Accessibility in Brickson

Last updated October 30, 2026

How Brickson is built

• Standard controls only. Every button is one of Apple's standard buttons, and the message you type in is Apple's standard text field, each with a name. Apple builds VoiceOver, Voice Control, Switch Control, Full Keyboard Access, AssistiveTouch, Head Tracking and Eye Tracking to reach controls like these. Brickson has no eye, head or switch tracking of its own.
• One choice speaks. A phrase speaks the first time you choose it. There is no confirm step.
• Nothing moves on its own. Buttons are never reordered by how often or how recently you use them.
• The screen stays on. The screen never locks while Brickson is open, because many people who use it cannot unlock their device.
• Full screen in Assistive Access. Brickson asks iOS to show it full screen inside Assistive Access: in its own layout, in all the space above the Back button, instead of the smaller frame iOS gives apps that do not ask. While Assistive Access is on, Brickson's setup guides show the written steps in Settings and say to leave Assistive Access first, instead of offering a button that cannot open the full Settings app there.

How it's checked: Apple's automated accessibility audit runs on Home, and on Settings' first screen, Family Setup and the privacy policy, in light and dark, and on the emergency phrases, on Home while Get Attention sounds, on Voice Settings, on each of Family Setup's guides, on each step of Set Up Step by Step, on the guide its first step opens and on About, in light. A UI test taps a phrase once and checks that the tap starts it speaking; no test can hear the sound. Unit tests check the rule that keeps the screen on, that Brickson asks for full screen in Assistive Access, and that the setup guides hide their Settings buttons while Assistive Access is on; Brickson has not been tried inside Assistive Access yet.

Ways to control Brickson

Touch

Yes, No, Emergency, Get Attention, Again, Phrases, Type and Settings are each at least 44 by 44 points, the size Apple's design guidelines ask for on a button. They stay inside the window, in the same place, as Home opens, while the emergency phrases show and after a phrase is spoken, at the default and the largest text sizes. While Get Attention sounds, Stop is at least 44 by 44 points and inside the window too, and no other button on Home moves as Stop appears and goes. At the largest text size, a slow press of half a second or a second and a half on Yes or a phrase still speaks, and a touch that starts on Yes and slides onto No never says No. A vertical drag across the phrase area cancels the tap instead of speaking when you lift your finger, even where all the phrases fit without scrolling.

How it's checked: UI tests on iPhone and iPad simulators check button sizes and places across Home's states, slow presses on Yes and a phrase, a slide from Yes onto No, and vertical drags across the phrase area and its buttons in light and dark at the default and the largest text sizes.

VoiceOver

Every control on Home has a name that VoiceOver reads. If a phrase is cut off, Get Attention cannot start or stops by itself, the volume is very low, the typed message cannot be saved or restored, or a keystroke is refused because the message is full, VoiceOver announces it without moving its place on the screen.

How it's checked: Apple's accessibility audit finds a name for every control. Unit tests check which warning is announced and its words; that VoiceOver's place does not move is from a reading of the code. A full run with VoiceOver on a real iPhone and iPad has not been done yet.

Voice Control

Each control on Home answers to the words it shows, so you can say "Tap Yes". Again also answers to "Repeat", Get Attention to "Help", and Stop to "Stop Alert". Settings answers to "Settings" even where it has room only for its gear. With the starter phrases, no two controls on Home share a name, even while Stop shows or while you type, so saying a control's name never matches two buttons.

How it's checked: unit tests of every name on Home. Voice Control has not been tried on a real device yet.

Switch Control and Full Keyboard Access

Brickson gives Switch Control, Full Keyboard Access and VoiceOver a fixed order. On Home, Yes, No, Emergency and Get Attention come first, then Again, then the message, then Phrases and Type, then Stop while it shows, then the categories and Settings, then the phrases. While you type, Speak takes Again's place in the order, and Clear and Put Back take two categories' places. Each of these areas is grouped, and the order is the same whatever is showing.

