To celebrate Accessibility Awareness Day 2025 (May 15th), Apple has unveiled a new wave of accessibility features to its ecosystem with the release of iOS 19 and macOS 16, set to be officially unveiled at WWDC 2025 on June 9. These updates not only improve usability for people with disabilities but also enhance the overall experience for every user. Here are ten standout features coming to iOS 19 and macOS 16 that show Apple’s continued commitment to accessibility.
1. Accessibility Nutrition Labels
A major improvement to the App Store experience, Accessibility Nutrition Labels will help users quickly identify which accessibility features are supported in an app or game. These labels will appear on product pages, making it easier for people with disabilities to find apps that meet their needs.
2. More Customizable Background Sounds
Background Sounds, a tool designed to help users focus or relax, will be more personal than ever. With new EQ settings, the option to automatically stop sounds after a set time, and integration with the Shortcuts app, users can tailor the experience to help with concentration, anxiety, or tinnitus.
3. Magnifier for Mac
The beloved Magnifier app from iPhone is finally coming to Mac. Users will be able to connect an iPhone or a USB camera to their Mac and use it to magnify text or objects in their physical environment. It’s a practical feature for users with low vision.
4. Vehicle Motion Cues on Mac
Originally introduced on iPhone and iPad, Vehicle Motion Cues are designed to reduce motion sickness during travel. The feature overlays subtle visual cues on the screen, helping users’ brains reconcile screen movement with real-world motion. With its expansion to Mac, travel comfort is set to improve for many users.
5. Accessibility Reader
A new system-wide feature, Accessibility Reader is designed for users with low vision or dyslexia. It allows full customization of text appearance, including font style, size, spacing, and background color. Whether on iPhone, iPad, or Mac, reading will become easier and more comfortable.
6. Live Captions on Apple Watch
Although the iPhone picks up the audio, users will now be able to view live captions right on their Apple Watch. This real-time transcription feature offers greater independence to people who are deaf or hard of hearing.
7. Braille Access Expansion
Apple is turning its devices into full-featured braille note takers. With improved braille input and output support across iPhone, iPad, Mac, and Vision Pro, users will enjoy more seamless and powerful tools for reading and writing in braille.
8. Faster Personal Voice Creation
Personal Voice—Apple’s tool to generate a synthetic version of a user’s voice—has been vastly improved. With on-device AI, it now takes just 10 recorded phrases and under a minute to generate a natural-sounding voice.
9. Enhanced CarPlay Accessibility
CarPlay is getting new features to help drivers with accessibility needs. Large Text support improves readability, while Sound Recognition listens for important sounds like sirens or a baby crying and notifies the user.
10. System-Wide Accessibility Integration
With iOS 19 and macOS 16, Apple is ensuring that accessibility tools like Accessibility Reader and Background Sounds work seamlessly across all devices, offering users a unified, inclusive experience.
And that’s about it! These upgrades reflect Apple’s forward-thinking design philosophy and show that accessibility isn’t just a feature—it’s a foundation. With iOS 19 and macOS 16, Apple continues to raise the bar for what inclusive technology should look like.
