Eye-controlled wheelchairs, AI subtitles: Apple expands accessibility push with new features

Apple has unveiled a sweeping set of accessibility features powered by Apple Intelligence, expanding the company’s push to make its devices more useful for people with disabilities while also showcasing how artificial intelligence is increasingly moving into everyday assistive technology.The updates, arriving later this year across iPhone, iPad, Mac and Apple Vision Pro, add AI-driven capabilities to tools such as VoiceOver, Magnifier and Voice Control, while also introducing automatically generated subtitles for videos without captions.The biggest changes centre around visual accessibility. VoiceOver, Apple’s screen-reading feature for blind and low-vision users, will now use Apple Intelligence to provide far more detailed image descriptions across apps and documents, including photographs, bills and scanned records. Users will also be able to ask follow-up questions about what appears in the camera viewfinder using natural language.The Magnifier app is receiving similar upgrades, allowing users to verbally interact with the tool through commands such as “zoom in” or “turn on flashlight”, effectively turning accessibility tools into conversational assistants.Apple is also making Voice Control more natural. Instead of memorising exact button names, users with physical disabilities can now describe interface elements conversationally, using commands such as “tap the purple folder” or “open the guide about best restaurants”.The company is also introducing AI-generated subtitles across its ecosystem. Videos without captions — including clips shared by friends, streamed online or recorded on an iPhone — will automatically receive on-device transcriptions using Apple’s speech recognition technology. The subtitles are processed privately on-device rather than in the cloud, continuing Apple’s emphasis on privacy-focused AI features.One of the more striking announcements involved accessibility on the Apple Vision Pro. Apple said users of compatible powered wheelchairs will be able to control mobility systems using Vision Pro’s eye-tracking technology. The feature, launching initially in the US with support for Tolt and LUCI drive systems, is designed for people who cannot use traditional joystick-based wheelchair controls.The company also expanded accessibility support across entertainment and communication. Larger text options are coming to tvOS, sign language developers will gain new FaceTime APIs, and Sony’s adaptive gaming controller will now work with Apple devices.While accessibility updates are often treated as niche features in the tech industry, Apple increasingly positions them as mainstream product innovations, particularly as AI enables devices to better interpret speech, visuals and user intent in real time.