How it's checked: UI tests read the order Home gives its buttons to these features, in every category and while Get Attention sounds, at the default and the largest text sizes. The message is not a button, so a unit test checks its place in the order. Whether VoiceOver, Switch Control and Full Keyboard Access follow it on a real device, and whether Switch Control scans each area as a group, has not been checked yet.

AssistiveTouch with Dwell Control, Head Tracking and Eye Tracking

These move a pointer, and with Dwell Control on, holding the pointer still taps. Brickson's controls are standard buttons for the pointer to rest on, and Brickson adds no tracking of its own. If a resting pointer, a switch or a second tap chooses the phrase that is still being spoken, Brickson lets it finish instead of starting it again, so the phrase does not stutter. Choosing Get Attention again while its tone plays leaves the tone playing. Stop is never the control nearest Get Attention. When Stop is chosen and goes, the control nearest the middle of where it was is a category, which only changes the phrases shown. On an iPhone, the top part of that place is nearer Again, or Speak while you type; on an iPad, Emergency sits above it (see Known limits). In Settings, Back to Talking sits over Phrases, so when Settings closes a pointer still resting there meets Phrases, which does nothing while the phrases show. Settings' Family Setup row is placed from Home's buttons, and Set Up Step by Step takes its place on the next screen, so a pointer still resting there meets a row that only opens the next screen. On the first step of Set Up Step by Step, a button that opens a guide takes that place again, and the answers start below every place the pointer can be resting on the way there from Settings' first screen; the guide opens on a screen of its own whose one button, Done, sits where Back to Talking is (see Known limits).

How it's checked: unit tests of the repeat rule and of choosing Get Attention again. Unit tests also follow chains of up to six held activations on Home and in Settings across window widths, with Bold Text on and off, and UI tests score the frames drawn at the sizes for touch on iPhone and iPad simulators. A simulator cannot show dwell, head or eye pointing, so these wait for a real device.

Home's buttons take the size Family Setup's answer about how the screen is reached needs, where the window has room for it without scrolling and with room left for typing: larger for switches and for pointing with the head or eyes, and the largest, Eye Tracking's, until anything is chosen. On an iPad in portrait, using the whole screen, that makes Yes, No, Emergency, Get Attention and Again at least 109 points and each phrase at least 136; on an iPad mini with Bold Text on, it makes them at least 88 and 110, the sizes for switches and head pointing. Where a window has no room for the sizes asked for, Home takes the largest that fit, and the sizes for touch last. Every button keeps its place among the others as the sizes change, and a new size shows when Settings closes. The buttons grow or shrink on the screen, so a Switch Control recipe or saved gesture that taps a fixed spot needs recording again after Family Setup's answer changes.

How it's checked: unit tests of the sizes each answer gives across window sizes and text sizes, and of the chains above at the larger sizes. UI tests on an iPad simulator check the sizes at first launch and, at the default text size, after Touch is chosen, and run Apple's automated accessibility audit on Settings' first screen, Family Setup and the first step of Set Up Step by Step over the larger Home. At the first-launch sizes, in light and dark, at the default and the largest text sizes, they run the audit on Home and read back from screenshots the words of Yes, No, Emergency, Get Attention, Again, Phrases, Type and the categories, to check that each word is drawn whole. The page's other UI tests, including those of typing, the keyboard and the frames that held activations are scored on, run at the sizes for touch; at the larger sizes those are checked by unit tests of the layout. How comfortable the sizes are needs a real device (see Known limits).

Seeing and reading

Larger Text and Bold Text

Home's text follows the text size you set, up to the largest accessibility sizes. Yes, No, Emergency, Get Attention, Again, Stop, the categories, Settings and the phrases make room for Bold Text; on the narrower iPhones the phrases take two columns with it. With the starter phrases, with Bold Text off or on, no label on Home breaks a word in two: a label drops its icon first, then shrinks only as much as it must, and never gets smaller than it is at the default text size. The message also follows your text size, shrinking only while its widest word would break and never below the default size. Where Settings has little room, it shows only its gear, and holding a finger on the gear at the largest text sizes shows Apple's large content viewer with the word "Settings"; Home's other buttons keep the viewer off so a slow press still speaks.

