Visually Impaired Advocates Loh Boon Keat and Siti Huraizah Share Their top Accessibility Features on iPhone
Breaking barriers
Malaysian visually impaired advocates Loh Boon Keat and Siti Huraizah share their favourite accessibility features on iPhone.
According to Apple, “the best technology is designed with everyone in mind.” With technology being a cornerstone of modern living, ensuring everyone—regardless of disability or impairment—has access to devices and features that are central to our daily lives is of incredible importance. Here in Malaysia, accessibility content creator Loh Boon Keat and accessibility advocate Siti Huraizah are both key figures in the visually impaired community who work tirelessly to raise awareness about digital inclusivity amongst other causes.
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Loh currently creates most of his content for TikTok, where he shares his experiences as a visually impaired individual. He is known for providing advice on how to approach or assist visually impaired individuals and highlights the importance of understanding the needs of people with disabilities in Malaysia.
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Meanwhile, Siti is the Senior Executive of Accessibility, Advocacy and Welfare at Malaysian Association For The Blind, a role in which she advocates for the rights of visually impaired individuals, focusing on physical and information accessibility. “Not everyone is capable of facing society and speaking for our rights aloud,” expresses Siti. “I don’t want our future generations to feel the difficulties I have felt before”
We recently had a conversation with them about how Apple has made a positive impact on their use of technology. Ahead, find out what their three most used Accessibility features for visually impaired individuals are and why they love them.
VOICEOVER ON IPHONE
With VoiceOver and VoiceOver Recognition, both Siti and Loh are able to use their iPhones through audible descriptions of what’s on-screen. From hearing battery levels to navigating buttons, VoiceOver makes using iPhone simpler for those with visual impairments. “It’s the feature I use the most,” says Loh, as he demonstrates how he uses the feature. Loh drags his finger over the screen, hovering above icons and texts, which triggers VoiceOver to describe it.
Users can further customise their VoiceOver experience by customising the speaking voice used to narrate such descriptions. This can make it easier and more comfortable for users to use this feature. “Customising my speaking voice with VoiceOver is, in my opinion, one of the most underrated Accessibility features on iPhone,” shares Huraizah. “It may not be as important to some people, but for me, VoiceOver is my best friend who always reads anything for me. So, I need to choose a voice that suits me so that I don’t hear it like a robot and it will make my reading enjoyable.”
SHORTCUTS
The Shortcuts app makes getting things done easier and faster. On iPhone, it can act as an assistant that lets users create their own actions to meet their specific needs. For example, the upcoming “Hold That Thought” shortcut can help users maintain their thought processes when distractions occur. Within the Shortcuts app, users can also create new personal automations that get triggered by an event.
Loh uses Setting triggers on the Shortcuts app to alert him when his iPhone battery is low. “I watched a tutorial video and eventually taught myself how to create this Shortcut,” explains Loh. “With this automation, a different sound will play when my phone is at different battery levels. When it is at 20 percent, a certain ringer will sound and when my phone is at 10 percent, another one will go off.”
CHATGPT WITH APPLE INTELLIGENCE
Having access to Apple Intelligence and ChatGPT has also made using iPhone a more complete experience for Loh. During our interview, he demonstrated how he can get a detailed description of any photo or image simply by uploading it to ChatGPT via Apple Intelligence.
“Apple is constantly innovating its accessibility features. While it used to focus mainly on access to information—like reading apps and websites—it now includes functions like using the camera to read product labels and descriptions,” shares Siti.
THE IMPORTANCE OF DIGITAL INCLUSIVITY
By definition, digital inclusivity means ensuring everyone has safe and equitable access to technology. It includes accessibility features for those who are hard of hearing, developing apps for visually impaired users, and more. For advocates such as Loh and Siti, having access to such services and opportunities mean their voices are able to be spread far and wide.
“Advocacy work can be disseminated more widely with the presence of technology,” shares Siti. “Without technology, I wouldn’t be able to use social media myself. I would have to rely on others for me to advocate virtually. It has also helped me to advocate to app and website developers so that they can create apps and websites that are accessible.”
When it comes to approaching visually impaired individuals, Siti and Loh both hope for society to break the stigma against them. “We are the same,” declares Loh. “The only thing I’m lacking is sight.” Siti adds, “Visually impaired individuals have the same physical and intellectual abilities as others, as long as they don’t have additional disabilities. So never underestimate them. Treat them as you would anyone else, and offer help only when needed. Guide them—don’t take over. Like everyone, they want to be treated equally and live independently.”
Loh Boon Keat and Siti Huraizah will be hosting a Today at Apple session on digital inclusivity on Saturday, 24 May 2025. Find out more and sign up here.
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