Apple Highlights How iPhone Allows Blind Veteran and Surfboarder Scott Leason to Live Independently - MacRumors
Skip to Content

Apple Highlights How iPhone Allows Blind Veteran and Surfboarder Scott Leason to Live Independently

Apple today shared a story about how the iPhone's accessibility features enable blind veteran and surfboarder Scott Leason to live independently.

scott leason 1

Scott Leason surfboards at Mission Beach

A veteran of the U.S. Navy, Leason was blinded in 1993 after seven years of service. After years of adapting to his new normal, he received an iPhone 5 in 2012, along with training from Sarah T. Majidzadeh, assistant chief of blind rehabilitation at the Tibor Rubin VA Medical Center in Long Beach, California.

Leason is one of many individuals who are blind or have low vision who rely on the iPhone's built-in VoiceOver screen-reading software for daily tasks.

"It's a lot easier to navigate with the phone," Leason told Apple for its story. "I think a lot of the visually impaired prefer the iPhone because they can do everything on it. And VoiceOver works pretty darn good."

VoiceOver is a gesture-based reader introduced on iPhone in 2009, which made it the world's first fully accessible smartphone user interface for the blind, according to Apple. 76 percent of blind and low-vision people using a mobile screen-reading platform choose VoiceOver, per a December 2017 survey by WebAIM.

scott leason 2

Scott Leason uses his iPhone XR to prepare for a surf

A competitive surfboarder, Leason has since upgraded to an iPhone XR, which he uses to review the day's surf reports via the Surfline app to prepare for the day's ride, typically at Mission Beach in San Diego. He also wears an Apple Watch Series 4 to track his surfing workouts in the water and at home.

"It's amazing how long ago 10 years feels in the world of technology," said Kevin Waldick, assistant director at the Mission Bay Aquatics Center. "He was not very technologically savvy at all, but when he got his iPhone he was like 'I can just do it. This is amazing.' And so Apple does a really amazing job of making that accessible."

scott leason 3

Scott Leason starts a surfing workout on Apple Watch Series 4

Leason was the first blind champion at the USA Adaptive Surfing Championships at Oceanside Harbor North Jetty in June 2016. The same year, he won second place in men's tricks at the USA Water Ski competition in Harmony, North Carolina. In 2018, he competed in seven competitions in four different sports.

"I'm independent," Leason concluded. "That's the best way to describe the iPhone: independence."

Popular Stories

apple pro tell logo

Apple Launching Five New Products Today

Thursday November 5, 2026 12:59 am PST by
Apple is launching five new products on Friday, November 6, following pre-orders that opened last week, including its first touchscreen MacBook Pro models. The following new products will be available from today: iPad mini with OLED display and A20 Pro chip iMac with M6 chip 14-inch MacBook Pro with M6 chip 14-inch MacBook Pro with OLED touchscreen 16-inch MacBook Pro with OLED...
duo aquarium

More Fun iPhone Duo Apps: 30 New Picks to Try

Friday November 6, 2026 3:27 pm PST by
When the iPhone Duo launched, we shared a list of some of the fun apps developers created for the new form factor. Two weeks out, developers are continuing to come up with fresh ideas, so we thought we'd share some of our favorites. Games Marbles Unhinged ($2.99) - Marbles Unhinged is a marble maze designed for the Duo. When you fold it, the floor turns into a ramp. If you stand the top...
silver iphone 18 pro

Apple Rumored to Drop the iPhone's Action Button Next Year

Friday November 6, 2026 6:07 am PST by
Apple plans to merge the iPhone's Action button with the Camera Control starting next year, according to the leaker known as "Instant Digital." In a new post on Weibo, the leaker claimed that a single press of the combined button would open the camera, while a long press would trigger the function assigned to the Action button. They explicitly clarified that the dedicated Action button would ...

Top Rated Comments

nwcs Avatar
104 months ago
I will always applaud Apple for their commitment to accessibility. They haven’t only done this recently. They have made devices with an eye to the disabled for decades. It’s something most of us won’t directly benefit from but for many people it’s the difference between joining the active world and being further isolated.
Score: 10 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Eddy Munn Avatar
104 months ago
It's incredible how technology is able to assist so many people in so many ways.
Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)
104 months ago
What’s your point? Who cares about Siri in this article?
It's actually an interesting distinction. The story mention iOS's built-in voiceover screen reading software but not Siri. Some users rely on Siri more than touch for small screens like Watch but when you're blind, Siri is everything. I think Apple is trying to highlight the fact that they're OS has built-in features for impaired individuals without getting into the weeds with all the Siri haters out there. Users without impairments take Siri for granted and complain much more than users that truly need Siri. Like all voice assistants, Siri is nowhere close to being a useful assistant we were promised but that day is coming. Like it or not, Apple users will soon all rely heavily on Siri for nearly everything. I just hope Apple can meet or exceed the expectations they have already set.
Score: 3 Votes (Like | Disagree)
freezelighter Avatar
104 months ago
We complain about the new Mac Mini, about the bad food apps and about the rainy weather.
This guy is blind.
Think twice before complaining.
Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Marshall73 Avatar
104 months ago
Impressive stuff.
Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)
DeepIn2U Avatar
104 months ago
Impressive stuff.
Simply. Beautiful!

THIS. IS. LIVING. LIFE. TO. THE. FULLEST People!

I love this ****!
[doublepost=1541802352][/doublepost]
Apple UX for visually impaired people is 1/10th of what it was under Jobs. For goodness sakes, the X models have almost zero tactile cues for which orientation the phone is in for a blind person without the home button
Um ... those two words sound like conflict or a conundrum: Tactile and iPhone

iPhone still carries power, volume and slider switch buttons. only the home button is lost. tactile isn't the solution once thought of of yesteryear: When you're blind you're reaching out first to get a tactile feel. Not everything is tactile as a cue to identify what it is.

