foster Faster Innovation in Accessibility:
Apple’s pace of improving accessibility features is far too slow. Introducing groundbreaking features should not take years. Regular updates with tangible improvements are necessary to retain user trust.
7. Improve Communication with Accessibility Users:
Apple should create direct communication channels for users to report accessibility issues in their native languages, including Arabic. Prompt responses and solutions to these reports would build trust and engagement.
By addressing these concerns and fostering a more inclusive approach to accessibility, Apple can significantly enhance the experience for blind, DeafBlind, and low-vision users.
Thank you for considering these suggestions.” – علي حسين المرفدي

“More detailed image descriptions for photos. Chat GPT to be integrated to more models.” – Anonymous

“Apple could definitely fix the bugs with safari on mac, especially with sites like amazon. Yes, this is a safari issue, but they could try to look at how voiceover behaves on these sites.” – Moopie Curran

“Go back to the core apps and find ways to improve their efficiency. For example, in the Messages app, make replying to messages more efficient in the conversations screen. A rotor option could be added to reply to a message, fill in the sender and drop right into the message input. Then go through other basic apps and find other improvements. Maybe add a swipe gesture in Podcasts so that a Voice user doesn't need to always find and double tap the forward or back buttons. In general, with Music and Podcasts, improve the Mini Player experience. Siri's usefulness for the basics has gone down significantly over the past 2 years. Improve the way Siri works with Voiceover and improve the way it works for doing basic things by voice. For example, I ask Siri ‘What are the standings in the English Premier League?’ Siri starts reading its answer (which isn't the same as the answer on the screen) to me and there is only a precarious way to read the screen with voiceover until Siri finishes speaking after a minute. If I stop Siri early then this information disappears from the screen. And it often disappears on its own now for no reason before I can read it.
It is also harder to read and compose messages in Siri now. It listens to background noises too much and stops reading a message, or appending to a message that is being composed, etc. It now needs to be perfectly quiet to use Siri to compose, read back, and append to a message. Even having background TV makes this process often too hard to use, so I am forced to quiet my environment or send very short messages, when previously I could easily append to a message and read it back several times with no problems.

“As advanced as the iPhone is, it is still not easy to input numbers during a phone call. For example, reaching a parties extension, are entering a code. It would be great if an external keyboard would allow a user to input numbers. Thank you for making the iPhone accessible.” – Pa. Joe

“I say this every time, but I wish Apple would stop adding new features and just fix the things that are already there. The Mac, in particular, is so nearly great but continues to be blighted by bugs that make using it a test of patience.
And more community engagement would work wonders. Both with acknowledging bugs, keeping us up to date with their progress and maybe involving us in what new features are developed. It seems that they always come out of nowhere and often you wonder who is asking for them.” – mr grieves

“I would love to be able to change the speed of audio messages on iMessage, like my sighted friends and coworkers can. It’s not accessible with VoiceOver, but people who aren’t blind and don’t use VoiceOver can do it without any issue. I reported this bug when I was a beta tester, but it wasn’t fixed. It would also be great if VoiceOver had an image description feature like TalkBack does on Android. I really hope that happens!” – Sara

“

• Please add Indefinite Double Tap and Hold with a Braille Display,

  1. On the braille display, momentarily press space with dots 3, 6, 7 and 8, the same way that you would press, e.g. space with dot 1 or space with dot 4. This currently only holds down the record button for a couple of seconds, but in my revised workflow, it will hold it down until told otherwise.
  2. Record your voice message. It can be any length you like, even several minutes if you need it to be.
  3. Once you have finished recording, press space with dots 3 6 or the select button, to send the signal to release the record button. If the current command can't be revised to continuously double tap and hold the button down for several minutes then add a separate command for this. If you use a regular Bluetooth keyboard if you hold Vo,Shift,Space for 3 to 4 seconds when on a button that says double tap and hold such as a record button in WhatsApp, or in The bard app on the rewind or Fast-forward button the button is held down until Vo,Space is pressed to stop it. Braille users need the same access as regular keyboard users.

• If writing in mail and you misspell a word after pressing space when using a Braille display or Braille keyboard such as the Orbit writer , voiceover does not state misspelled word