How it's checked: UI tests at the default and the largest text sizes check that Home's controls stay in reach and in place, and at the largest size read the Yes, No, Emergency, Get Attention and Again labels back from screenshots to check that each word is drawn whole. Unit tests measure every starter label in its narrowest space, and the message across text sizes, with Bold Text on and off.

Contrast, Dark Mode and Increase Contrast

Home's colours are measured, never judged by eye: text at least 4.5 to 1 against what is behind it, and the edges of buttons at least 3 to 1, in light and dark, with Increase Contrast on and off.

How it's checked: unit tests measure every pair of colours. Apple's accessibility audit, which includes a contrast check, also runs on the screens listed under How Brickson is built.

Show Borders

With Show Borders on, every control on Home draws a border inside its edge. Pressing a control makes the border thicker, and the chosen category, and Emergency while its phrases show, keep an inner ring, so pressed, chosen and neither still look different.

How it's checked: unit tests of each border and ring, and of its contrast against every button colour. Not yet seen on a real device.

Not by colour alone

The chosen category, and Emergency while its phrases show, keep an inner ring, and a check mark where there is room, as well as their colour. VoiceOver says they are selected.

How it's checked: UI tests check that each category and Emergency is reported as selected once chosen, and unit tests check the ring. The check mark is from a reading of the code.

Reduce Motion

Home adds no animation of its own.

How it's checked: a reading of the code.

Per-App Settings

Brickson takes its text size, contrast and motion from iOS rather than from switches of its own, so settings you give Brickson alone, in Settings > Accessibility > Per-App Settings, are the ones it uses.

How it's checked: a reading of the code. Not yet tried on a real device.

Speech

Personal Voice

If you have made a Personal Voice and allow Brickson to use it, Brickson speaks your phrases in your own voice, unless another voice is chosen in Brickson's Voice Settings. iOS speaks the words; Brickson never receives the voice itself.

How it's checked: unit tests of how the voice is chosen. Nobody has heard Brickson speak on a real device yet.

When speech is cut off

If a phrase is cut off, for example by a phone call, Siri or unplugged headphones, Brickson shows "Stopped" on screen, and Again says the phrase again. A line on screen also says when the volume is very low. These words sit in space kept for them, so nothing else on the screen moves.

How it's checked: unit tests of when "Stopped" and the volume line show, and of Again. The kept space is from a reading of the code. Calls and headphones need a real device, so this has not been seen in use yet.

Typing

Typing a message

Type, beside the message on Home, opens Apple's own keyboard, with the message you are typing in the message's place. Speak, in Again's place, or the keyboard's Return key says the whole message, and the message stays, so it can be said again or added to. Phrases, above Type, goes back to the phrases and keeps the message for next time. Clear empties the message and Put Back brings it back once; each has a place of its own among the categories, away from the message and from Speak. While you type, the other categories and the phrases are dimmed, and Emergency still shows the emergency phrases with one choice. Nothing on Home moves when the keyboard shows. Where a small window at a large text size leaves no room above the keyboard for Yes, No, Emergency, Get Attention and Speak, Type is dimmed, so the keyboard never covers them. The message is kept on the device if Brickson closes, until you clear it. Brickson accepts only Apple's keyboards, and Apple Intelligence Writing Tools are off in the message, so they never rewrite it. The keyboard's own autocorrection and word suggestions stay on, as in other apps.

