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Accessibility

Virtual Gears is designed so the ride can be controlled without having to see or precisely tap the screen. The on-screen controls remain available even when optional hardware is disconnected.

VoiceOver

The current gear is a VoiceOver adjustable control. Focus the gear readout, then swipe up for a harder gear or down for an easier gear. Virtual Gears announces a gear only after the trainer confirms it, so the spoken result is the gear that is actually active.

The two on-screen shift buttons have explicit labels and hints. Their labels say which direction they shift, and their hints explain that holding the button continues shifting. Equipment, connection problems, battery warnings and Bluetooth errors have spoken descriptions rather than relying only on icons or colour.

Pressing the optional Zwift Click visibly presses the matching on-screen button. This visual acknowledgement is separate from the gear announcement and haptic, which occur only after the trainer confirms the shift.

Display and motion

The ride controls use large targets in portrait and landscape. At Accessibility Dynamic Type sizes, the ride screen uses its vertical layout even when the phone is sideways so controls have room to reflow instead of being compressed. Equipment statuses reflow into a two-column grid at those sizes, keeping short names on one line instead of breaking words apart. The toolbar shortens the gear menu label so it cannot overlap the equipment controls.

Virtual Gears respects the iPhone's Reduce Motion setting for the gear-number transition. Connection and status states use names and symbols alongside colour; the gear rail adds an outline when Differentiate Without Color is on.

Other iPhone accessibility features

The app uses standard SwiftUI buttons, menus, pickers, sliders and navigation controls. These retain their normal support for Switch Control, Voice Control, Bold Text, Larger Text and other system accessibility settings.

Before riding

Try these settings with Try Demo before a real ride:

  1. Turn on VoiceOver in Settings > Accessibility > VoiceOver and adjust the simulated gear readout.
  2. Choose an Accessibility text size in Settings > Accessibility > Display & Text Size > Larger Text, then rotate the phone.
  3. Turn on Reduce Motion and Differentiate Without Color in **Settings

    Accessibility > Display & Text Size**.

Demo Mode does not connect to Bluetooth equipment or control exercise equipment. It lets you check the interface, not the compatibility of a particular trainer or accessory.