Hear what’s on your screen and around you with VoiceOver on iPad

You can use VoiceOver Recognition on iPad to scan your surroundings and get live descriptions of the scenes detected in the camera view. With Apple Intelligence,* you can also get information and ask questions about onscreen images and interface elements, even in apps and on webpages that don’t provide accessibility information.

Important: VoiceOver Recognition should not be relied upon in circumstances where you could be harmed or injured, in high-risk situations, for navigation, or for the diagnosis or treatment of any medical condition.

An Image Explorer screen giving a description of a cat adoption flyer.

Get descriptions and ask questions about your surroundings with Live Recognition

With VoiceOver on, triple-tap the screen with four fingers to start Live Recognition.
Do any of the following:
- Ask questions and get information about your surroundings: Double-tap when you hear Ask to turn it on or off. The default question “What is this?” is asked automatically unless you Customize Live Recognition settings.
- Get descriptions about your surroundings: Choose the kinds of visual information you want VoiceOver to describe, like scenes, people, doors, furniture, or text. Select a category, then double-tap to turn it on or off. If you turn on Point and Speak, you can point your finger at text and have VoiceOver read it aloud.
  Note: Detection of people, doors, and furniture is available only on supported iPad models.
- Get information about a document: Double-tap when you hear Document Capture to turn it on or off.
Position iPad so the rear camera can detect what’s around you. VoiceOver describes what the camera detects.
To interrupt VoiceOver speech and move to the next detected item, tap the screen with two fingers.

To turn off Live Recognition, triple-tap the screen with four fingers. Or if the VoiceOver cursor is focused on an interface element for Live Recognition, do a two-finger scrub (move two fingers back and forth three times quickly, making a “z”).

Tip: You can set up a shortcut to quickly start and stop Live Recognition. See Set up shortcuts for Live Recognition.

You can also use Detection Mode in the Magnifier app to detect and describe scenes, people, and more. See Get live descriptions of visual information around you with Magnifier.

Customize Live Recognition settings

Go to the Settings app on your iPad.
Tap Accessibility, tap VoiceOver, tap VoiceOver Recognition, then tap Live Recognition.
Do any of the following:
- Set a default question that’s asked automatically: Turn on Default Question which is “What is this?” by default. You can also enter your own default question.
- Choose whether to speak or type by default: Tap Speak or Type.
- Use the volume buttons to take a picture: Turn on Use Volume Buttons to Recapture.
- Select what options appear in the rotor: Tap Live Recognition Rotor, then tap an option, like People, Doors, Scenes, or Ask. You can also drag each option up or down to rearrange the order in the rotor.
Note: Detection of people, doors, and furniture is available only on supported iPad models.
- Create a custom activity that you can quickly turn on: Tap Activities, tap , then enter an activity name. Select the detection modes that are on by default in the activity. You can also turn on Speech, Braille, Sounds, and Haptics for different detection modes.

Get descriptions and ask questions about images

With VoiceOver Recognition, you can get descriptions of the people, objects, and text in images in apps and on webpages, even if they don’t provide accessibility information. With Apple Intelligence, you can also get enhanced descriptions and ask questions about images.

Note: Apple Intelligence on iPadOS 27 or later is available on an Apple Intelligence-enabled iPad mini (A17 Pro) and iPad models with M1 or later. Apple Intelligence is not available in all languages or regions. Usage limits may apply.*

Go to the Settings app on your iPad.
Tap Accessibility, tap VoiceOver, tap VoiceOver Recognition, then do any of the following:
- Explore content in an image, get descriptions, and ask questions: Turn on Explore Image.
- Ask questions and get information about images: Turn on Ask About Image.
- Get detailed descriptions of images: Turn on Intelligent Image Description.
To get descriptions of text found in images, turn on Text Recognition.
Go to an app such as Photos or Safari , then select an image.
Swipe down to hear more options, then double-tap when you hear Intelligent Image Description, Explore Image, or Ask About Image.
Move your finger around the image to find out the position of each object.
Note: Image descriptions aren’t available in all languages. Seethe iOS and iPadOS Feature Availability website for more information.

Add custom descriptions of images in Photos

Go to the Photos app on your iPad.
Double-tap the image you want to add a custom description to.
Double-tap , then double-tap .
Double-tap , then double-tap Image Description.
Enter your image description.
Double-tap , then double-tap again.

After you add a custom description to a photo in the Photos app, you’ll hear the description when you select the photo in the photo picker, and when you double-tap it.

Get descriptions of interface elements

With VoiceOver Recognition, you can get descriptions of interface elements in apps and on webpages, even if they don’t provide accessibility information.

Go to the Settings app on your iPad.
Tap Accessibility, tap VoiceOver, then tap VoiceOver Recognition.
Tap Screen Recognition, then turn on Screen Recognition.
Tap Apply to Apps, then select an app from the list to improve the accessibility of a specific app.

Helpful?

iPad User Guide