Think of touch screen phones as a flat polished table.

The table vibrates or talks to you in certain areas, which the borders are quickly and readily made known to you (blind) and from there like 90% of a human beings' first 4yrs in life is by touch, trial and error.

Tasting
Eating
reaching to touch
standing
pooing/peeing holding each - all control (or potty training)
tieing up your shoelaces (5 ways most people only know of 2!)
^ I like to compare this to touch-screen typing vs touch-typing (PC/typewriter) vs cursive writing!
walking, running
speaking, laughing, singing!

ALL learned through watching, practicing and feeling it out! EVERY damn one of us goes through this. It can be argued that any of the above is truly a tactile learning experience vs something you watch and learn doing first before anything tactile is done. If you truly raised your own child you'd know the real answer to this!
Score: 1 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Latest Stories
Siri AI Rumored to Become 'More Like an Agent' as Early as Next Year
Siri AI Rumored to Become 'More Like an Agent' as Early as Next Year
3 hours ago
Apple Taking New Approach to Developing iOS 28 and macOS 28
Apple Taking New Approach to Developing iOS 28 and macOS 28
5 hours ago
Early Apple Black Friday Deals on Apple Watch, MacBook Air, and More
Early Apple Black Friday Deals on Apple Watch, MacBook Air, and More
1 day ago
'Backglow' Lets You Customize New MacBook Pro's Glowing Apple Logo
'Backglow' Lets You Customize New MacBook Pro's Glowing Apple Logo
1 day ago
Top Stories: Apple Product Launches, iOS 27.3 Beta, and More
Top Stories: Apple Product Launches, iOS 27.3 Beta, and More
1 day ago
More Fun iPhone Duo Apps: 30 New Picks to Try
More Fun iPhone Duo Apps: 30 New Picks to Try
2 days ago
Hands-On With Apple's New OLED Touchscreen MacBook Pro
Hands-On With Apple's New OLED Touchscreen MacBook Pro
2 days ago
Apple Store With All-New Design Opening Soon in Southern California
Apple Store With All-New Design Opening Soon in Southern California
2 days ago
Control the Glowing Apple Logo on Your New MacBook Pro
Control the Glowing Apple Logo on Your New MacBook Pro
2 days ago
Apple Shares New 'Apple Card: Apply and Use in Minutes' Ad
Apple Shares New 'Apple Card: Apply and Use in Minutes' Ad
2 days ago
Apple Says More Than 100,000 Apps Optimized for iPhone Duo, Here's What's Still Missing
Apple Says More Than 100,000 Apps Optimized for iPhone Duo, Here's What's Still Missing
2 days ago
Early Black Friday Deals Kickoff With Steep Discounts on Apple Watch Ultras and More
Early Black Friday Deals Kickoff With Steep Discounts on Apple Watch Ultras and More
2 days ago
The MacRumors Show: iOS 27.3 Looks Like a Huge Update
The MacRumors Show: iOS 27.3 Looks Like a Huge Update
2 days ago
Best Buy's Black Friday Event Begins With Sitewide Savings on Apple, TVs, More
Best Buy's Black Friday Event Begins With Sitewide Savings on Apple, TVs, More
2 days ago
Apple Releasing Yet Another Two New Products Next Week
Apple Releasing Yet Another Two New Products Next Week
2 days ago
MacBook Air Drops to Lowest Price in Months With Amazon's $250 Discount
MacBook Air Drops to Lowest Price in Months With Amazon's $250 Discount
2 days ago
Apple Rumored to Drop the iPhone's Action Button Next Year
Apple Rumored to Drop the iPhone's Action Button Next Year
2 days ago
Apple's Extended Return Policy Now in Effect for 2026 Holiday Season
Apple's Extended Return Policy Now in Effect for 2026 Holiday Season
2 days ago
Apple Music Classical Updated With New Icon and Refreshed Design
Apple Music Classical Updated With New Icon and Refreshed Design
2 days ago
OLED iPad Mini, M6 iMac, and New MacBook Pros Available From Today
OLED iPad Mini, M6 iMac, and New MacBook Pros Available From Today
2 days ago
Apple Surveys iPhone Duo Buyers About Crease and Camera
Apple Surveys iPhone Duo Buyers About Crease and Camera
3 days ago
Apple's First Touchscreen Mac is Now Arriving to Customers
Apple's First Touchscreen Mac is Now Arriving to Customers
3 days ago
Claude Gets Personal Finance Feature With Bank Account Linking
Claude Gets Personal Finance Feature With Bank Account Linking
3 days ago
Apple Arcade Adds Crossy Road Rush and NBA 2K27
Apple Arcade Adds Crossy Road Rush and NBA 2K27
3 days ago
Apple's New HomeView Smart Home Hub: Here's How Much RAM It Has
Apple's New HomeView Smart Home Hub: Here's How Much RAM It Has
3 days ago
iPad Mini vs. iPad Air Buyer's Guide: Now Just $50 Apart
iPad Mini vs. iPad Air Buyer's Guide: Now Just $50 Apart
3 days ago
First iOS 27.3 and macOS Golden Gate 27.3 Public Betas Now Available
First iOS 27.3 and macOS Golden Gate 27.3 Public Betas Now Available
3 days ago
Apple Announces a New Mac Sales Record
Apple Announces a New Mac Sales Record
3 days ago
Paid $200 for Logic Pro? Apple Says You Won't Get This New Feature
Paid $200 for Logic Pro? Apple Says You Won't Get This New Feature
3 days ago
Instagram's Edits Video Editor is Now Available on Mac
Instagram's Edits Video Editor is Now Available on Mac
3 days ago