What Are Accessibility Shortcuts On An iPhone? Here’s The Truth!

You saw “Accessibility Shortcuts” while you were adding new features to your iPhone Control Center and you don’t know what it means. This little-known feature makes it easy to use all of your favorite Accessibility settings! In this article, I’ll explain Accessibility Shortcuts on an iPhone, how to access them, and how to add Accessibility Shortcuts to Control Center on your iPhone.

What Are Accessibility Shortcuts On An iPhone?

Accessibility Shortcuts make it easy to use your iPhone’s Accessibility settings such as AssistiveTouch, Guided Access, Magnifier, and Zoom.

What Settings Can I Add To Accessibility Shortcuts On An iPhone?

  1. AssistiveTouch: Creates a virtual Home Button on your iPhone.
  2. Classic Invert Colors: Reverses all the colors of your iPhone’s display.
  3. Color Filters: Can accommodate color blind iPhone users and people who struggle to read text on an iPhone.
  4. Guided Access: Keeps your iPhone in a single app, allowing you to control which features are available.
  5. Magnifier: Allows you to use your iPhone like a magnifying glass.
  6. Reduce White Point: Reduces how intense bright colors appear on your iPhone’s display.
  7. Smart Invert Colors: Reverses the colors on your iPhone’s display except when viewing images, apps, or media that use darker colors.
  8. Switch Control: Enables you to use your iPhone by highlighting items on the screen.
  9. VoiceOver: Reads aloud things on the screen such as alerts, menus, and buttons.
  10. Zoom: Allows you to zoom in on specific areas of your iPhone’s screen.

How Do I Add Settings To Accessibility Shortcuts?

There are two ways to add features to Accessibility Shortcuts on your iPhone. The first way is in the Settings app. Tap Accessibility and scroll all the way down to Accessibility Shortcut. After tapping Accessibility Shortcut, you’ll see a list of the features you can add to the Accessibility Shortcuts on your iPhone.

accessibility shortcuts settings app

Tap on a feature to add it to your Accessibility Shortcuts. You can also reorder your shortcuts by pressing, holding, and dragging the three horizontal lines to the right of a feature.

If your iPhone is running iOS 11, you can also add and manage your Accessibility Shortcuts from Control Center.

How To Add Accessibility Shortcuts To Control Center On An iPhone

  1. Start by opening the Settings app on your iPhone.
  2. Tap Control Center.
  3. Tap Customize Controls, which will take you to the Customize menu.
  4. Scroll down and tap the green plus button to the left of Accessibility Shortcuts.

Now, you can access Accessibility Shortcuts opening Control Center and pressing and holding the button the shows a little human figure inside of a white circle accessibility button control .

add accessibility shortcuts to control center

How Do I Use My Accessibility Shortcuts On My iPhone?

Once you’ve set up your Accessibility Shortcuts, you can access them by triple-clicking the Home button. On the iPhone X, triple-click the side button to open your Accessibility shortcuts. When you do, a menu with a list of your Accessibility Shortcuts will appear on your iPhone’s display. Tap on a feature to use it.

tap on an accessibility shortcut

The Shortest Distance Between Two Points Is…A Shortcut

You’ve set up Accessibility Shortcuts and you’ll be able to quickly access all of your favorite Accessibility features. Now that you know everything about Accessibility Shortcuts on an iPhone, we hope you’ll share this article on social media with your friends and family! Thanks for reading, and remember to Payette Forward!

All the best,
David L.

About Author

David Lynch is an expert on cell phones, cell phone plans, and other tech. After using a flip phone into his early 20s, he learned the ropes about iPhones and Androids from a former Apple employee. Today, his articles and videos are read and viewed by millions, and he has been cited by major publications including Reader's Digest, Wired, CMSWire, Consumers Advocate, and more.

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MIKE Jordan
1 month ago

Tyvm. Made my day or days much easier from now on. I could get my planet fitness app to show my banking info. Turned out it was due to large fonts. So I was able to put a short cut to fonts and just make planet fitness font small enough to it now shows up. God bless you all. Tyvm

iPhone X Delayed Lock? Here's Why It Happens & The Real Fix!
5 years ago

[…] the side button activates Apple Pay and triple-pressing the side button opens your Accessibility shortcuts. By turning off Apple Pay by double-clicking the side button and your Accessibility shortcuts, we […]

Anonymous
7 years ago

I’m on an iPhone 6s, running iOS 10.3.3 – nothing is presented to me like outlined in this article – I’m pretty tech savvy and don’t think I’m doing anything wrong. By chance, does your article really only apply to those of you running iOS 11 (which hasn’t been released to the public)?