There’s more than one way to read.

Make text comfortable

In the app’s Reading Mode, you can change text size and line spacing, use a book-style font, and choose a light or dark appearance for the app. The interface also responds to your device’s Dynamic Type text-size setting. Open Settings → Reading appearance, or use the text-size button inside a reading, to try these options.

Extracted words are presented as selectable text rather than requiring you to keep zooming into a photo. Your source photo stays with the reading so you can compare details.

Listen & follow along

Apple’s built-in speech voices read your saved text aloud. Spoken-word highlighting helps you follow your place. You can adjust speed and language, pause, and continue at your own pace.

Voices depend on what your device supports and has downloaded. Some languages or content may not be spoken as expected. Equations and AI-extracted text can contain mistakes, so the original photo remains an important reference.

Get another way in

Explain it creates a separate, plain-language explanation from your photo. It is there to help you approach unfamiliar wording without replacing the original reading.

AI explanations can leave out details or get them wrong. They are a reading aid, not a substitute for professional advice or your source material.

Optional Immersive Reader

If Microsoft Immersive Reader is part of your reading routine, open it from a saved reading. Its reading tools are available in a separate view; close it to return to the native Reading Mode.

It requires an internet connection and shares the selected reading with Microsoft. You can use the app’s own Reading Mode and built-in listening without opening it.

Navigate in your own way

Camera, photo, playback, and reading controls have VoiceOver labels. Headings identify sections, and reading options use names as well as icons. Selected reading modes include a checkmark, so the choice does not depend on color alone.

In a reading, VoiceOver’s two-finger double-tap starts or pauses listening. Automatic paragraph following is turned off while VoiceOver is active to keep it from moving your focus. You can also turn Follow spoken text off in Settings.

With Reduce Motion enabled in your device’s Accessibility settings, following the spoken paragraph uses no scrolling animation. You can always scroll at your own pace.

What to know before you start

These controls are available on iPhone and iPad. In version 1.0.0, App appearance follows your device by default. Choose Light or Dark in Reading appearance to override it throughout Home, Settings, and your readings. Photos keep their original colors; Immersive Reader offers its own display preferences.

Long equations may need scrolling, and spoken math depends on the description extracted from the photo. Microsoft Immersive Reader has its own interface and accessibility behavior. Its tools may work differently from the app’s built-in controls.

We are continuing device and assistive-technology testing for version 1.0.0. This page describes the available controls and known limitations; it is not a claim that every workflow has passed an accessibility audit.

Using this website

This site uses semantic headings, a skip-to-content link, visible keyboard focus, descriptive controls, and layouts that adapt to smaller screens. The reading sample supports keyboard-operated tabs and an option to enlarge its text.

Body text uses Atkinson Hyperlegible. Text can be enlarged with your browser controls. Motion is limited and respects your system’s reduced-motion preference; no audio starts automatically. The site’s core page content is available without JavaScript, while the interactive sample and answer search need JavaScript.

Tell us what gets in the way

Accessibility is ongoing work. If a control is hard to use, text is difficult to read, or something does not work with your assistive technology, let us know.

Include the screen or page, your device, and any assistive technology you use. You do not need to send personal reading material. Visit support for help with reading settings, voices, or membership.