Apple unveils new accessibility tools, including voice cloning capability
During its annual WWDC on Monday, Apple showcased its latest accessibility and health updates, which include new assistive technology and voice features. These updates were first previewed on Global Accessibility Awareness Day in May and have now been confirmed to launch with iOS 17, iPadOS 17, watchOS 10, and macOS Sonoma.
For iOS users with cognitive disabilities, Apple’s new Assistive Access features allow people to customize apps with high-contrast buttons and large text labels to meet their individual needs. Apple also added Live Speech and Personal Voice for people who can’t speak, have trouble speaking, or may lose their voice over time.
With Live Speech, you can write what you want to say and speak it out loud to others on the phone or FaceTime, or write down commonly used phrases to recognize them during a conversation to avoid typing delays. Personal Voice creates a voice that sounds like you by recording 15 minutes of random phrases. For example, Apple wrote in its May issue that people with ALS or other diseases that affect speech can record their voices on their devices for use with Live Speech and other assistive technologies as their condition progresses.
Other new accessibility updates include the Point and Speak feature, which lets you read the text of a home object aloud. Blind or partially sighted people can use this to recognize text from objects in their environment, such as microwave oven buttons.
New health features aimed at children, such as daylight sensor and screen distance detection, aim to prevent vision problems such as myopia. Apple said at WWDC that spending time outside and keeping the screen far enough away from your eyes can reduce the risk of nearsightedness. The new features are aimed at a younger audience, as myopia usually starts in childhood. It will be released as part of watchOS 10.
For Mac users, the macOS Sonoma update includes the features mentioned above, such as Live Speech, and Mac-specific updates, such as the ability to connect hearing aids made for iPhone to Mac products. macOS Sonoma also includes voice suggestions while using voice control, the ability to pause moving images, customizable text size, and VoiceOver support.
WWDC speakers emphasized the use of Apple products for their health benefits. In addition to preventing myopia, Apple has announced new features that focus on mental health.
The Health app, now available for iPad, allows users to track how they’re feeling and see what external factors may be affecting their mood, such as how much sleep they’ve had. Mental health features are also available on Apple Watch through the Mindfulness app.
