Apple has announced a new set of accessibility features dedicated to helping scenarios with cognitive, vision, mobility or hearing difficulties. Among them is one that stands out in particular. It’s called ‘Personal Voice’ and allows your iPhone or iPad to read text in a synthesized voice that mimics exactly yours (or the person you want).

personal voice. This is the English name for this feature that allows you to create a synthesized voice similar to that of any person the system has been trained with. The idea isn’t new, but it’s really interesting to apply to this kind of scenario.

15 minutes of exercise. According to the company, users can create a personal voice with about 15 minutes of training. In this process, the user who wants to synthesize his voice will have to read a series of sentences to the iPhone or iPad.

talk like you. From then on, the feature is available thanks to its integration with Live Talk. Thus, it is possible to write anything to the device so that it reads that sentence with the voice that this technology has been trained in. At Apple, they also point out that the feature makes use of an auto-learning system (machine learning) on ​​the device itself and without a cloud connection: all user information (and voices) is “private and secure”.

More accessibility improvements. In addition to this option, personalized experiences are offered, for example, for the main applications of iPhone and iPad. Thus, there is an application that combines phone and FaceTime options, in addition to special versions of Messages, Camera, Photos and Music, where we will find buttons with high contrast design and larger text labels.

Magnifier renewed. The magnifying glass tool is especially useful for the visually impaired, and the new version is designed to help users interact with even physical objects with lots of labels, such as a microwave keyboard: that’s when the iPhone or iPad can read aloud what each label is as the user moves their finger over them.

“Siri, speak slower (or faster)”. New for Mac is a new way to adjust font size in macOS Finder, as well as apps like Messages, Mail, Calendar, and Notes. Users will also be able to pause GIF animations and adjust Siri’s speaking rate while browsing with Safari or using Messages.

on Xataka | With a mobile phone, it is possible for a blind person to “see” and a deaf person to “hear”. Apple is working on this