• text replacement doesn't work all the time when using a Braille display or Braille keyboard such as the orbit writer
• when using a command to go to next keyboard with a braille display or Braille keyboard such as the Orbit writer it doesn't work
• bringing up emoji keyboard using a braille Display or Braille keyboard it doesn't work
• please add repeating caller ID for voiceover
  Please add an repeating caller ID option. It should repeat either the current option and give the user the following choices 1 repeat name 2 repeat number 3 repeat name and number. 3 repeat after x number of seconds. this is important because if a person misses it the first time they will have other chances to hear it.
• Please add the ability for battery percentage to be spoken while on a call when it drops below 20 percent
  While on a call I would like the battery percentage to be spoken every time it drops below 20 percent. Example when it falls to 19 percent it will say battery 19 percent then when it falls from 19 to 18 percent it would then say battery 18 percent. Then if it falls from 18 to 17 percent it would say battery 17 percent. And this would keep repeating until the battery dies while on a call. The reason for this is to know what the battery is so you have a rough idea how long your phone will last and how quickly you need to find a charger.
• please add an voiceover speech history
  please add a voiceover speech history. you should be able to go back and not only here what was spoken but be able to continuously select and copy and then paste those selections into an email, document, text message or edit field. it should start at nothing less than 500 of the last things spoken. This should be able to be accessed using either the touch screen, a braille display or braille keyboard, or a Bluetooth keyboard
• Please give an option for voiceover to speak position in list
  Please give voiceover users the option to hear the position in a list index example 1 of 30 2 of 30 3 of 30 4 of 30 5 of 30 etc. this should have the following options on off speech braille or speech and braille. I also say this should be added as it is already on tv OS. This is helpful for the reason that if you know the thing you’re looking for is 15 of 30 you have an idea about how many times to press the arrows if using a keyboard. You would also have an idea how far to go down on the touch screen. Please add this asap. Thank you
• please give an option to update Eloquence community dictionary
  The Eloquence community dictionary is updated every month or two. By allowing the user to install the updates this would insure the latest updates are available to the user.
• Please incorporate decTalk into IOS so it can be used with voiceover
• Please make the Voiceover experience on the mac as good as it is on iOS. This includes things like Screen recognition and web browsing.
• Please fix the issue where you can't mute the Apple TV using the apple TV remote with voiceover running.
  If you have Voiceover running on the apple TV and you press mute nothing happens. If you turn off voiceover it lets you mute just fine.
• Please improve the accessibility of apps such as Tubi.
  One example where this is broken is if you go to described content it reads the same thing over again.
• Please have an option where if voiceover is running and the camera is focused on something for a few seconds the camera will automatically take the picture. This would be similar how the Guided frame does on Pixel phones.
  You need to be more transparent especially when Feedbacks are filed. recent reports none resolution Open. Giving a timeframe when you hope to have the bug addressed would be extremely helpful.
  There are things that Braille users can't do that touch screen users and Bluetooth keyboard users can do such as double tap and hold on buttons. When using a bluetooth keyboard if you are on the button such as the record button in WhatsApp or a rewind or fast-forward button in the Bard app if you hold Vo,Shift,Space for 3 too four seconds the button is held down. When done you press VO,Space to stop the button from being held down. As stated with the braille display if 3,6,7,8 were modified to do this correctly you press 3,6 cord to stop or the select button. If you add another command to do this you would press 3,6 cord or the select button to stop. If you are a touch screen user you have a gesture to lock the button in place. Why hasn't this been added for Braille users? in my opinion There is no good reason it needs added please.
  I also believe apple needs to hire more accessibility engineers to fix bugs faster. I stand by my earlier comments if these were bugs for sighted users you wouldn't let it go out the door. Moreover the operating system is getting more complex and a lot of new features are added. Those new features have to be tested. Thus the bugs go farther and farther down the line and that is just not acceptable. Apple is worth more then $3 trillion I certainly think hiring more accessibility engineers is with in Apple's budget to improve accessibility for all.
  I also would like it if you would please fix radio streams stopping randomly. This happens if you use Siri, or radio apps like Broadcasts, Eter, or Triode. The stream will just stop after playing for a while. This shouldn't happen.
  First let me state I truly appreciate all you do!!!! My being critical of Apple is only to help you improve. Apple is truly the best and I want it to remain the best for years to come!!! Accessibility after all is a core principle of Apple! Not many companies make it a core value!!
  Why am I being so hard on Apple? Apple has been the gold standard for accessibility. There was a time where bugs were fixed quickly. Especially in 2024 this is no longer the case. I do understand why. This is the most feature rich update you have had in a while. As a result those that rely on accessibility features are suffering do to bugs not being a higher priority. I truly hope to be able to give apple 5 stars across the board in 2026 when the next applevis report card is. I believe in Apple! You do incredible work. We just need these and other issues resolved as quick as you would for sighted users.” – Dennis Long

“Apple should not delay any features for users who want to test features early. I feel like in 2024 Apple took a long time to release all the features I've been waiting for. This year, it has to change all iOS 19 features including the new conversational Siri should be available as soon as WWDC takes place and not until September. Everything should be available the same day as the first beta.” – Ayub Abraham Flores

“I don't have any suggestions, but in the future Apple should make a multiline braille iPad. The multiline braille iPad would run the iPadOS operating system. All the icons on the home screen would be raised up with braille labels in the middle such as: Music, App Store, Mail, Safari and so on. The iPad will look like a multiline braille and tactile graphics display. There would be 9 lines of 40 braille cells on the iPad.” – Fatima.Hamoud10

“The most important feature fora blind person is the stability of the device and the ease of use of the screen reader. Apple has to ensure that the quality of the screen reader product delivered in the public release adheres to the highest standard, as the perfect fuctioning apple device ensures independence of a blind persons life, for a temperarly abled person the product from apple is just a play toy for some, status symbol for some etc. but for a blind person apple device is the third eye which enables him to see the universe, therefore the developer should keep this in mind before releasing any new version and ensure that all the screen reader 100 % functional with out any bugs.” – Arya

