In fact, the accessibility options of iPadOS and iOS are primarily intended for people who somehow struggle with certain things. Think, for example, of visually impaired (and hearing) and so on. Many of the options are therefore very specific. But a large part is certainly also suitable for the average user!
For example, if you iPad – for an iPhone it’s less annoying – if you want to use it seriously, the excess of animations during all kinds of action in the user interface quickly causes fatigue. It could also be a little less. Moreover – much worse – all those effects cause ‘quarrels’ with a linked mouse. The mouse cursor – which is already not very visible anyway, we will come back to later – all too often disappears in an icon. After which you as a user have to guess that the thing is ready to be clicked. Fortunately, for more business use in combination with a mouse and keyboard, we can tame all the animation quickly and effectively, whereby the behavior of the mouse cursor also becomes a lot more logical. Tap the Settings app and tap Accessibility. Then tap Movement and put the switch behind Reduce movement at. Extra perk: suppressing ‘smurf-snotty’ soft animations also benefits the battery life of your device.
mouse cursor
Remains that mouse cursor. Apple has opted for a gray ball. Besides that that is not extremely visible, the thing is also not super accurate. For example, if you want to make very precise crops in a photo app, you first need to gain a lot of experience to blindly guess the center of the ball. And even then it doesn’t always go well. by in Settings under Accessibility and Pointer Control choosing a different color for the ball makes things a lot better. Note: the dot itself will still remain gray, but there will be a clear colored circle around it, which makes determining the center a bit easier. You can also turn on the switch behind Increase contrast, although this will not really be necessary for most people. The switch at the back is handy again Hide pointer automatically. If you turn it off (it is on by default), the cursor will always remain on the screen and will not disappear every time you start typing, for example. You can also play with the other options – including acceleration – so that you can completely fine-tune the mouse behavior to your own needs.
Adjust that mouse cursor and mouse behavior to your liking.
USB mouse vs. Bluetooth copy
By the way, a little tip (while we’re on the subject of the mouse): yes, the iPad has been supporting mouse use for some time now. In theory, you can also use a USB mouse via a cable. However, experience shows that this is less accurate than a true wireless Bluetooth mouse. And that must really be a native Bluetooth copy that works without a USB dongle. These are now very affordable and available from various brands. A must for serious (home) work with your iPad!
To read aloud
Let’s go to a completely different section in Settings under – still – Accessibility. If you’re under Spoken material the switch at the back Speak selection off, you can have selected text in, for example, a document read aloud automatically. You simply choose the option Speak after making the selection. Another option is to turn the switch behind Speak screen to turn off. You can then have the entire screen read aloud at once by swiping from top to bottom with two fingers. Both options may come in handy if you’re on a train or something similar and don’t feel like staring at a screen. Or when finding out the pronunciation of words in a foreign language. It is good to know that voices of many languages ​​are available in a higher quality. They take up more storage space, but on a device with storage of 128 GB or more, that’s no drama. To install a high quality voice tap Vote and then the desired language. Then the voice name and if all goes well there is also a version with (improved) available with it. You must have that and select it as a vote. Sounds a lot better!
Fire! (and other calamity)
Actually intended for the deaf and hard of hearing are the options under Sound Recognition perhaps also interesting for anyone who spends a large part of the day listening to music via a headphones. After all, you will not hear any alarming sounds from your immediate environment. Through the switch at the back Sound Recognition on and then under Sounds By indicating what you want to be visually warned about, you are just a little bit safer.
Shake resistant
You may have noticed some ‘strange’ behavior from your iPad. For example, when you drive a bus on a bumpy road, all kinds of actions are suddenly undone. This is a standard enabled ‘feature’ of the iPad: undo by shaking. Can you turn off. Via Settings, Accessibility and To touch you reach the switch Shake recovery. Saves some frustration if you are in a moving environment, or if you are regularly confronted with annoying earthquakes.
Magnifying glass for tinkering
The magnifying glass built into iOS and iPadOS is really handy. This is certainly not only useful for seniors, for example. Think of fine fiddling with electronic components, precision mechanical repairs, hobby work, etc.: a good magnifying glass always comes in handy. Especially the large screen of the iPad is perfect. Certainly the newer ones also have a camera with a high degree of light sensitivity (although you can also use the LED lamp, if present, to provide additional lighting). To make that magnifying glass available at lightning speed, tap in the Settings app under Activation Button on Magnifying glass. If you now press the on/off button three times in quick succession, the magnifying glass will open. Also very nice to view small insects, plants and so on. Once in the magnifying glass app, you’ll find – of course – a magnification control, a button to turn the LED light on or off, some filters and a pause button.
All in all you can say that the nicest options can be found in the Accessibility category. Take a look around, it is an often forgotten category. There is a good chance that you will find something in it that will suddenly make you very happy. And that’s what it’s all about in life!
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