Chapter 32 Accessibility 118
Speak the iPhone status information: Tap the top of the screen to hear information about the
time, battery life, Wi-Fi signal strength, and more.
Speak notications: Go to Settings > General > Accessibility > VoiceOver and turn on Speak
Notications. Notications, including the text of incoming text messages, are spoken as
they occur, even if iPhone is locked. Unacknowledged notications are repeated when you
unlock iPhone.
Turn the screen curtain on or o: Tap four times with three ngers. When the screen curtain is
on, the screen contents are active even though the display is turned o.
Learning VoiceOver gestures
When VoiceOver is turned on, the standard touchscreen gestures have dierent eects. 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-nger gestures to tap or swipe.
For best results when using two- and three-nger gestures, relax and let your ngers touch the
screen with some space between them.
You can use dierent techniques to enter VoiceOver gestures. For example, you can enter a
two-nger tap using two ngers from one hand, or one nger from each hand. You can also use
your thumbs. Many nd the “split-tap” gesture especially eective: instead of selecting an item
and double-tapping, you can touch and hold an item with one nger, then tap the screen with
another nger. Try dierent techniques to discover which works best for you.
If your gestures don’t work, try quicker movements, especially for double-tapping and swiping
gestures. To swipe, try quickly brushing the screen with your nger or ngers. 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 nish 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:
Navigate and read
•
Tap: Speak the item.
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Swipe right or left: Select the next or previous item.
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Swipe up or down: Depends on the Rotor Control setting. See Using the VoiceOver rotor
control on page 119.
•
Two-nger tap: Stop speaking the current item.
•
Two-nger ick up: Read all from the top of the screen.
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Two-nger ick down: Read all from the current position.
•
Two-nger “scrub”: Move two ngers back and forth three times quickly (making a “z”) to
dismiss an alert or go back to the previous screen.
•
Three-nger swipe up or down: Scroll one page at a time.
•
Three-nger swipe right or left: Go to the next or previous page (such as the Home screen,
Stocks, or Safari).
•
Three-nger tap: Speak additional information, such as position within a list or whether text
is selected.
•
Four-nger tap at top of screen: Select the rst item on the page.
•
Four-nger tap at bottom of screen: Select the last item on the page.
