iOS Apps: Getting the Most Out of Guided Access for Users with Physical and Visual Impairments

As I continue to work with more and more students with both visual impairments and motor impairments, I have been finding it extra challenging to find ways to increase the visual targets of great apps such as Toddler Jukebox that offers a great array of familiar and unfamiliar children's songs as well the ability to for student to start and stop the music as he or she pleases. Many of my students were having issues being able to accurately choose a song on this app because of the size of the buttons and visual targets on this particular app. However, after becoming more familiar with the guided access and accessibility features of the iPad, I found a way to increase the visual targets for students that lack the fine motor and visual ability to pick a song on this app using the Zoom settings and Guided Access.

To increase the visual target size on this particular app:

1. Go to Settings

2. Click General in the left hand column

3. Scroll down  towards the bottom and click Accessibility

4. Under the Vision menu options, turn ON the Zoom option.

Zoom magnifies the whole screen.  To navigate the iPad once this feature is on:

• Double tap three fingers to zoom
• Drag three fingers to move around the screen
• Double tap three fingers and drag to change zoom

Now that the screen is zoomed in and buttons on the app are bigger, it is time to narrow down which songs, you would like the user to choose from using Guided Access.

To Turn on Guided Access:

1. Go to Settings
2. Click General in the left hand column
3. Scroll down towards and bottom and click Accessibility
4. Find the Guided Access option
5. Turn it to ON

Now your Zoom and Guided Access options are both on and active.

.

Go back to the Toddler Jukebox App

1. Activate Guided Access in the app by TRIPLE clicking the HOME  button
2. Draw a box around the part of the screen that you would NOT like your student be able
to activate.
3. Click START in the upper right hand corner of the screen when you have completed this step.

Now only the buttons that are not blocked are active for the student to activate.  In this situation,  I wanted the child to focus on activating the play button and the visual targets aka "song choices" in the lower part of the screen.

Triple click the HOME button to get out of Guided Access.