Apple MD542LL/A, ME215LL/A, ME035LL/A, ME033LL/A Learning VoiceOver gestures, Navigate and read

Speak notifications: Go to Settings > General > Accessibility > VoiceOver and turn on Speak Notifications. Notifications, including the text of incoming text messages, are spoken as they occur, even if iPad is locked. Unacknowledged notifications are repeated when you unlock iPad.

Turn the screen curtain on or off: Triple-tap with three fingers. When the screen curtain is on, the screen contents are active even though the display is turned off.

Learning VoiceOver gestures

When VoiceOver is turned on, the standard touchscreen gestures have different effects. These and some additional gestures let you move around the screen and control individual items when they’re selected. VoiceOver gestures include two- and three-finger gestures to tap or flick. For best results when using two- and three-finger gestures, relax and let your fingers touch the screen with some space between them.

You can use different techniques to enter VoiceOver gestures. For example, you can enter a two-finger tap using two fingers from one hand, or one finger from each hand. You can also use your thumbs. Many find the “split-tap” gesture especially effective: instead of selecting an item and double-tapping, you can touch and hold an item with one finger, then tap the screen with another finger. Try different techniques to discover which works best for you.

If your gestures don’t work, try quicker movements, especially for double-tapping and flicking gestures. To flick, try quickly brushing the screen with your finger or fingers. When VoiceOver is turned on, the VoiceOver Practice button appears, which gives you a chance to practice VoiceOver gestures before proceeding.

Practice VoiceOver gestures: Go to Settings > General > Accessibility > VoiceOver, then tap VoiceOver Practice. When you finish practicing, tap Done. If you don’t see the VoiceOver Practice button, make sure VoiceOver is turned on.

Here’s a summary of key VoiceOver gestures:

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Tap: Speak the item.

Swipe right or left: Select the next or previous item.

Swipe up or down: Depends on the Rotor Control setting. See Using the VoiceOver rotor control on page 100.

Two-finger tap: Stop speaking the current item.

Two-finger swipe up: Read all from the top of the screen.

Two-finger swipe down: Read all from the current position.

Two-finger “scrub”: Move two fingers back and forth three times quickly (making a “z”) to dismiss an alert or go back to the previous screen.

Three-finger swipe up or down: Scroll one page at a time.

Three-finger swipe right or left: Go to the next or previous page (such as the Home screen, Stocks, or Safari).

Three-finger tap: Speak additional information, such as position within a list or whether text is selected.

Four-finger tap at top of screen: Select the first item on the page.

Four-finger tap at bottom of screen: Select the last item on the page.

Chapter 26    Accessibility 99