Set up your phone and computer for low vision

A Race Against Blindness: funding sight-saving research for children with Bardet-Biedl syndrome and inherited retinal diseases

At a glance

Built in and free

Screen reader and magnifier

VoiceOver and Zoom on iPhone, iPad and Mac; TalkBack and Magnification on Android; Narrator and Magnifier on Windows.

Free to add on Windows

NVDA

A full screen reader, free and open source, from NV Access.

Paid, often funded

ZoomText and JAWS

Magnification and screen reading for Windows. Your state agency can often buy them for work or school.

Start early

Learn while you can still see the screen

Skills carry over as vision changes; the shortcuts become habit.

Your device

Pick the one you use. Each path is from the maker's current guide; settings names are exact, so you can search for them.

Choose a device

iPhone and iPad

The paths below are from the iPhone User Guide; iPad uses the same settings.

Set the Accessibility Shortcut first

Go to Settings > Accessibility > Accessibility Shortcut and select the features you want, such as VoiceOver and Zoom. From then on, triple-click the side button (Face ID models) or the Home button to turn them on or off. On supported models you can also assign the Action button, or a double or triple tap on the back of the phone.

Turn on VoiceOver, the screen reader

Settings > Accessibility > VoiceOver, or ask Siri, "Turn on VoiceOver." VoiceOver changes the gestures: touch or drag to hear what is under your finger, then use VoiceOver gestures to act. Start with the VoiceOver Tutorial (Settings > Accessibility > VoiceOver > VoiceOver Tutorial) and the VoiceOver Practice area, where gestures do nothing except tell you what they would do.

Turn on Zoom, the magnifier

Settings > Accessibility > Zoom. Choose Full Screen Zoom or Window Zoom (a lens you move), set the Maximum Zoom Level, and pick a Zoom Filter: Inverted, Grayscale, Grayscale Inverted or Low Light. Double-tap with three fingers to zoom; triple-tap with three fingers for the Zoom menu. Zoom and VoiceOver work together.

Make text bigger and bolder

Settings > Accessibility > Display & Text Size: Larger Text (turn on Larger Accessibility Sizes for more), Bold Text, and Increase Contrast. Add the Text Size control to Control Center to change it inside any app.

Tame bright screens

In Display & Text Size, turn on Reduce White Point to tone down bright colors, Smart Invert for dark backgrounds in apps without Dark Mode, and Color Filters to tint or gray the screen. Reduce Transparency makes blurred backgrounds solid.

Android

Menus differ a little by maker and Android version; these are Google's own paths.

Turn on TalkBack, the screen reader

Settings > Accessibility > TalkBack > Use TalkBack, or say "Hey Google, turn on TalkBack." While setting up a new phone, holding both volume buttons for a few seconds turns it on. With TalkBack on, touch an item to hear it and double-tap to open it; swipe right to move to the next item; drag two fingers to scroll. The tutorial opens the first time, and you can reopen it from the TalkBack menu under Tutorial and Help.

Set the TalkBack shortcut

Settings > Accessibility > TalkBack > TalkBack shortcut. The phone shows you the shortcut for your model, usually a button on screen or holding the volume keys. With an external keyboard on Android 16, Action + Alt + T.

Turn on Magnification

Settings > Accessibility > Magnification, then turn on Magnification shortcut and choose how to trigger it: the Accessibility button, holding both volume keys, or triple-tapping the screen. Tap the shortcut, then pinch with two fingers to change the zoom (up to 8x) and drag two fingers to move around.

Choose full or partial screen

Settings > Accessibility > Magnification > Magnification type switches between magnifying the whole screen and a window you move. Turn on Follow typing so the magnifier keeps up with what you write.

Mac

From the macOS User Guide and the VoiceOver User Guide.

Turn on VoiceOver

Press Command-F5, or hold Command and press Touch ID three times, or ask Siri. The welcome dialog offers the interactive tutorial: press the Space bar to start it, Return to skip it. VO, the VoiceOver modifier used in every command, is Control-Option or just Caps Lock. The tutorial is always available again from System Settings > Accessibility > VoiceOver.

Turn on Zoom

System Settings > Accessibility > Zoom. Turn on "Use keyboard shortcuts to zoom": Option-Command-Plus zooms in, Option-Command-Minus zooms out, Option-Command-8 switches between zoomed and not. Or turn on the trackpad gesture (double-tap with three fingers) or scrolling while holding a modifier key.

Choose a zoom style

In the same settings, Zoom style: Full Screen, Split Screen (the zoom on one edge), or Picture-in-Picture (a box around the pointer). Hover Text (System Settings > Accessibility > Hover Text) shows a large version of the text under the pointer while you hold the Command key.

Set the shortcuts panel

Press Option-Command-F5 (or Touch ID three times) for the Accessibility Shortcuts panel, where you can switch VoiceOver, Zoom and other features without opening Settings.

Windows

From Microsoft's guides for Windows 11 and Windows 10. The two programs most people add, NVDA and ZoomText, are in the next section.

