People are often surprised to learn that the Apple Watch, currently on its 10th generation, is accessible to blind and partially sighted people and has several nifty things built in to make it easier for people with low or no vision to make the most out of there apple watch.
Face Design
At the time of writing there are multiple ‘large print’ watch faces that can be set these include both digital and analogue designs and can be further customised with your favourite colour or a high contrast. For most watch faces you also have the option to use a light or a dark background – which is another way you can increase the contrast.
Bigger Fonts
Whilst fonts on the apple watch are small given its form factor they can be made larger in settings. In the same menu, it is possible to make the displays default settings brighter and make text bolder.
Screen Magnifer
The Apple Watch has a built–in screen magnifier that is able to magnify a portion of the screen. The magnified image is clear and this feature if very useful for apps that do not support larger fonts. It is a unique experience using this feature as the magnified image is moved around the screen by panning with two fingers or by moving the Digital Crown. This latter option moves the area magnified from top left corner to bottom right mimicking the way eyes would move across a line of text.
Screen Reader
Like all apple products the Apple Watch has VoiceOver built in, and it works almost identically to the way it works on iPhone. There are small changes to some gestures, as some of the iPhone gestures cannot fit in on a small screen. VoiceOver can read everything from the time and your iCloud calendar to work out stats and what music you are currently playing. One of the key advantages of VoiceOver on the Apple Watch is the ability to read and respond to messages and answer calls with your phone safely tucked away in your pocket or handbag. Additionally for models WITH an eSIM, it’s possible to leave your phone at home all together, meaning you can still keep in touch.
Siri
Siri, Apple’s built in personal assistant, does not miss out on the Apple Watch. Siri can be used in very similar ways on an iPhone, to read and send texts, set timers or alarms and reminders. ‘Hey Siri’ is particularly useful on Apple Watch as even when your hands are full or a bit messy, e.g.. when cooking, it’s still possible to set a timer without picking up your phone.
Accessibility Shortcut
The accessibility shortcut is one of the lesser known about, but most useful tools for accessibility on Apple Watch. It is really useful if you need to switch between accessibility features on the fly. Triple clicking in the Digital Crown can toggle on any accessibility setting. Very useful if your vision changes during the day or there are some apps that are just too small.
Our resident ‘techspert’ Jemma says “I use my accessibility shortcut to toggle voiceover on and off. I find VoiceOver too intrusive and sometimes too loud to have it on all the time. With one of the accessibility focused watch faces, I can read the time in high contrast, but when I am outside wearing sunglasses, I cannot read any of the Apple Watch menus. So, if I want to look at my calendar for work or check a bus time I toggle on VoiceOver. When I am done or am back inside in my regular glasses, I can toggle VoiceOver back off again”.
Improvements over the years
This is an overview of the most commonly helpful settings there are also specific settings to adapt for things like colour blindness, not mentioned in this guide. If you are using the largest font size and bold text already and struggling to see your iPhone or iPad don’t panic – there are many more options available like using magnification or getting started to with screen reader.
Millimeters matter
From Jemma’s personal experience she highly recommends going and looking at Apple Watches in person before considering purchasing. For users who are SSI with remaining vision it can be a cause that millimetres matter! This is the case for Jemma, “since purchasing my very first Apple Watch I have needed to always choose the largest size possible and I have found an extra 2-3 millimetres of screen size can make a huge difference in terms of readability for me”.
For more information please contact OpenSight:
Tel: 023 80 641 244
Email: info@opensight.org.uk
