Accessibility Features on the iPad

Using Accessibility Features that are built into the iPad can help you be more organized and productive. We have posted our top accessibility tips for students on this page. Updated for iOS 26+

Setting Up Your Accessibility Controls

On your iPad, you’ll go into your Settings App
Under Accessibility, you’ll scroll down to General
Under Accessibility Shortcut, you’ll be able to select the features that you want quick access to when you triple click the tap button

🧠 Cognitive Features: Quiet the noise, simplify the process, & help the mind

Accessibility Reader

Accessibility Reader on iPad allows users to read or listen to text in a customizable full-screen format, compatible with any app. Integrated with the Magnifier app, it helps personalize and enhance readability for text in the environment, such as menus or books, enabling users to view and listen to captured text easily. This is basically just Safari Reader that has been expanded to all applications on the iPad (iOS 26+ Required)

Safari Reader

Safari Reader simplifies web navigation by displaying articles on a single page without distractions. It allows users to adjust font styles and background colors for personalized reading. Users can listen to text read aloud by accessing the Listen to Page option or using Siri. Additionally, it offers summaries and a table of contents for a quick understanding of the article.

☝️ Mobility Features: Empower students with more ways to enter information

Assistive Touch

AssistiveTouch for iPadOS allows users to customize their touchscreen experience to meet physical needs. Users can replace difficult gestures, create custom touches, and substitute button presses. The AssistiveTouch menu layout is customizable, and a Bluetooth device can be connected for onscreen pointer navigation. Additionally, iPad users can utilize a Virtual Trackpad feature for enhanced control.

Dictation

Dictation allows you to speak instead of type, supporting over 60 languages. If you struggle with spelling or typing, tap the microphone button in any text field to start dictating. Punctuation is automatically added as you speak, and you can also insert emojis using your voice.

👂 Hearing Features: Automatically generate captions, or customize sound

Live Captions

Live Captions assist Deaf or hard of hearing individuals by providing real-time transcriptions of conversations on devices. They can caption live speech through the device's microphone. Users can customize the captions' size, placement, fonts, and colors to fit their preferences. It can also caption iPad audio such as podcasts and videos.

Mono Audio

Mono Audio is an accessibility feature that combines the left and right audio channels into a single, identical signal played through both speakers or earbuds. While standard "Stereo" sound tries to create a 3D sense of space (putting the drums on the left and the singer in the middle), Mono Audio ensures that 100% of the sound is delivered to both sides equally.

🔎 Vision Features: Make on-screen content easier to see and read

Speak Selection

While VoiceOver is tailored for individuals who are blind, Speak Selection serves a more specific purpose for those who can see the screen but require assistance in processing text. This feature enables students to highlight a particular word, sentence, or paragraph and have the iPad read it aloud.

Live Text

Live Text is a powerful AI-driven feature that allows the iPad to recognize and interact with text found inside photos, videos, or even the physical world through the Camera app. It treats text inside an image as if it were a typed document, allowing you to highlight, copy, translate, or "Speak" text that is stuck inside a picture.

Display Settings

For many students, the default look of an iPad can be visually "noisy" or difficult to parse. The Display & Text Size menu is the control center for making the interface more readable and less distracting. In this menu, students can bold the text, make the text larger, reduce transparency of the backgrounds, increase the contrast, and even add filters to the iPad to fit the needs of the students.

🔉 Speech Features: Enable powerful tools like voice control & live speech

Live Speech

In iPadOS 26, Live Speech has become a vital tool for students who are non-verbal or have speech-related challenges. It allows a student to type what they want to say and have the iPad speak it out loud during in-person conversations, FaceTime calls, or even in the classroom.

Translate App

In an inclusive classroom, every voice should be heard—no matter the language. This video covers the Translate app on the iPad (11th Gen), a powerful communication tool that supports real-time text, voice, and even face-to-face conversation.

Optimized for iPadOS 26, the Translate app now features an enhanced 'Face to Face' mode, which splits the screen so two people can sit across from each other and see the translation in their own orientation. We’ll also show you how Apple Intelligence allows for system-wide translation, letting students translate text directly within apps like Safari, Notes, and even within Photos using Live Text.

Accessibility Glossary

Accessibility Reader: A system-wide tool that allows users to view and listen to text from any app in a simplified view with custom fonts and backgrounds.

Assistive Access: A specialized mode that provides a simplified iPad interface with large buttons and focused features for students with cognitive disabilities.

AssistiveTouch: A customizable on-screen menu that replaces physical button presses and complex gestures (like pinching) with simple taps.

Braille Access: A feature that allows blind students to navigate the iPad and input text using a connected refreshable braille display.

Closed Captions: On-screen text that displays dialogue and sound descriptions for pre-recorded video content.

Color Filters: Settings that adjust the display's color palette to help with color blindness or light sensitivity (includes Grayscale and Color Tint).

Dictation: A tool that uses the iPad microphone to convert spoken words into text in real-time, allowing students to "write" by speaking.

Dwell Control: A feature where staying still (dwelling) on an item with a cursor or eye-tracker for a set time triggers a click.

Grayscale: A display filter that removes all color from the screen to reduce visual overstimulation and dopamine-driven distractions.

Guided Access: A feature that locks the iPad into a single app and allows adults to disable specific areas of the screen to keep students on task.

Hover Text: A pop-up window that shows a high-resolution, enlarged version of whatever text or icon the student is pointing at.

Hover Typing: A dedicated large-text window that displays what a student is typing in real-time to help with visibility and self-correction.

Live Captions: Real-time, machine-generated text transcriptions for any live audio, including conversations, FaceTime, and videos.

Live Speech: Allows non-verbal students to type phrases and have the iPad speak them aloud using a synthesized or personal voice.

Motion Settings: A group of controls that stop or slow down the "zooming" animations of the interface to prevent motion sickness.

Personal Voice: A tool that allows a student to create a digital version of their own voice to be used with the Live Speech feature.

Safari Reader: A browser tool that strips ads and menus from websites, leaving only the primary article text for a distraction-free experience.

Smart Invert: Reverses the colors of the interface (Dark Mode) while keeping images and videos in their original, natural colors.

Speak Selection: A tool that adds a "Speak" button to the menu whenever text is highlighted, allowing students to hear specific passages read aloud.

Touch Accommodations: Settings that change how the screen responds to touch, such as ignoring repeated taps or requiring a longer "hold" to click.

Zoom: A high-powered digital magnifying glass that can enlarge the entire screen or a specific window by up to 15x.