“I cannot receive any responce and don't know if my feedback is received or not when I send my feedback to accessibility@apple.com.
If this system has stopped working for some reason, another method should be implemented to further support accessibility.” – fatih

“Go back to making everything accessible at launch.” – PinkCupcake5

“It would be super cool to see screen recognition enhanced with AI. It seems like it was just kind of abandoned after it was made in iOS 14.” – Blindgamer009

“They seriously need to work on some bugs.” – Blue

“Better accessibility support over the phone and other platforms for Braille users. A lot of support staff on the Apple accessibility phone support don't know Braille and how it effects Voice-over users day to day when reporting bugs, features, etc.” – Anonymous

“I would like to see an improvement in VoiceOver performance when swiping along the screen. Sometimes, when you swipe, it jumps to another item that you are not focused on. Also, when you are using VoiceOver, the volume can sometimes go up and down at rather inconvenient times. I'm not sure whether this is to try and guard hearing.” – cuddle_kitten84

“Communication could be much improved. For example, if beta testing, the updates in the Feedback Assistant app are often vague and don't match the reality. The focus Apple gives accessibility is great, but please remember we are not merely content consumers, we work, we go to school and we produce content, so need productivity too.” – Dave Nason

“Increase blind user input in product development and beta testing. After that, prioritize fixing bugs reported by blind users.” – Bruce Harrell

“One new request I have, which would probably require cross-team collaboration but I feel is much needed is the system OCR and image recognition framework should support more languages, specifically Polish in my case. I am lucky enough to know English and so can run my devices in that language, but for many others this is not possible. While you can technically turn on screen recognition, no text will be recognized making the feature far less useful. Something similar could be said for enhancing the dictation feature, which in many other languages can now run locally and is getting better, Polish is still stuck using the older technology which requires an internet connection to work. Other than that, much of what I said last year still applies:
On the Mac side, my #1 request has to be bringing over the screen recognition feature. There are many apps with accessibility issues, particularly various audio plugins, where I think a feature like that would be invaluable. I would also love to see better feature parity between how some features, like dictionaries or sound customisation is implemented - how iOS dictionaries can be applied to a specific voice only and you can dictate a phonetic replacement for a word, while the Mac VoiceOver dictionary is far more basic. This is even more apparent this year, when iOS received features like an equalizer and better control over audio ducking that are just absent on Mac. Meanwhile for iOS, I wish it had as many verbosity settings as the mac does, in particular if I could change the order information is presented in. I'd rather hear ‘Wi-fi off switch button’ instead of ‘wi fi switch button off.’ Still on the topic of verbosity I wish that both OS's let you have a way to be notified about specific changes in text attributes, and not just with speech. If I could have VoiceOver change the voice pitch or play a sound every time it reads bold or underlined text, or have it temporarily just read color changes if a form on a website doesn't convey where I filled out something wrong, I would find it very helpful.” – Piotr Machacz

“Change the Voice Over voices to old ones. Keep addressing the focus jumping bug. It is better but not gone completely.” – Blackadder

“I think Apple should focus on professional/productivity apps such as Microsoft Office and the ability to create nicely formatted professional looking word documents. I have to use windows for any professional writing I want to do which is a shame.” – Anonymous

“just fix the longstanding bugs” – Anonymous

“There’s gigabytes of evidence to suggest that Apple wishes they were doing a better job at accessibility. Representatives from Apple Accessibility often appear on podcasts to promote the changes they have made or are planning. The fact that changes still need to be made is undeniable evidence that Apple feels the accessibility job is incomplete. And, of course, each new OS must come out at a fixed time, with the unavoidable consequence that quality and features must suffer. As for us users, we often wear our frustrations on our sleeves. In short, everyone wants better quality accessibility. How do we achieve that? I believe Apple needs to focus less on accessibility as a marketing tool. This would refocus efforts away from new features that score high in bling and glitz but low in practical utility, and toward improvements in quality and efficiency. Apple needs to test, plain and simple, and when testing reveals an unexpected change in VoiceOver behavior, Apple needs to  investigate the root cause of that change. Then they must weigh the utility of that change against the potential negative impact to the VoiceOver community. Testing sounds expensive, but if the world's largest market cap company can't test, who can? If this were done, I believe that Apple could dramatically reduce the confusing changes in VoiceOver’s UI and behavior that we experience with every new release.” – PaulMartz

Selected Additional Comments About the Experience as a Blind, DeafBlind, or Low Vision User of Apple Products

Summary: Participants shared their appreciation for Apple's accessibility efforts thus far and challenged Apple to continue improving.

