Little-known accessibility tools that benefit everyone.

The Hidden Helpers: Little-Known Accessibility Tools That Benefit Everyone

When we think of accessibility, we often picture dedicated assistive technologies for people with disabilities—screen readers for the blind, wheelchairs for those with mobility impairments, or hearing aids for the deaf. However, the philosophy of universal design reveals a powerful truth: solutions created for specific needs often become indispensable tools for everyone. This phenomenon, known as the “curb-cut effect,” is named after the sidewalk ramps designed for wheelchair users that are now used daily by parents with strollers, travelers with rolling luggage, and delivery cyclists . Today, this effect is playing out in the digital world, where a host of little-known accessibility features are hidden in plain sight on our devices, waiting to make life easier, safer, and more efficient for all of us.

1. Smartphone Secrets: Gestures and Controls for Daily Life

Our smartphones are treasure troves of accessibility settings that many users never discover. These features go far beyond their original intent, offering convenience for a wide range of everyday situations. For instance, the iPhone’s Back Tap feature, found in the Accessibility settings under Touch, allows users to assign actions to double or triple taps on the back of their phone . This means you can effortlessly open the camera to capture a fleeting moment, turn on the flashlight when walking in the dark, trigger Shazam to identify a song playing in a cafe, or even take a screenshot without fumbling with the side buttons . It’s a simple, intuitive way to streamline common tasks.

Another hidden gem is Reachability Mode. On larger phones, it can be a stretch to tap notifications or buttons at the top of the screen while holding the device with one hand. Reachability, found in the same Touch settings, brings the top half of the display down to your thumb’s reach with a simple swipe down on the bottom edge . This is incredibly useful when your other hand is occupied—whether you’re holding a coffee cup, carrying groceries, or navigating with a map. For those who struggle with small on-screen text, the often-overlooked text size and display settings within Accessibility allow users to bold text, increase contrast, and enlarge system-wide fonts, making the phone easier to read in bright sunlight or from a distance, such as when it’s mounted on a car dashboard .

Even features that seem highly specialized have broad applications. Live Listen, a feature that turns an iPhone into a directional microphone that streams audio to a user’s AirPods or Made for iPhone hearing aids, is a prime example . While designed to help people with hearing loss in noisy environments, it has universal appeal. You could leave your phone in a meeting room and step into the hall to take a call, all while still hearing the discussion through your AirPods. It can also serve as a impromptu baby monitor or help you hear a lecture or tour guide more clearly from the back of a crowded room .

2. Enhancing Focus and Comprehension: Captions and Typing Aids

Tools initially developed for deaf and hard-of-hearing individuals have become a staple of modern media consumption. Closed captions and subtitles are now ubiquitous in gyms, airports, and noisy bars, where the audio is either unavailable or unintelligible . Language learners use them to improve their reading and listening comprehension, and many people simply prefer to watch videos with captions on social media while scrolling in quiet public spaces. This widespread adoption has pushed platforms like YouTube, TikTok, and Netflix to make captions a standard, user-preferred feature .

On a more personal level, features like Hover Typing on iPhones can dramatically improve the typing experience for anyone. When enabled, it displays a larger, second line of text at the top of the screen as you type, making it much easier to spot and correct errors in real-time . This reduces eye strain and the cognitive load of tracking tiny characters within a small text field, benefiting users of all ages, especially those who are new to touchscreen typing or have mild visual impairments.

3. Universal Design in Web and Document Creation

The principles of accessibility are also transforming how we create and consume digital content, often with tools that are hidden within our everyday software. The “curb-cut effect” is powerful in the digital realm: making a document accessible for a screen reader often makes it better for everyone. For example, Microsoft Word, Excel, and PowerPoint come with built-in Accessibility Checkers that scan documents for issues like missing alternative text (alt text) for images, poor color contrast, or improper heading structures . While crucial for users who rely on assistive technology, following these checks also results in better-organized, more searchable, and more robust documents for all users. A document with proper headings is easier to scan and navigate, and a PDF with tagged lists and clear alt text is more effectively indexed by search engines and summarized by AI .

For educators and students, tools like SensusAccess act as a document conversion swiss army knife . This tool can automatically convert a scanned, image-only PDF into an accessible format like an audio file (MP3), an e-book, or a tagged PDF. A student with a learning disability like dyslexia might use it to listen to a reading assignment, while another student might use it to have a dense academic paper read aloud while they commute or exercise. Similarly, in learning management systems like Canvas, tools like UDOIT (Universal Design Online content Inspection Tool) scan course content for accessibility issues . It doesn’t just help professors comply with disability laws; it improves the course for every student by ensuring videos have captions (helpful for those in noisy dorms), images have descriptive text (helpful when images fail to load on a slow connection), and that the overall course structure is clear and logical .

4. Real-World Applications: From Kiosks to Self-Driving Cars

The benefits of accessibility-first design are extending beyond our personal devices and into the public and future-facing technologies. Researchers are currently working to make self-service kiosks—like those for ordering food or checking in for flights—more accessible. The goal is to integrate familiar smartphone gestures, such as double-tapping to select and flicking to scroll, and to have text read aloud . This design, intended for blind users, would also assist people with limited literacy, those who speak English as a second language, or tourists unfamiliar with the local language, making the kiosks easier for everyone to use.

Even cutting-edge fields like autonomous vehicle safety are being improved by accessibility research. Scientists are collecting data on how blind pedestrians navigate, as their movement patterns can differ from the general population . By teaching AI to recognize these unique cues—the use of a cane, a guide dog, or hesitant movements—self-driving cars can become safer for everyone, including children, older adults, or anyone who might move unpredictably. This research ensures that the technology is designed to understand the full spectrum of human movement, not just a standardized version.

In conclusion, the next time you find a feature useful, whether it’s voice-typing a text message, appreciating a well-organized website, or using your phone to measure a piece of furniture, take a moment to appreciate its origins. It likely began as an accessibility innovation, a solution designed to level the playing field for people with disabilities. These hidden helpers are a testament to the fact that when we design for the edges, we often create a better, more usable world for everyone in the middle .