How it's checked: UI tests on iPhone and iPad simulators, at the default text size and with the full software keyboard, type a message, say it with Speak and with Return, clear it and put it back, leave typing with Phrases, Emergency and Settings, and check that the message is still there after Brickson is closed and opened again. They check that no button on Home moves when the keyboard shows, and that the message, Speak, Yes, No, Emergency, Get Attention, Phrases and Type end above it. Unit tests check where every control sits at every window width, that Type is offered only where those buttons end above the room kept for the keyboard, what a resting pointer meets while typing, and that keyboards from other apps are refused; that Writing Tools are off is from a reading of the code. No test can hear the sound, and typing with Eye Tracking, Switch Control or Dwell Control has not been tried on a real device.

Get Attention

Get Attention and Stop

Get Attention is on Home in every state: on an iPhone directly under Emergency, and on an iPad at the end of the row that Emergency starts. Choosing it once starts a repeating tone to call someone into the room. Choosing it again while the tone plays leaves it playing. While the tone plays, Stop appears in a place of its own at the top left of the categories, away from Get Attention, and Stop ends the tone. No other button moves when Stop appears or goes. The line under the message says "Sounding", and VoiceOver reads it as "Get Attention is sounding." A warning, such as very low volume, takes that line first. If a phrase is chosen while the tone plays, the tone gets quieter until the phrase ends. Nothing flashes while the tone plays. Get Attention and Stop each have a colour of their own, and their words and icons say what each does.

How it's checked: UI tests on iPhone and iPad simulators, with a silent stand-in for the tone, choose Get Attention twice and then Stop. They check that Stop appears and goes, that the line under the message says the tone is sounding, that no other button moves, and that Apple's accessibility audit passes while the tone plays. Unit tests check where Get Attention and Stop sit at every window width, which warning comes first on the line, and that the tone gets quieter under a phrase, and they measure both colours. That nothing flashes is from a reading of the code. Nobody has heard the tone on a real device yet. So it has not been checked how loud it is, or whether it can be heard from another room, with the silent switch on, or with the device locked. "Sounding" means Brickson is playing the tone, not that anyone has heard it.

When Get Attention fails

If the tone cannot start, the line under the message says "Alert failed". If it stops by itself, for example because of a phone call, Siri or unplugged headphones, Stop goes and the line says "Alert stopped". Brickson never starts the tone again by itself, and VoiceOver announces each failure. Choosing Get Attention again tries again. These words sit in the space kept under the message, so nothing else on the screen moves.

How it's checked: unit tests of when "Alert failed" and "Alert stopped" show, of what VoiceOver is told, of trying again, and that the tone never restarts by itself. That Stop goes, and the kept space, are from a reading of the code. Calls, Siri and headphones need a real device, so this has not been seen in use yet.

