Accessibility

Updated 3 October 2026

Colloquial is built around listening. Your flashcards call you, the cards play aloud, and you answer out loud. That makes it a natural fit for people who are blind or have low vision, and we design for them on purpose rather than as an afterthought.

Screen readers

Colloquial supports VoiceOver on iPhone and TalkBack on Android.

• Every button has a spoken label, and switches and options announce whether they are on or selected.
• In a deck, you can move cards up and down with your screen reader's actions instead of dragging them.

Practice calls

• A practice call rings like any phone call, so you answer it the way you already answer calls.
• Each card plays aloud. Rate it by saying "Got it" or "Needs work", or by double-tapping the buttons with your screen reader.
• With a screen reader on, the call tells you when it is your turn to recall the answer and when to rate the card.

Settings → Accessibility

Each option follows your phone's own accessibility settings. Choose On or Off to change it for Colloquial only.

• Higher contrast brightens grey text across the app.
• Reduce motion stops decorative animation.
• Longer pauses in calls doubles the time you have to recall each answer and to rate each card.
• Spoken call updates announces each step of a call. Your screen reader says them if one is on; otherwise the call's own voice does.

Text size and colour

• Text follows your phone's text size, up to 200%, and screens scroll instead of cutting text off.
• Nothing relies on colour alone. Ratings are labelled, due cards show a count, and switches show their state by position.

What we are still working on

• Voice rating needs your phone's on-device speech recognition for your language. Where that is missing, rate with the buttons instead.
• We have not yet tested Voice Control.
• Some secondary text is below recommended contrast unless Higher contrast is on.

Tell us what to fix

If something doesn't work with your screen reader or settings, email us. The developer reads every message and replies personally.