Tips and tools to make using digital devices easier for people with sight loss and vision impairments.
There are tools and settings that can make phones, tablets, laptops and browsers easier to use for people with sight loss and vision impairments. Some settings or tools may not be available or work on older phones, tablets or laptops.
You can find settings for Android, iOS/iPadOS, Microsoft Windows and Apple macOS in the sections below. These include simplifying layouts, reducing distractions and using voice commands to control your device.
Look for the cog icon. This is usually on your home screen, in your app list on phones and tablets, or in the Start menu on Windows.
My Computer My Way from AbilityNet also offers step-by-step instructions to change settings to meet your needs.
You can set up shortcuts on your smartphone for quick access to settings you find useful.
Browsers and reducing screen clutter
- remove distracting parts of websites such as ads and navigation menus
- change text size, style and spacing
- change background colour
- read webpage text aloud
Options vary depending on browser or programme used. Not all websites are supported.
or
More > Immersive Reader icon in the address bar
Microsoft Office
Word, OneNote, Outlook, Excel, Teams
View > Immersive Reader
Teams: Hover over or tap message > More icon > More actions > Immersive Reader
Google Chrome
More icon > More tools > Reading mode
Highlight text > right click > Open in reading mode
Mozilla Firefox
Reader view icon in address bar
Apple Safari
Reader icon in address bar > Show Reader
To return: page icon in address bar > Hide Reader
Display
- Accessibility menu / AssistiveTouch – a large on screen menu of your most-used controls such as screenshot, brightness, volume
- Display size – change how big everything is on-screen e.g. icons, buttons
- Text size – make text bigger
- Bold text – make text darker
- High contrast text, Outline text – black text with a white outline or white text with a black outline
- Font smoothing, ClearType – smooth and sharpen text
- Text style (fonts) – change font style
- Night light, Night Shift – reduce blue light
- Dark mode – dark background with light text
- Display contrast – makes text and icons stand out more clearly against the background
- Colour inversion – invert the colour of background, texts and images (this also affects photos and videos)
- Colour correction, colour filters – help differentiate between colours if you are colour blind or have trouble reading text on a screen
- Transparency – replace see-though or blurred backgrounds with a solid colour behind menus and panels, making text easier to read
- Button shapes – Adds shapes to buttons such as an underline beneath Back buttons
- Animation effects – reduce moving effects on screen such as when opening apps
- Magnifier, Zoom, magnification gestures – increase or focus on parts of the screen
Reading, Writing and Display
- Screen readers TalkBack, VoiceOver, Narrator – reads everything on-screen aloud
- Select to Speak – reads selected text aloud
- Audio description – hear a spoken description on-screen in supported films and shows
- Voice Access, Voice Control – control device using your voice e.g. open apps, tap buttons, scroll
- Grammar and spelling, spell check – highlight mistakes and suggest corrections
- Word suggestion, predictive text, text suggestions – show suggestions for next word
- Voice typing, dictation – replaces typing with speaking
- Toggle keys – makes a sound when Caps lock, Num Lock or Scroll lock are pressed
Cursor and Pointer
- Mouse pointer size, colour, trails – make it easier to see what you’re pointing at
- Text cursor size, colour, thickness – make it easier to see where you’re typing
Apple iOS/iPad settings
AssistiveTouch
Accessibility > Touch
Shortcut: Triple click side or home button (once configured)
Display size
Accessibility > Zoom
Text size
Accessibility > Display & Text Size
Bold text
Accessibility > Display & Text Size
Text style
General > Fonts
Night shift
Display & Brightness > Night Shift
Dark mode
