Tech companies mark GAAD 2025 with new accessibility features

Global Accessibility Awareness Day (GAAD) is always a moment for reflection, but it’s also increasingly a time when the biggest names in tech reveal what they’ve been building. Considering the event is just turning 13 years old it's a positive sign that awareness is growing.

For GAAD 2025, we saw a meaningful bout between Apple and Microsoft, with a nice awaited games movement. Some of these changes are already live, while others are rolling out later this year.

Regardless of release or announcement date, they represent a growing industry recognition that accessibility should be baked in.

Apple goes big on AI and App Store

Apple’s GAAD 2025 drop was more than a list of features, it was a statement on the future of their prioritisation of accessibility. From system-wide upgrades to how developers communicate (and market) accessibility, Apple is pushing toward an ecosystem where accessibility is not just assumed, but evident.

Here’s what stood out most:

Eye Tracking on iPhone and iPad

No external hardware. No subscriptions. Just native, system-wide control using your eyes. Ideal for users with physical disabilities, but a huge leap for hands-free interaction in general.

Music Haptics

iPhones can now translate sound into dynamic, real-time vibrations. It's not just about bass or beat — users can feel melodies, vocals, and rhythm. For Deaf and hard of hearing users, it’s an entirely new way to experience music. For everyone else? A reminder that inclusive design often unlocks unexpected creativity.

Vocal Shortcuts

Say any custom phrase or sound to trigger specific actions. For folks with non-standard speech patterns or low mobility, it’s a personalised, intuitive way to control your device and it works offline.

Vehicle Motion Cues

Subtle animated dots around the edges of the screen can dramatically reduce motion sickness. It’s an opt-in accessibility setting, but a life-changer for people who can’t use phones in moving vehicles without feeling ill.

Braille that works like it should

Apple continues to refine VoiceOver’s support for multi-line braille displays, with better navigation and editing. It might seem niche, but really it's critical for the people who rely on it.

Accessibility “Nutrition Labels” on the App Store

And the biggest systemic shift? Starting later this year, developers will be able to declare supported accessibility features like VoiceOver, Dynamic Type, and AssistiveTouch in a standardised format. That means users can filter and compare apps before downloading — no more trial and error.

It also means a raising bar for what we expect of app developers and hopefully a suite of educational resources available alongside it.

“It’s about transparency and trust,” Apple said in their announcement. “People deserve to know if the apps they rely on are built with them in mind.”

This isn’t just Apple checking a box for GAAD. It’s Apple saying: accessibility is core UX. If you’re not designing for it, you’re designing against people.

Microsoft focuses on inclusive AI and design tools

Microsoft hosted a GAAD 2025 Fireside Chat focused on the role of generative AI in building a more accessible digital world. Key initiatives included:

• Seeing AI’s updates with improved object and scene recognition.
• A new Accessibility Assistant built into Microsoft 365 that flags potential barriers in your documents, spreadsheets, and presentations — and suggests fixes.
• Updates to Copilot that help developers identify accessibility gaps in their code.
• They’ve also reaffirmed their commitment to “Design for One, Extend to Many” — an inclusive design philosophy that continues to guide product updates across Teams, Edge, and Windows.

Gaming industry launches 'Accessible Games Initiative'

Accessibility has also taken an institutionally supported step within the video games indsutry with the launch of the Accessible Games Initiative, a new collaboration between Microsoft, Nintendo, Electronic Arts, Ubisoft, and others.

The initiative introduces standardised icons and labels for accessibility features, helping players better understand what accommodations are available before they buy or download a game. It’s a bit like Apple's nutrition labels, but for gameplay. Like Apple's nutrition labels this won't just directly benefit disabled folk immediately, it's also an admittance and declaration of the importance of accessibility. Whilst this was announced in March, it deserves an honourable mention, today is about awareness and this is a welcome addition to an industry that’s been slow to standardise its accessibility efforts.

Although instead of reinventing the wheel, maybe they should have a chat to The Games Accessibility Hub, who this year are taking a more direct approach. By partnering with Easy Surf to provide accessibility feedback directly to some lucky contest winners and sharing it publicly. You can view the full video showing the accessibility discussion on Wordatro on YouTube.

And everyone else?

Just because a company isn't covered here doesn't mean they're not doing great work. Hundreds of accessibility specialists, developers, designers and decision makers today joined a global conversation and shared countless resources.

Again, when GAAD is only 13 years old that says a lot.

Let's not just reserve this motivation for GAAD. We’ll keep watching as these features roll out, and we hope more companies follow suit by using GAAD not just for marketing, but as a moment to listen, share, and ship meaningful updates.

We're also hoping the conversation and improvements will continue all year round and we won't see companies leaving vital accessibility updates for their GAAD 2026 announcements.