Turn on Narrator, the screen reader

Press Windows logo key + Ctrl + Enter to start or stop Narrator. Settings live at Settings > Accessibility > Narrator. Microsoft's Complete guide to Narrator walks through the basics, Scan Mode, reading, navigation, touch, customizing and braille.

Turn on Magnifier

Press Windows logo key + Plus to turn it on and Windows logo key + Esc to turn it off. Set the zoom level and increments at Settings > Accessibility > Magnifier.

Pick a view

Ctrl + Alt + F for full screen, Ctrl + Alt + L for a lens that follows the pointer, Ctrl + Alt + D for a docked strip, Ctrl + Alt + M to cycle through them. Ctrl + Alt + I inverts colors while Magnifier is on.

Beyond what is built in

Windows users have two more choices. Both run alongside the built-in features, and both are used in workplaces, which is why state agencies often pay for them.

NVDA, free

A free, open-source screen reader for 64-bit Windows 10 and 11 from NV Access. Download the launcher, choose "Install NVDA on this computer" (or "Create portable copy" for a USB stick), and in the welcome dialog pick the Desktop or Laptop keyboard layout and whether Caps Lock should act as the NVDA key (Insert is the default). NVDA + N opens the menu; Preferences > NVDA Settings holds speech, braille and vision options, including Visual Highlight, which marks the focus on screen so you can find it with the vision you have. On web pages, single letters move you around: H for headings, K for links, F for form fields, T for tables, L for lists. Tools > Add-on Store adds features.

Download NVDA

ZoomText and JAWS, paid

ZoomText magnifies and, in the Magnifier/Reader edition, reads the screen aloud; JAWS is the screen reader from the same company, and Fusion combines them. In the US the company sells home annual licenses and a 90-day timed license as well as permanent ones. Before buying, ask your state agency: if you need the software for work or school, it may provide it with training.

ZoomText

Settings by how you see

Different retinal conditions take different parts of sight. These are the built-in settings people with each pattern tend to lean on; try them before buying anything.

Bright light hurts

Cone dystrophies, achromatopsia, and some people with retinitis pigmentosa. iPhone: Reduce White Point, Smart Invert and the Zoom filter Low Light; Dark Mode everywhere. Windows: Ctrl + Alt + I in Magnifier. Lower the brightness before you reach for sunglasses indoors.

The center is missing

Stargardt disease and other macular conditions. Big text first (Larger Text with Larger Accessibility Sizes, Bold Text), then magnification that follows what you are doing (Zoom with Follow Focus and Smart Typing; Android Follow typing; Mac Hover Text), and a screen reader for long reading so you are not fighting for every word.

The sides are missing

Retinitis pigmentosa and related conditions. Keep magnification low so more fits in the field you have; use Window Zoom, the Mac Picture-in-Picture style or the Windows lens, and something that shows where the focus is: NVDA's Visual Highlight, a larger pointer, high contrast. Learn the keyboard shortcuts so you are not hunting across the screen.

Hearing loss too

Usher syndrome. Braille displays work with VoiceOver and NVDA; check each system's hearing settings for captions and visual alerts; a slower speech rate helps when speech is hard to hear.

Start before you need it

Turn on the screen reader for ten minutes a day while you can still see the screen. The gestures and shortcuts become habit, and when your vision changes the tools are already yours.

Getting trained

You do not have to work this out alone, and the training is usually free.

Your state agency

Every state's blind services or vocational rehabilitation agency provides assistive technology assessment and training, and may provide the devices. Ask for a certified assistive technology instructor (CATIS).

Find your state agency

The VA

Veterans get devices and training through VA blind and low vision rehabilitation; ask for the VIST coordinator at your nearest VA medical center.

VA blind and low vision rehabilitation

Hadley

Free workshops on using phones, computers and everyday technology with low vision, by phone and online. 800-323-4238.

hadleyhelps.org

The makers

Apple, Google and Microsoft each run an accessibility support service with people who know these features.

Apple Accessibility Support

Android Accessibility Help

Microsoft Disability Answer Desk

Sources

Apple, iPhone User Guide (current edition, read October 2026): Turn on and practice VoiceOver; Zoom in on the iPhone screen; Change display colors; Make text easier to read; Quickly turn accessibility features on or off. Apple, VoiceOver User Guide for Mac: Turn VoiceOver on or off. Apple, macOS User Guide: Zoom in on your Mac screen; Hover to zoom in on text and colors.

Google, Android Accessibility Help: Turn on TalkBack; Get started on Android with TalkBack; Use magnification on your screen.

Microsoft Support: Complete guide to Narrator; Use Magnifier to make things on the screen easier to see (Windows 11 and Windows 10).

NV Access, NVDA 2026.2 User Guide (system requirements, launcher options, welcome dialog, NVDA menu, web navigation keys, Add-on Store).

Vispero / Freedom Scientific: ZoomText Magnifier/Reader product page; US pricing and delivery announcement (home annual licenses).

Medical disclaimer. This page is for education. Settings names and paths are taken from the makers' guides for current software versions and can change with updates; which settings help you is something to work out with a vision rehabilitation specialist.