“In the 2023 report card, a comment of mine was published in which I quoted an eMail I had written to Tim Cook, entitled 'I am deeply concerned about the current state, and future, of MacOS accessibility.' To this day, that statement remains the same. In 2024 after major operating system updates we have seen no changes for the better. Bugs have been introduced that further impact Voiceover performance on the web and in many applications, and in the case of Apple Music severely impact our access to apple's own services that we pay for. In my opinion APple has not demonstrated a commitment to us as a community of loyal users of their expensive devices and foundering software. Apple continues to shout accessibility from the rooftops yet fails to deliver through closed-source, buggy solutions for which there are no resolutions and seemingly little development. Apple has made little effort as far as I can see to communicate with blind users in particular with regards the resolution of the many outstanding bugs pertaining to Voiceover in MacOS. Microsfot windows, its advertisements, intrusive AI and privacy concerns are starting to look quite appealing, if MacOS continues on this path.” – Ashley

“I do appreciate using Apple products, but I have also appreciated features of android products and do not feel that Apple is the only option out there for blind and visually impaired people when it comes to accessible smart phones. This means that Apple needs to be even more aware of how important it is to make VoiceOver and accessibility a priority. The rotor can be difficult to use at times and I wish there were a different way to access some of the features on it because it can be frustrating to find things like editing when they are needed. The dragon drop feature is once again seamless, but was having issues During a recent update. I hope that Apple will continue to be the pioneer in accessibility that it has been in the past.” – Jennifer W.

“I was a macOS user but it is not the same smoothness to work with macOS and voiceover, than with Windows and JAWS or NVDA to be productive in an office job basis. Things in Windows with MS Office with formatting texts can't be done properly with voiceover, and JAWS automatic OCR conversion of PDF documents is fantastic, so apple should put an eye on that, because not all jobs involve audio or video production or other subjects which I think in deed are better to be performed on a Mac.” – Karina Velazquez

“Apple continues to be the leader by far among the major tech companies.” – Anonymous

“I'm extremely grateful that we have such good access for the most part.” – Anonymous

“Apple never communicates openly and assumes its code is perfect and the user or the 3rd party app or website is doing it wrong, which is just very toxic in the long run for everyone. I feel that the blind users are used as a marketing strategy for apple as bugs are piling up even on ios now and I dislike the direction we're heading to.” – TheBllindGuy07

“Despite the fact that I see room for improvement, I still think IOS is the best and my watch has been beyond helpful” – Anonymous

“I greatly appreciate my Apple devices, and I hope for further accessibility-related improvements in future operating system releases. I think the hardware and operating systems (iOS and macOS) are excellent, even though the accessibility is disappointing in some respects, as noted in my comments.” – Jason White

“I want Apple devices make Cambodian TTS language available especially for low vision users or blind and visually impaired people.
Now Vietnam and kazak they has their language TTS available on Apple devices, Cambodian people stay in the heart situation cannot access or read the information on Apple devices by Cambodian language, also on Windows they cannot read either now mostly rely on Android devices.
If you can make Cambodian TTS available on Apple devices You are the second one between Windows devices, I know that only my feedback isn't enough but, most of the people they don't speak English and they don't know how to fill out the survey I hope you understand and can pass along my feedback to the developer I will give my time and full of bottom of my heart to be work on the project Cambodian TTS to be available I don't care how many times or years.
Cambodian language also benefit for blind and low vision users, but also benefit for the people who cannot read the letters like old people they can use spoken content to be read aloud the title that they are cannot read in my local country as well.
When it's available everyone cannot speak English can use Apple devices independently.” – Oudai Vann

“With keyboard, sometimes being tricky, I use dictation a lot. It is extremely faulty, unreliable and frustrating to deal with. Furthermore, and artificial intelligence are almost completely useless! The manner in which my last sentence was written, sort of shows what happens using Apple‘s new dictation and so-called artificial intelligence. This needs to be worked on in a serious way!” – ICarolyn

“i enjoy apple products immensely with seemless integration of accessibility in to these products. i would like the whole process around creating shortcuts to be made a lot simpler and easier to understand. i gave up on trying to utilise these as found the process too confusing and difficult to set them up.” – jennifer

“Mac voiceover should have many more direct keybboard shortcuts.eg. For shutting down the computer etc. Shortcuts to create headings in Pages, Shortcuts to jump to bookmarks in Pages.” – Simply

“Continue to enjoy using my apple watch, iPad, iPhone and AirPod pro 2.” – Holger Fiallo

“I really appreciate all the accessibility features provided but some issues that need their attention on my apple ID still need to be resolved” – Mister Kayne

“Before 2017 the user experience was awesome in all platforms, now it is not true. I know Apple's experience is better than Android or Linux but there are some problems like editing formated text with tables, styles that the user experience is better in Windows. A little example: there is not any function to get the color of foreground and background from a text using VoiceOver... it is simple and this feature is in Windows from the beggining” – Jonathan Chacón

“Overall I do think Apple do a good job. If they could improve their one to one interactions with us that would make me feel more that they were actually involved with helping to fix issues. Apart from that I think we are lucky we have a company who take accessibility seriously and make our lives easier because of it.” – Lee

“Although I rarely attend an Apple shop, I really do appreciate the willingness of staff to help those of us with a vision impairment, the staff might know all there is to know about voice over and/or specific apps, but they always have been willing to do their very best for the customer - thanks guys.” – Anonymous

