How to read or listen to text in apps with Accessibility Reader on iPad

Thursday October 15, 2026 11:00 am EAT by Tyler Stephen

With Accessibility Reader on iPad, you can read or listen to text in a full-screen view, and customize fonts, layouts, and background colors. You can use it with any app on your iPad.

With Apple Intelligence, you can also format content for easier reading, summarize text, and translate it into one of your preferred languages. Accessibility Reader is built into the Magnifier app, too, so you can customize text around you, like in restaurant menus or books. See View your captured text in a format for easier reading and Listen to your captured text.

Turn on and use Accessibility Reader

Open the Settings app on your iPad.
Tap Accessibility and tap Read & Speak.
Tap Accessibility Reader and turn on Accessibility Reader.
To customize Accessibility Reader, do any of the following:
- Set up autoplay: Turn on Autoplay in Accessibility Reader.
- Automatically format and structure content for readability with Apple Intelligence: Turn on Content Cleanup.
To start using Accessibility Reader, do one of the following:
- Use the Accessibility Shortcut: Open an app, triple-click the top button or Home button on your iPad and tap Accessibility Reader.
  
  Note: To learn how to add Accessibility Reader to your Accessibility Shortcuts, see Use the Accessibility Shortcut.
- Use Control Center: Open an app, open Control Center, then tap Accessibility Reader.
- Use the share menu in any app to send content directly to Accessibility Reader: Tap the Share button, then select Accessibility Reader.

Use Apple Intelligence in Accessibility Reader

With Apple Intelligence, Accessibility Reader can translate text into one of your preferred languages, summarize long text, and format content for easier reading.

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.*

Open any app on your iPad and open Accessibility Reader.

See Turn on and use Accessibility Reader.
Do any of the following:
- Summarize text: Tap Summarize at the top of the content to show a summary. To hide it, tap the summary again.
- Translate text: Tap the Translate button. Choose one of your preferred languages. To see your content in the original language, tap the Translate button. Tap View Original.
  
  Note: Translation is available for the languages in your Preferred Languages list. To add a language, see Change the language and region on iPad.
- Reformat content: Tap the More button and tap Cleanup Content. When you do this, text and some visual elements that aren’t relevant to the content, such as ads, are removed. To remove Cleanup Content formatting, tap the More button again and tap Remove Formatting.

Customize text color, font, and spacing in apps

Open any app on your iPad and open Accessibility Reader.

See Turn on and use Accessibility Reader.
Tap the More button and then tap the Customize Reader button.
Select a theme, then tap Edit.
Do any of the following:
- Text Color: Choose a color or tap Custom Color.
- Background Color: Choose a color or tap Custom Color.
- Text Size: Drag the slider left or right to make the text smaller or larger.
- Font: Choose a font.
- High Legibility Characters: Turn on High Legibility Characters for System Fonts.
  
  Note: This option is only available when using System Font.
- Bold Text: Turn on Bold Text.
- Line Spacing: Choose the Default button, the Loose button, or the Open button to customize the space between lines.
- Word Spacing: Choose the Default button, the Loose button, or the Open button to customize the space between words.
- Character Spacing: Choose the Default button, the Loose button, or the Open button to customize the space between characters.
- Readable Content Width: Choose the Default button, the Loose button, or the Open button to customize the text width.
- Hyperlinks: Turn Show Links on or off. When you turn on Show Links, you can customize the color.
- Playback: Turn Highlighting on or off. When you turn on Highlighting, you can customize the style or highlight color.
- Rename: Enter a name for the settings you choose.
- Reset to Default: Reset all themes to their default settings.
Tip: Rename a theme with your custom settings so you can easily find it and reuse it later.

Listen to spoken text in apps

Open any app on your iPad and open Accessibility Reader.

See Turn on and use Accessibility Reader.
Do any of the following:
- Listen to the text: Tap the Play button.
- Pause the text: Tap the Pause button.
- Skip backward or forward: Tap the Rewind button or the Forward button.
- Increase or decrease the speed: Tap the Speaking Rate One Times button. Then select a speed.
- Go to a specific time: Drag the slider left or right.
Note: You can hide or show audio controls in Accessibility Reader: Tap the More button, then tap Hide Audio Controls or Show Audio Controls.

*Apple Intelligence is available with Siri and device language set to Chinese (Simplified), Chinese (Traditional), Danish, Dutch, English, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Norwegian, Portuguese, Spanish, Swedish, Turkish, or Vietnamese. Some features may not be available in all regions or languages. Some devices may not be available in all regions. Siri AI is available in beta in iOS 27, iPadOS 27, macOS 27, watchOS 27, and visionOS 27 and requires an Apple Intelligence–enabled device set to a supported language. Available in English to start. Siri AI will not be initially available in the EU on iOS, iPadOS, and watchOS. Certain Apple Intelligence features that rely on server-side models are subject to daily usage limits, including but not limited to Siri AI, Intelligent Photo Editing Tools, Image Playground, and AFM 3 Cloud models in Shortcuts. Daily limits may vary by feature, request complexity, system demand, system policies, and other factors. Expanded access to such features will be available for a fee in the future. Use of these features is subject to the Apple Intelligence Terms and Conditions.