Display & Brightness > Appearance
Increase contrast
Accessibility > Display & Text Size
Colour inversion
Accessibility > Display & Text Size
Colour filters
Accessibility > Display & Text Size
Transparency
Accessibility > Display & Text Size
Button shapes
Accessibility > Display & Text Size
Reduce motion
Accessibility > Motion
Magnifier
Settings > Accessibility > Zoom
Shortcut: Two finger pinch in/out
VoiceOver
Accessibility > VoiceOver
Select to speak
Accessibility > Spoken Content > Speak Selection
Audio description
Accessibility > Audio
Voice Control
Accessibility > Voice Control
Spell check
General > Keyboard
Predictive text
General > Keyboard
Voice typing
General > Keyboard > Enable Dictation
Shortcut: Tap microphone on keyboard
Microsoft Windows Settings
Accessibility menu
Shortcut: Win + A
Display size
System > Display > Scale
Text size
Accessibility > Text size
ClearType
Start > ClearType > Adjust ClearType text
Text style
Personalisation > Fonts
Night light
System > Display
Dark mode
Personalisation > Colours
Display contrast
Accessibility > Contrast themes
Shortcut: Left Alt + Shift + Print Screen
Colour filters
Accessibility > Colour filters
Shortcut: Win + Ctrl + C
Transparency
Accessibility > Visual effects
Animation effects
Accessibility > Visual effects
Magnifier
Accessibility > Magnifier
Shortcut: Win + Plus (+)/Minus (-)/Esc
Narrator
Accessibility > Narrator
Shortcut: Win + Ctrl + Enter
Voice access
Accessibility > Speech > Voice access
Shortcut: Win + Ctrl + S
Grammar & spelling
Time & language > Typing
Text suggestions
Time & language > Typing
Voice typing
Accessibility > Speech > Voice typing
Shortcut: Win + H
Toggle keys
Accessibility > Keyboard
Mouse pointer size, colour, trails
Accessibility > Mouse pointer and touch
Cursor size, colour, thickness
Accessibility > Text cursor
Apple MacOS Settings
Accessibility shortcuts
Accessibility > Shortcut
Shortcut: Touch ID three times or Option + Command + F5
Display size
Displays > Larger Text/Default/More Space
Text size
Accessibility > Display > Text
Night light
Displays > Night Shift
Dark mode
Appearance > Auto, Dark, Light
Contrast
Accessibility > Display > Increase contrast
Display contrast
Accessibility > Display > slider
Colour filters
Accessibility > Display > filter type
Colour inversion
Accessibility > Display > Invert colours
Shortcut: Control + Option + Command + 8
Differentiate without colour
Accessibility > Display
Reduce transparency
Accessibility > Display
Reduce motion
Accessibility > Display
Button shapes
Accessibility > Display > toolbar button shapes
Magnifier
Accessibility > Zoom
Shortcut: + Plus (+)/Minus (-)
VoiceOver
Accessibility > VoiceOver
Shortcut: + Touch ID 3 times
Audio description
Accessibility > Audio
Voice Control
Accessibility > Voice Control
Grammar & spelling
Keyboard > Text Input > Input Sources > Edit
Predictive text
Keyboard > Text input > Edit > Show inline predictive text
Voice typing
Keyboard > Dictation
Shortcut: Microphone icon
Sticky keys
Keyboard > Sticky keys
Mouse pointer size, colour
Accessibility > Display > Pointer
Tools and Apps
Many of these are free or offer free trials. Paid versions give you full features.
Magnify with your phone camera – take a photo and use the pinch to zoom gesture
Be My Eyes – connects blind or low vision users with volunteers and companies across the world, through live video and AI
Seeing AI – narrates the world around you using your camera
TapTapSee – take a photo of anything and your phone will identify it out loud via VoiceOver
Google maps and Apple maps – speaks directions out loud
Grammarly – AI proofreader for grammar, spelling and clarity
Hemingway – Highlights complex sentences, gives suggestions for grammar and paraphrasing using AI
Dragon speech recognition – voice-to-text tool to dictate and edit documents hands-free
Voice typing apps – type with your voice e.g. WhisperTyping, AquaVoice
Download the guide
Need further support?
Get in touch with our Support Line if you have any digital support questions or if you would like support to change your settings.