“Overall, I find iOS to be wonderful as much easier to deal with and add a text using the phone now then using a PC for me as a prior android user it is much better than androids. Talk back. Apple does a remarkable job and the fact that it is included for free in all iOS devices is exceptional value.” – Anonymous

“I enjoy using apple products since they work right out of the box but apples track record for fixing bugs should be faster.” – mich

“Between the built-in accessibility and third party apps, I'm amazed at how many tasks are so much easier, or even possible to do. AI in apps like Be My Eyes has also become a huge game changer. The fact my phone has such a great camera and Magnifier app also means I can just cary my phone and have a portable CCTV any time, in addition to a tool that does what we used to need several expensive devices to do.” – Anonymous

“I do greatly appreciate, despite frustrations, Apple's work in accessibility. It's been the equalizer for me in many respects of my personal and professional life.It's not enough though to provide VoiceOver support. It's a continuing process, even with core apps like Text Edit.” – Jenine

“I am always grateful that I have the privilege to use Apple products as a person with multiple disabilities. Thank you Apple.” – Sam Nik

“As a blind user, Apple products are super easy to use, especially when it comes to setting everything up, etc. I like how everything talks to each other, as it is more self-sufficient, and I can’t believe how fast operating systems are getting these days!” – Anonymous

“We extend our gratitude to Apple for the tremendous efforts it has made over the past years to deliver exceptional accessibility features, making its products a leading choice for individuals with visual impairments. Apple has consistently demonstrated through its commitment that modern technologies can be inclusive and meet the needs of all users without exception.
As a blind user, I consider the iPhone to be one of the best electronic devices I have ever used. It is distinguished by its ease of use, offering a comfortable and seamless experience, along with a high level of privacy and security—elements that are of utmost importance to any user. Furthermore, the advanced features Apple provides through its VoiceOver screen reader are truly remarkable by all standards, as it can be described as one of the greatest technological innovations in this field. VoiceOver offers a comprehensive and powerful experience, making navigation and device usage simple and efficient.
Despite all these outstanding advantages, we hope that Apple takes the mentioned suggestions into account to continue improving VoiceOver and making it even more efficient and powerful. Such enhancements could further elevate the experience for blind users, solidifying its position as the best screen reader without rival.
In conclusion, we express our deep gratitude to Apple for its ongoing commitment to providing products and technologies that empower everyone to access and benefit from them. We eagerly look forward to seeing what the company will introduce in the future to enhance accessibility and improve the lives of users around the world.” – Fari

“I am now a hearing-aid user, and would like to give kudos to Apple. I really like the hearing aids which I own, and it's so nice not to have to use the 3rd-party app on my phone in order to adjust the settings. I can simply open up the native iOS settings app and make any adjustments right in there, or by pressing the volume buttons on my hearing aids. The 3rd-party app on my phone is honestly not that accessible with VoiceOver, but I've been able to briefly use it. In addition, I've briefly used Apple intelligence and it seems to work very well. Thanks once again Apple for creating a level playing field for those of us who have disabilities. Thanks also to AppleVis and Be My Eyes.” – Anonymous

“Improve BRAILLE screen input and add more features so we can use it in all apps, e.g.: record voice on whatsapp withou exiting braille screen input. Add a feature to recognize colours precisely.” – Anonymous

“It is the case that I will be sticking with Apple products because I am very intrenched in the ecosystem and do not want to spend the time and effort transitioning away. However, this does not undermine my disappointment for the company in terms of how they've handled bug fixes. For instance, I only use my MacBook when I need to for creative and audio work (preferring to switch to Windows for anything else). In fact I consider the this years major OS release to be the buggiest I've ever seen overall in terms of VoiceOver and dearly hope Apple will devote some time to simply fixing pre-existing bugs.” – Minionslayer

“Come on Apple, we keep having new versions of iOS but nothing is getting fixed, and it seems these days no new features are arriving either, not sure what Apple is delivering!” – Pat Ships

“I drive my MacBook Pro daily using VoiceOver. It is still the most advanced screen reader in terms of operability, interoperability and functionality with 3rd party apps. I'd be lost without VO on my iPhone. Thanks Apple for continuing to drive accessibility forward.” – Anonymous

“We are no longer in the rabbit-ears era where we turned the TV on and adjusted the volume with one knob, changed the channel with the other, and everything just worked. Technology today is feature-rich, yes, but that comes at the cost of increased complexity, and inevitably with confusing interfaces that defy our best attempts at efficient use. This isn’t a blindie-only problem. When talking tech, my fully sighted friends and associates are likewise frustrated with the current kitchen-sink approach to modern technology. At least they have their eyes. Consider the challenge of a complex interface to those of us who are blind. I recall an Apple ad campaign from the mid- to late-‘80s in which an IBM PC with its ungainly stack of thick manuals and binders was compared to a Macintosh with a couple of pamphlets. The message was clear. Apple products were simple and easy to use. Where did that Apple go? It has been replaced with an Apple that puts out software releases that grow new features like barnacles on the hull of a ship, features we often don’t need and certainly didn’t ask for. At the same time, the features we require in our everyday use become increasingly fragile and invariably unpredictable, giving the overall impression that Apple products are a house of cards on the verge of collapse. However, my experience as a blind person has many dimensions. I’m overjoyed that I can purchase consumer products that are accessible off the shelf without a premium “blindie” price tag. This has become the norm from many tech companies, but Apple gets my thanks for making this happen. It is Apple that I thank everyday for developing incredible products that I love. If I am harsh in this report card, it is only because I believe Apple is the kind of company that will listen to the truth and take steps to improve. Finally, I recognize I could just submit anonymously, but what's the point? My style and word choice are all over these comments. And by displaying my name, I attest that I stand behind them and invite discussion - from anyone in the AppleVis community and beyond.” – PaulMartz

