Accessible Fitness With Apple Watch: VoiceOver, Audio Hints, and Practical Tips
Fitness tracking can create barriers when information is primarily presented visually. Apple Watch includes several features that can make starting, monitoring, and completing a workout more accessible for people who are blind or have low vision.
I have been spending more time exploring how Apple Watch can support accessible fitness. Features such as VoiceOver, Siri, haptic alerts, and workout voice feedback can reduce the need to repeatedly look at or navigate the screen. Apple Fitness+ also offers Audio Hints that describe some of the onscreen activity during supported workouts.
These features do not replace professional instruction, safe exercise practices, or appropriate orientation and mobility skills. However, when used thoughtfully, they can make it easier to follow a routine, review progress, and stay consistent.
In this guide, we’ll look at how VoiceOver works with the Workout app, how Siri can simplify starting a workout, how to use Fitness+ Audio Hints, and a few practical ways to make your routine easier to manage.
Using VoiceOver With the Workout App
VoiceOver is Apple’s built-in screen reader. On Apple Watch, it can be used to navigate the Workout app, select an activity, start or end a workout, and review information such as elapsed time, distance, pace, heart rate, and calories burned.
Turn On VoiceOver
You can turn on VoiceOver directly on Apple Watch by opening Settings, selecting Accessibility, and then selecting VoiceOver. You can also manage it through the Watch app on your iPhone by selecting My Watch, Accessibility, and VoiceOver.
Start a Workout With Siri
Siri can make starting a workout faster because you do not have to navigate through the Workout app first. Try a command such as:
“Start an outdoor walk workout.”
You can also include a goal. For example:
“Start a 30-minute outdoor walk.”
Use Workout Voice Feedback
Apple Watch can provide voice feedback for important workout alerts and progress. To turn this feature on:
Open Settings on your Apple Watch.
Select Workout.
Turn on Voice Feedback.
Voice Feedback is separate from VoiceOver. VoiceOver helps you navigate and read the watch interface, while Voice Feedback announces certain workout alerts and progress information.
Use Haptic Feedback
Haptic feedback provides another useful layer of information. Taps on your wrist can alert you to notifications and workout milestones without requiring you to continually look at the screen.
For more information, visit Apple’s guide to accessibility features on Apple Watch.
Using Audio Hints With Apple Fitness+
Apple Fitness+ includes Audio Hints that provide spoken descriptions of some of the activity shown onscreen. These additional cues can make it easier for people who are blind or have low vision to follow workouts that include visual demonstrations.
Audio Hints may be especially useful during workouts such as strength, core, yoga, Pilates, and high-intensity interval training, where body position and movement are often demonstrated visually.
How to Turn On Audio Hints
Start an Apple Fitness+ workout on your iPhone, iPad, or Apple TV.
Open the playback controls.
Select the Audio Track button.
Select Audio Hints.
Choose On and select your preferred speaking speed.
You can also use Audio Focus to make either the trainer’s voice or the music more prominent.
Audio Hints can provide useful additional information, but they may not describe every detail of every movement. When trying an unfamiliar exercise, take time to learn the movement, use appropriate modifications, and seek qualified instruction when needed.
Learn how to customize Audio Hints and other Apple Fitness+ audio settings.
A Practical Tip: Simplify Your Workout Routine
Accessible technology becomes more useful when the process is familiar. Instead of trying to navigate a different workout every day, begin with two or three workouts you enjoy and practice accessing them consistently.
Practice Before the Workout
Before you begin exercising, become familiar with how to:
Locate the workout
Start the workout
Pause and resume
Review your progress
End the workout
Find the workout summary afterward
Practice these steps with VoiceOver or Siri when you are not rushed. This can reduce uncertainty and allow you to focus more of your attention on the exercise itself.
Make Workouts Easier to Reach
Add the Workout app to your watch face as a complication or place its widget in the Smart Stack. This provides quicker access without requiring you to navigate through the complete list of apps.
If you use an Apple Watch Ultra, you can also assign the Action button to begin a frequently used workout.
Maintain Environmental Awareness
When exercising outdoors, continue using the travel techniques and mobility tools that work best for you. Keep audio at a level that allows you to remain aware of traffic, other people, changes in terrain, and important environmental information.
Fitness technology can provide useful feedback, but it does not replace safe orientation and mobility skills, appropriate exercise instruction, or awareness of your surroundings.
Finding the Setup That Works for You
Apple Watch will not remove every barrier to exercise, and the usefulness of each feature will depend on the person, activity, environment, and level of familiarity with the technology.
VoiceOver can provide access to the Workout app, Siri can reduce the number of steps required to begin an activity, voice feedback can announce certain progress information, and Audio Hints can provide additional descriptions during Fitness+ workouts. The most effective approach is to select the features that meet your needs and practice using them as part of a consistent routine.
What Has Worked for You?
Do you use an Apple Watch, Apple Fitness+, or another accessible fitness device? Which features have helped you become more active or made workouts easier to manage?
I would be interested in hearing about your experience. Email me at mike@blindonthemove.com.
For more practical information about orientation and mobility, assistive technology, vision rehabilitation, accessibility, and independent living, join the Blind on the Move weekly newsletter.
Stay Connected
Want more practical accessibility tips, helpful resources, and upcoming events from the blindness community? Subscribe to the Blind on the Move newsletter.