VoiceOver for iOS basics

• Get started
• VoiceOver
• Speak Screen

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Get started

After checking a web page with a screen reader on a desktop, it's a good idea to do a quick check by listening to the page on a mobile device.

On iOS devices, there are two options:

• VoiceOver: A full screen reader that will also include semantic information such as landmarks, headings, and links
• Speak Screen: A text-to-speech tool that will read the visible contents of the screen

VoiceOver

To turn VoiceOver on, open Settings. Select General, and then Accessibility. In the Accessibility settings, select VoiceOver. Toggle VoiceOver On. Adjust the speech speed with the Speaking Rate slider.

You can set the Accessibility Shortcut to toggle VoiceOver On and Off. On iPhone X, select Accessibility Shortcut in the Accessibility settings. Choose VoiceOver from the list of options. Once this is set, triple-click the side button to turn VoiceOver on or off. For older iPhone and iPad versions, use the home button in place of the side button.

Touch gestures

VoiceOver on iOS uses a variety of touch gestures. Following is a list of gestures that may be useful for listening to a web page.

To return to the Home screen, slide one finger up from the bottom until the first vibration.

Tap once to select an item.

Double-tap to activate the selected item.

Swipe one finger left or right (often called a "flick") to move to the next or previous item.

Swipe two fingers down to read the page starting at the selected item.

Swipe two fingers up to read the page starting at the top.

Swipe three fingers vertically to scroll up or down a web page.

Tap once with two fingers to pause or resume VoiceOver speaking.

For more gestures and tips for using VoiceOver on an iPhone, see the iPhone User Guide.

Speak Screen

To turn Speak Screen on, open Settings. Select General, and then Accessibility. In the Accessibility settings, select Speech. Toggle Speak Screen On. Adjust the speech speed with the Speaking Rate slider.

Once Speak Screen is activated, navigate to the web page to be checked and swipe two fingers down from the top of the screen. Speak Screen will read the contents of the page.