“I am fully blind and use iCloud to share documents between my laptop and my phone. ITunes worked well with this. The iCloud app for windows, in the microsoft store, has some bugs. Even so, it's still useable. I like that. Over all, my experience with apple and its products has been wonderful. Apple has had accessibility in mind since the beginning. Thank you for this. I feel like we actually matter to someone. I love being part of the apple ecosystem. Thank you.” – Aaron

“Despite my moans, I appreciate that Apple continues to ensure that devices are at least usable by blind people, and I continue to buy Apple products as a result.
But the major upgrade release cycles do bother me. I depend on my Mac for my job, and I am lost without my phone. But I have such anxiety when a new release comes out because there are always serious bugs that get introduced and it's never clear when it is safe to upgrade. As a sighted user, i never had this anxiety because I knew things would work from the off and any issues would be fairly minor.
I feel like an unpaid beta tester. I am required to invest a significant amount of my own time in reporting and documenting bugs that often stay broken for years. I never had this when I was sighted.
So I have mixed feelings about Apple - on the one hand I am very grateful I can use Apple products at all, but on the other I am frustrated that the experience is less good now that I no longer have sight.” – mr grieves

“Apple only offers its accessibility support line through a US number. I’m not in the US, Canada, or the UK—I’m in the EU. Sometimes I need support, but I have no one to call. If I contact Apple Support, they don’t know anything about accessibility. And if I want to reach Apple Accessibility Support, I have to call a US number, which is really expensive for me. I think Apple should consider having an accessibility support line, not necessarily for every country, but at least for the EU or the UK. That way, it wouldn’t cost as much as calling the US. Even just offering it in bigger markets would be helpful. Having the support line only in the US doesn’t make much sense.” – Sara

“VoiceOver on my iPhone is one of my favorite features of Apple. Because I am visually impaired, it definitely helps to use my iPhone. I like that this year, I did not have as many bugs as last year. For example, iOS 14 had this one bug where throughout the operating system, VoiceOver could not gain focus on some elements, therefore I could not use most areas of my phone. I did not fix that until iOS 15, however I was not on the beta of iOS at that time. However, when I went on to the iOS 17 beta in 2023, I had a little bit more bugs, but I had the Feedback app to report them. I think Apple did great at fixing them. Same with iOS 18, except I did not have that many bugs. I only had one bug, and that was where whenever I was in the share sheet or other areas of the operating system, my device would respring and show a loading screen for a few seconds, or until I had to force restart the device, losing whatever progress I was doing. However, it seems that Apple fixed that bug within just one beta, which is nice. I also like the ability to change how much the audio is now ducked. It's nice, because if I am listening to music and I don't want the audio to be ducked as much, I can change that. Or if I want it to be ducked more, I can do that, because sometimes when I use Bluetooth headsets, the audio may not be as ducked as I would like it to, so it's nice that I can change that now. Even though I don't need this, it is nice that it's there, and that would be the voiceover tutorial. Just like on the Mac and Apple Vision Pro, we finally get it on the iPhone, which I think needed to be on the iPhone. However, I think in iOS 19 we can make some improvements to it. For example, when you turn on the Mac, and it is just sitting there, you can turn on the voiceover, and you can see that the audio is not as ducked as it was in iOS 19. For example, when you turn on the Mac, and it is just sitting there on its setup screen, it tells you to press the enter key to select English as your default language, and then tells you how to turn voiceover on. You can then press the V key to turn it on, without taking the quick start tutorial, and continue setting up your Mac. Or, if you don't know how to use voiceover, you can press the space bar to take a quick start tutorial, and learn how to use voiceover before setting up your Mac. I think we should have this on all of our operating systems. For example, when you turn your iPhone on, it can probably do the same thing, if it's turned on, and you are waiting at the select your language, or hello screen. It can tell you to triple click the side button for voiceover, and guide you through the tutorial, if you need to take the tutorial, if you don't know how to use voiceover. Another thing that I would like to see in iOS 19 is the ability to route screen sharing through voiceover. For example, let's say I'm in a FaceTime call with my friend, and I would like to hear what he is doing. Usually, the only thing that you can hear during screen sharing is audio of different media, such as a YouTube video, or a song on Spotify. It would also be nice to have that available during remote control. For example, if I wanted to control my friend's phone, I would click the remote control button, but I would not know what I'm doing on my friend's phone. I would like voiceover on my phone to show me what is on the screen of my friend's iPhone. So, this way, you can still be able to see what's on your friend's screen and control it, even if you don't even have the app on your phone. For example, for example, I am excited to see what Apple brings with accessibility for iOS 19, and I think Apple definitely did a great job with iOS 18 this year.” – Seamus