Known limits today

• No controlled check has been done on a real iPhone or iPad. On October 25, 2026, Brickson was opened handheld on an iPhone 17 Pro Max (iOS 27.0.1) with Eye Tracking while Type was chosen: the dimmed white phrase and category buttons showed no gaze outline, while coloured buttons and the keyboard's keys did. Nobody has yet checked Eye Tracking in a mounted setup, used Switch Control, Dwell Control or Voice Control on a device, heard Brickson speak, or heard the Get Attention tone.
• Home's larger sizes for switches and for pointing with the head or eyes have not been tried by anyone on a real device, and the sizes for switches and head pointing are proposals. An iPhone, and an iPad mini on its side, has no room for them without scrolling, so there Home keeps the sizes it has for touch. Some other windows take smaller sizes than those asked for: an 11-inch iPad on its side takes the sizes for switches and head pointing, and the sizes for touch at the largest text size. Settings' Back to Talking keeps its touch size under the larger sizes, so that a pointer still resting there as Settings closes meets only Phrases. At every size, Yes and No are the buttons nearest most of the message area (up to 68% of it by nearest centre on an iPad, and 97% on an iPhone), so a pointer resting on the message to read it can rest nearest Yes or No; this has not been changed yet.
• On an iPhone (compact widths), the top part of the place where Stop appears is nearer Again, or Speak while you type, than any other button; on an iPad, Emergency sits above it. While you type, by nearest centre, the top band of the dimmed top-row phrase buttons is nearer Clear or Put Back above them. In Settings, if Settings' first screen was scrolled before choosing Family Setup, Set Up Step by Step opens at the top of the screen instead of under the pointer; and on narrow or short windows at large text sizes, the first step of Set Up Step by Step shows no answer until it is scrolled. The check-in that Family Setup shows every three months can also open that first step, from lower on the screen, and where a resting pointer lands then has not been checked. Unit and UI tests find these in the layout; how Dwell Control and Snap to Item pick the nearest button has not been checked on a device.
• Measured at the sizes for touch: on the 13-inch iPad simulator, in portrait and landscape and with Display Zoom set to Standard or Larger Text, all eight starter phrases fit without scrolling at the default and the largest accessibility text sizes. On the iPhone 17 simulator, all eight fit at the default text size and scroll at the largest accessibility sizes (4 points at AX4, 52 points at AX5); with Display Zoom set to Larger Text (a 320 by 693 point window), the phrases scroll by 169 points at the default text size, and at AX4 and AX5 the phrase area is too short to show a whole phrase button. On an iPhone SE (375 by 667 points), the layout model shows the phrases scrolling by less than a point at the default text size and more at larger sizes.
• In Dark Mode, when an iPad shows Brickson beside another app, the system can lighten the background, and the edges of the coloured buttons other than Get Attention and Stop may then measure a little under 3 to 1 (about 2.8 to 3.0, against a commonly reported background colour; the tests do not measure it yet). Against that colour, Get Attention's edge comes to about 3.4 to 1 and Stop's to about 3.1 to 1. With Show Borders on, each button's border keeps its edge clear.
• While you type, Brickson keeps room at the bottom of the screen for the tallest keyboard measured on a window of that shape, and offers Type only where Yes, No, Emergency, Get Attention and Speak end above it. So Type is dimmed on the smallest windows, 320 points wide, such as an iPhone with Display Zoom, at every text size; on an iPhone SE at the largest text sizes; and on an iPad mini, or a 13-inch iPad with Display Zoom, in landscape at the largest text sizes. Simulator checks on October 25, 2026 measured the keyboards on a 375 by 667 point iPhone SE and a zoomed 320 by 568 point iPhone SE, confirming that at the largest text size the keyboard would reach those buttons on both, while at the default size on the zoomed iPhone SE it stopped 18 points below them; the keyboards on the landscape iPad mini and zoomed 13-inch iPad at the largest text sizes have not been measured yet. On the iPhone 17 simulator at the largest text size, Yes, No, Emergency, Get Attention, Speak, Phrases, Type and Clear stay above the software keyboard, while Put Back sits behind it.
• On the iPhone Duo simulator, Home places its buttons and even phrase columns around the fold and camera areas, fitting all eight starter phrases on the inner display at the default text size and four at the largest size, while on the outer display the phrases scroll by 3 points at the default size and show no whole phrase button at the largest size. In Settings at the largest text size, rows still cross the fold, and turning the inner display from tall to wide at AX3 while typing leaves the software keyboard on screen.
• On the narrowest windows with Bold Text on, the longest starter word can be wider than the message beside Phrases and Type, so it can break across two lines there.
• Get Attention and Stop are on Home only, not in Settings. While Settings is open, choose Back to Talking to reach them. If the tone fails or stops while Settings is open, the line at the foot of Settings says "No alert — Back".
• While "Alert failed" or "Alert stopped" shows, another warning, such as "Stopped" for a phrase cut off or very low volume, does not show on that line until Get Attention plays again. VoiceOver still announces each one.
• Brickson is in English only.

Tell us what works for you

If something in Brickson doesn't work with the way you use your iPhone or iPad, please tell us at ajdedmon12@gmail.com. This address is not for emergencies. How we handle your email is in the privacy policy.

When a check is done on a real device, this page will say which device it was and when.