In this episode, Thomas Domville (also known as Not a Mouse) walks listeners through the new and customizable VoiceOver sounds and haptic feedback options introduced in iOS. Thomas highlights how these features can be especially helpful for users who experience sensory overload or prefer a more tailored accessibility experience.

Listeners will learn how to access, adjust, and personalize VoiceOver sound effects and haptics, including how to change volumes, intensities, and even toggle individual sounds on or off.

Key Points

Introduction to VoiceOver sounds
- Explanation of different tones and sound effects (e.g., navigation into Touch Containers).
- Why customizing these effects can reduce sensory overload.
Accessing the settings
- Step-by-step navigation into Accessibility → VoiceOver → Audio → VoiceOver Sounds and Haptics.
Customizing options
- Turn off VoiceOver sounds completely if preferred.
- Adjust sound volume separately from speech volume.
- Toggle haptics on or off, or fine-tune haptic intensity.
Per-effect control
- Each VoiceOver sound (such as “navigated inside touch container”) can be individually toggled on/off.
- Users can preview each sound before deciding to keep or disable it.

Step-by-Step Guide

Open Settings → Double tap to enter.
Navigate to Accessibility → Swipe right until Accessibility button is found.
Go to VoiceOver → Double tap to open.
Select Audio → Double tap.
Open VoiceOver Sounds and Haptics.
Customize options:

Toggle all VoiceOver sounds on/off.
Adjust sound volume independently from speech volume.
Enable/disable haptics, and set haptic intensity.
1. Explore individual sound effects:
Find a specific sound (e.g., “Navigated inside touch container”).
Preview the sound.
Choose to turn it on or off.

Transcript

Disclaimer: This transcript was generated by AI Note Taker – VoicePen, an AI-powered transcription app. It is not edited or formatted, and it may not accurately capture the speakers’ names, voices, or content.

Thomas: Hello and welcome. My name is Thomas Donville, also known as Not a Mouse. Now, many of you may not know that you could do this, and that is being able to change how the voiceover tones or sounds in Haptic works. So, all the different variations of the voiceover sounds that you get, for example, in starting iOS 26, we had this new navigation into Touch Container. I'm going to use that as an example here.

So I'll give you a little indicator of what we're looking for here and what I mean by voiceover sound. You heard that little subtle tone. And there's all sorts of variation of voiceover noise you can get. Just like that. When you hit the side, it goes thunk like that. So those are…

Quiet the Noise: Managing VoiceOver Sensory Overload on iOS

AppleVis Podcast

Quiet the Noise: Managing VoiceOver Sensory Overload on iOS