“I'm still so thankful at how Accessible the iphone is.” – PinkCupcake5

“Image description, screen recognition, and bypassing capture, need to be improved” – Raam

“oh, I never thought I'd get rid of my desktop, I find that my iPhone is much easier to do most everything I wanna do. The only thing I wish would be improved was a way to get music or other information off of a desktop laptop to the iPhone without having to have a special app or program on the computer itself or Apple could actually allow you to transfer your music say to the music player from your desktop without having to have a companion software desktop this would include photos, movies, etc.” – gregg

“I would like to appreciate apple for always having a focus on ensuring equal access to all the apple products by the differently abled.” – Arya

“While I still have my issues with Apple hardware I'm still over all extremely happy with both Mac and iOS. I still feel that there are many apps on both systems which don't have good replacement on the competition, never mind how good the hardware is especially with Apple Silicon. If there's one thing I want Apple to keep doing above all, it's just to keep investing in Accessibility like they have been. Are the features and bug fixing perfect? No. But I feel Apple still does way more than the other big tech companies, especially now during the huge AI pivot and some investors wanting them and other companies to focus less on inclusion.” – Piotr Machacz

“On mobile, I've tried both iOS and Android, and VoiceOver continues to be the superior screen reader in my experience, so please keep up the great work and keep itterating. I love Mac OS as a platform, so really hope VoiceOver can get to a point where it really enables me to get the best from my Mac, and/or third party screen readers are allowed to develop.
As always, I love the confidence I have that any product Apple releases will be accessible from day one.” – Dave Nason

“The thing is, I love Apple. Not in the sense of being a fan or blindly loyal, but in a way where I genuinely appreciate what the company has built. Apple products are intuitive, easy to use, and reliable, and that’s why I stick with them. Sure, there are other options—Android, Windows, other operating systems—but for me, it’s not about loyalty; it’s about what works. Life’s already complicated enough. When you can rely on one system that handles most of what you need, why fix something that isn’t broken?
I appreciate having choices, don’t get me wrong. Options are great, but sometimes simplicity is better. Apple has created a streamlined experience, where I don’t have to sort through countless variations or wonder if I’ve made the wrong decision. For someone like me, a blind person, that consistency matters. I know I can pick up an Apple product and trust that it’s built with accessibility in mind—at least to a certain degree. But that doesn’t mean there isn’t room for improvement.
I’m not saying I couldn’t adapt if I needed to. I’ve faced plenty of challenges, both with technology and without, and I know how to make things work. But the truth is, I don’t want to have to. I shouldn’t have to. Apple has the power and resources to lead the way in accessibility, not just for blind people but for anyone with a disability. Yet sometimes it feels like they’re holding back—not because they can’t innovate, but because they’re choosing not to. And that’s frustrating because we’re at the mercy of these tech companies in so many ways. If they decide not to prioritize us, if they don’t see the value in supporting accessibility, then we’re back at square one. People like to say, ‘Well, just fight for your rights. Sue them if you have to. Push until they listen.’ But it’s not that simple. Sure, you can fight legally, but at the end of the day, there are spaces where people don’t want us. They don’t want us to have a seat at the table, and they’ll go out of their way to make it difficult, even if it’s not right. So, while fighting is necessary sometimes, it’s not always the solution. The better answer is for companies like Apple to take the initiative—to care enough to improve because it’s the right thing to do, not just because someone forced their hand.
I love Apple, and that’s why I want more from them. I want them to truly innovate and elevate their products to meet the needs of people with disabilities. Don’t just meet the bare minimum or pat yourself on the back for what you’ve already done. There’s so much potential for growth. Show us how to use your products—create detailed demos, step-by-step guides, and real-world applications specifically designed with accessibility in mind. Don’t just explain things in theory; show us how they work. Bring in blind creators or people with disabilities who can demonstrate these features in action. Make it easy for us to learn and create, whether it’s with iMovie, GarageBand, Keynote, or Pages. Give us the tools and the guidance to be as innovative and creative as we can be. Integrate your products with technologies like AI in a way that works for everyone. Sure, not everyone has the latest iPhone or Mac, but accessibility shouldn’t hinge on having the most expensive, top-of-the-line device. Use open-source models, work with existing tools, and adapt them to meet your standards. Show us how to use voice controls to complete complex tasks. Let us share screens with live video descriptions. Be bold. Be creative. Push past the limitations of what you think is possible, because if you don’t, someone else will—and they’ll leave you behind.
At the end of the day, the people at Apple are human, just like the rest of us. You might not think about disability now because it hasn’t affected you yet, but it could. Blindness, or any other disability, isn’t something you plan for, but it’s something that can happen. Wouldn’t you want the best technology available if you suddenly needed it? Wouldn’t you want to know that the company you supported thought about your needs even before you had them? That’s what this is about—not just profit or innovation for the sake of it, but creating something meaningful and impactful because it’s the right thing to do.
I love Apple, and I believe in what you can do. But love doesn’t mean complacency. It means wanting better—not just for myself, but for everyone who relies on these products. So please, stop holding back. Innovate, elevate, and make the world better—not just for today, but for the future we all share.” – Winter Roses

