Blind Mobile Photography with the Apple iPhone – Photo Education & Accessibility Tutorial

To get started, go into your device’s Settings and navigate to General > Accessibility.

Next, select Accessibility Shortcut and make sure VoiceOver is the only option selected.

If Guided Access is already enabled, you may need to go back to the Accessibility pane and turn that feature off. What we are doing here is making sure that you have a simple way to turn VoiceOver on and off as you experiment with using it to make photos. With the Accessibility Shortcut, you can turn VoiceOver on and off at any time by triple-clicking the Home button on your device.

1. Press the Home button once to make sure you are on the Home screen (I am assuming that as a photographer you have the built-in Camera app on your Home screen or in the Dock for easy access).
2. Triple-click the Home button to enable VoiceOver. You will hear the built-in voice announce “VoiceOver on.” You should also see a black rectangle over the currently selected item. This black rectangle is known as the VoiceOver cursor. By moving the cursor around on the screen you change what VoiceOver reads aloud.

1. Move your finger over the screen to hear the various apps and folders described to you. You can even hear information about your Wi-fi signal strength, the time, and your battery status by moving your finger close to the top edge of the screen.
2. With three fingers, triple-tap the screen to turn the screen curtain on. Don’t worry: you did not just break your iPhone. The screen curtain just dims the screen so you can experience VoiceOver without relying on your vision.
3. Continue moving your finger over the screen until you hear VoiceOver announce “Camera,” then double-tap anywhere on the screen with one finger. This will launch the Camera app.
4. Now move your finger over the screen to hear the various options in the Camera app. To interact with a button or other control, make sure it has focus first (move your finger over it until VoiceOver announces its name) then double-tap anywhere on the screen to make a selection. Another way to navigate with VoiceOver is to use a flick gesture with one finger to go to the next or previous item, then double-tap anywhere on the screen when the desired item has focus to select it.
5. Get a good friend to stand in front of you and aim the camera at him or her. VoiceOver will use face detection to let you know how many people are in the frame and their relative location (you should hear something like “One face, small face, face centered.”).
6. Take the photo by triggering the shutter with one of the following actions:
   • Double tap the screen with two fingers (also known as a Magic Tap)
   • Press one of the volume buttons on the side of your device
   • Press one of the volume buttons on your iPhone EarPods with Remote and Mic.
7. Congratulations, you have just made your first photo with VoiceOver. Now let’s go into the Photo and Video Viewer (remember, move your finger until VoiceOver announces the desired item and double-tap with one finger).
8. Once in the Photo and Video Viewer, move your finger over the screen until VoiceOver provides additional information about the photo you just made, such as the orientation of the device, the time when the photo was made, the number of faces, how sharp the photo is, and how well-lit (you should hear something like “Photo, Portrait, 5:03 PM, One face, Crisp, Well-lit Image”).

Alright, now let’s return your device to its typical mode of operation. This will be as simple as triple-clicking the Home button on your iPhone to invoke the Accessibility Shortcut we set up earlier. VoiceOver will be disabled and the screen curtain will be turned off so that you can once again see all your apps and folders and use your iPhone the way you typically do.

There is more you can do with VoiceOver in the Camera app, but for your first lesson I will keep it simple. Even if you are not blind or have low vision, consider how you might be able to use VoiceOver for photography in conditions where it might not be possible to easily see what you are capturing (such as in a brightly lit scene). With practice, you could use VoiceOver to help you capture photos in any situation, regardless of lighting conditions.

I leave you with one of my favorite sayings that I use whenever I do a presentation: you don’t need to see to have vision. My vision is a future where photography is accessible to everyone who has a passion for it.