Accessibility features
for older adults

Today the older generations are living vibrant and active lives. Here are a few tips to help devices keep up with the boomers and shakers.

Below are helpful links for customers with age-related challenges on the Apple iOS Accessibility Support Website:

Accessibility Shortcut - Turn accessibility features on or off with Siri, triple-clicking the side or home button, or using the Control Center.

AssistiveTouch - Use with or without a compatible adaptive accessory (such as a joystick) to perform actions that are difficult for you and to control your iPhone.

Closed Captions - Provides subtitles and transcriptions to assist in following along more easily with audio and video.

Dictation - Use to dictate text anywhere instead of or in addition to typing it.

Display and text size - Customize your display colors, text size and font to suit your preference and needs. 

Facetime - Video chat and stay connected with friends and family, whether they’re using an iPhone, iPad, iPod touch, or a Mac.

Focus -  Reduce distractions and set boundaries by temporarily silencing all notifications, or allowing only specific notifications.

Guided Access - Stay focused on a task by temporarily restricting your iPhone to a single app and allowing you to control which app features are available.

LED Flash Alerts - Set the LED light (next to the camera lens on the back of the iPhone) to flash to announce incoming calls and other alerts.

Live Captions - Turn spoken dialogue or live conversation into text and display it in real-time on your device. 

Magnifier - Use the iOS device as a magnifying glass to zoom in on objects near you.

Motion - Stop or reduce motion for message effects and auto-play video previews. Helpful for users with sensitivity to motion effects or screen movement.

Mono Audio - Turn on to combine the left and right channels to play the same content.

Siri - Use this iOS personal assistant to open apps and turn many settings on or off. 

Sound Recognition - Set your device to listen for certain sounds—such as a crying baby, doorbell, smoke alarm or siren—and notify you when it recognizes these sounds.

Switch Control - Use the screen, camera, microphone, or the back of the iPhone to select, tap, drag, type, select an item or location on the screen, or choose an action.

Touch Accommodations - Adjust how the touchscreen responds to a tap, swipe, touch-and-hold gestures, or recognize faster or slower touches and ignore multiple touches.

Voice Control - Use your voice to direct the phone to perform gestures, interact with screen elements, dictate and edit text, and more.

VoiceOver - Adjust the speaking rate and pitch to suit your needs to get audible descriptions of what’s on your screen—from battery level, to who’s calling, to which app your finger is on.

Zoom - Magnify the entire screen (Full-Screen Zoom) or magnify only part of the screen with a resizable lens no matter what you’re doing. 

Magnification - Zoom in to see your texts and emails better.

Quick Settings - Add favorite accessibility features to a swipe-down menu for easier access.

Select to Speak - Select items on your screen and hear them read or described aloud.

Sound Notifications - Set your device to listen for certain sounds—such as a crying baby, doorbell, a smoke alarm or siren—and notify you when it recognizes these sounds.

Switch Access - Interact with the device using the screen, camera, microphone, or the back of the device instead of the touchscreen. Helpful if you have difficulty interacting directly with your device.

TalkBack - Allows users to interact with devices. It uses spoken word, vibration, and other audible feedback to inform what is on the screen and what can be done with it.

Text and Display - Change text and content motion settings to suit your needs.

Text-to-speech - Convert text input and play audio aloud.

Touch & hold delay - Adjusts the amount of time before your tap on the screen triggers an action.

Time to take action - Choose how long to show temporarily visible messages that require you to take action.

Voice Access - Control your device with spoken commands. Use your voice to open apps, navigate, and edit text hands-free.

Fios TV remote controls with larger buttons are available for partially sighted customers. If you have a disability that would allow you to benefit from one of these larger button remotes, we would be happy to provide you with one at no charge.

Go to verizon.com/AccessibleMaterials to request this remote.

Verizon offers Fios TV guides and channel lineups in several formats to suit your needs.

Large print PDFs

Download large-print Fios TV quick start guide

Download large-print Fios TV channel lineup

Mailed copies

You can request that a printed copy of these materials be shipped to you in either large-print format or braille. Please note that fulfillment may take up to 10 business days.

Visit verizon.com/AccessibleMaterials

Text to Speech functionality for the Fios TV on-screen guide can enhance accessibility for customers with visual or other disabilities. Text to Speech provides an audible voice readout of on-screen text, such as menu and guide data. This feature can be enabled or disabled via the on-screen guide.

How to enable Text to Speech

Text to Speech functionality is available on most Verizon set-top boxes. Follow these steps to enable the feature via the settings menu:

1. First go the Menu
2. Next go to Settings
3. Then go to System
4. Go to Accessibility
5. Enable Text to Speech
6. If you need help getting the Text to Speech feature to work on your set-top box, contact us anytime at 1-800-Verizon (1-800-837-4966). One of our skilled representatives can enable the feature for you remotely.

Set-top box compatibility

If you have a disability and feel you would benefit from Text to Speech but have a set-top box that isn’t compatible with this functionality, you can swap your set-top box for a compatible alternative at no charge. If you need help installing new equipment, a Verizon technician will assist you at no charge.

Most Fios TV remote control models let you turn Closed Captioning on or off by pressing the cc button. Otherwise, you can always use the Media Guide to turn Closed Captioning on or off.

Media guide steps (this is not an accurate name - think you should call it Remote Control Step by Step

1. Press the Menu button on your remote control
2. Select Settings
3. Select System
4. Select Accessibility
5. Select Closed Captions
6. Highlight Service Selection and press the OK button
7. Scroll and select one of the CC (Closed Caption) options, then press the OK button
   - CC1 = primary language the show is broadcast in (usually English)
   - CC2 = secondary language the show is broadcast in (usually Spanish if available)
   - CC3 thru CC6 (additional languages)
8. Then press the right arrow to highlight Save, then press the OK button, and press the OK button again to confirm

For more information on closed captioning, visit the Fios Support Section.

Verizon Wireless stores have FCC M-rating and T-rating handsets available to try in-store. Visit the Verizon Wireless store locator to find a store near you. 

Verizon also offers phones that are Cochlear Implant compatible (IOS 12 or later and Android 10 or later). Learn more about Cochlear Implant Compatibility.

• Note on new technologies 
• Additional resources on wireless phone ratings.
• Basic Phone vs. Smartphone

View a list of Verizon Wireless' hearing-aid compatible phones by brand along with their HAC ratings in our hearing section.  

Apple

Google

Samsung

Motorola

Palm, HMD Global, Kyocera, TCL and Reliance Communications

Basic Phones

Updated: 05/1/2023