“I am a totally blind user of the iPhone. It has truly been a blessing for me and has opened up so many doors. For example, with VoiceOver being on every iPhone, I can help out my parents when they need something done. Keep up the wonderful work.” – Jimmy V

“I would not be able to use Smart Phone technology were it not for the remarkable work Apple has done and continues to do in the accessibility space. The ability to use a Smart Phone has significantly enhanced my quality of life. I think Apple deserve stormy applause and sincere thanks for their unwavering commitment to delivering accessibility in their products.” – Sasquatch

“thank you for being willing to work with the visually impaired community. Please continue to come up with great ideas and quick bug fixes.” – honest nan

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Conclusion

We greatly appreciate everyone who took the time to complete the 2024 Apple Vision Accessibility Report Card survey and share feedback. Your participation was vital to producing a meaningful and accurate report card that reflects the real-world experiences of blind, DeafBlind, and low vision users of Apple products and services. We hope that the 2024 Report Card will contribute to constructive conversations about the current accessibility and experience of using Apple devices for blind, DeafBlind, and low vision users; influence Apple’s 2025 accessibility roadmap; and be a positive force for change.

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Notes

About the Survey

To determine the ratings for this report card and gather comments, we conducted a survey between January 13, 2025 and January 27, 2025. The survey was open to all blind, DeafBlind, and low vision individuals who used at least one Apple product during 2024. A free AppleVis account was required to complete the survey. All who participated in the survey, minus members of the AppleVis Editorial Team and Be My Eyes employees and their family and friends, were entered into a drawing to receive a $200 gift card, thanks to Be My Eyes.

Before submitting a survey response, participants were kindly requested to please consider the following:

• Before starting the survey, we recommend that you review last year's report card.
• When submitting ratings and comments, please only provide responses for questions where you have personal experience with the accessibility feature and platform in question. For example, if you exclusively use VoiceOver on an iPhone but do not use macOS, we ask that you please only submit answers for the questions relating to VoiceOver on the iPhone. While we recognize that many in our community have opinions about Apple's platforms beyond those with which they are personally familiar, only submitting ratings for platforms that you use will help ensure that the survey results accurately reflect the views and lived experiences of end users of the product.
• The 1-5 rating scale we are using is a typical model where 5 is the best score. So, if you give a rating of 5, it means you are highly satisfied with the aspect being rated; a rating of 3 means you are neither satisfied nor dissatisfied; and a rating of 1 means you are highly dissatisfied.
• In this survey and our report card, 'vision accessibility features' refers to the available functionalities and capabilities of the software, while 'user experience' refers to your overall user satisfaction with and ease-of-use of the software.
• In one question, we ask about the new accessibility features introduced in 2024. To help you answer this question, we recommend taking a look at the preview of these features and Scott Davert's blog post discussing what's new in iOS 18 accessibility for blind and DeafBlind users.
• Before submitting the survey, please take a moment to carefully review your ratings and comments to ensure that they are a fair and accurate representation of your experience and opinions. By providing thoughtful and well-considered feedback, you can help ensure that the survey results are meaningful and constructive.
• Each person may complete the survey one (1) time.
• By completing this survey and including comments, you grant AppleVis permission to feature any of your comments in its Apple Vision Accessibility Report Card. You can opt to be attributed by your AppleVis account display name or quoted anonymously.
• To ensure accuracy and authenticity, AppleVis will not make grammatical/stylistic changes, spelling corrections, or any other modifications to the quotes included in the report card.
• Members of the AppleVis Editorial Team, as well as Be My Eyes employees and their family and friends, are welcome and encouraged to complete the survey but are not eligible for the gift card drawing.

Grading Scale

The below grading scale was used when determining grades for each rating:

• 4.4-5.0: A
• 3.7-4.3: B
• 3.0-3.6: C
• 2.3-2.9: D
• 1.0-2.2: F

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About AppleVis

Founded in 2010 by David Goodwin and now a member of the Be My Eyes family, AppleVis is the premier online resource for blind, DeafBlind, and low vision users of Apple products and services. AppleVis includes directories of accessible apps reviewed by blind, DeafBlind, and low vision users; a vibrant discussion forum where members of the community share their knowledge and expertise with all things Apple and beyond; a blog, covering Apple software and product releases; a podcast, including software demos, interviews, and a monthly Apple news talk show; how-to guides on various topics; and other resources for users of VoiceOver, braille, and low vision features on Apple products. A Be My Eyes company, AppleVis is a blind-led, community-directed organization and is run by a small team of employees and volunteers. All AppleVis resources are completely free to the community.

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Media Inquiries

For media inquiries or if you have questions about the 2024 AppleVis Report Card, please contact:

Michael Hansen Michael@applevis.com

Copyright © 2025 AppleVis. All rights reserved.