Number one rule: your iPhone with VoiceOver running will operate differently
to standard iPhone gestures. In addition, VoiceOver will speak some items
as "real" words when in reality on the screen they may be just symbols. So
just take this in to account when getting assistance from sighted friends
and family, and listen to what VoiceOver is saying.
1. Turning on your iPhone on: hold down the power button (top right) for 2
seconds and release. Takes about 15 seconds for the unlock screen to
appear. VoiceOver announces time. The Screen will lock after 10 seconds if
the screen is not touched.
2. Unlocking the iPhone from the unlock screen: press the Power button
(top right or the Home button bottom middle). VoiceOver announces the time.
Drag 1 finger up from the Home button (bottom middle) just a little.
VoiceOver announces "Slide to unlock" and "Slide or double tap" (2nd message
is the VoiceOver hint). 1 finger double tap anywhere on the screen to unlock
(you don't need to drag your finger). If the screen is not touched for 15
seconds, it will lock. When it is unlocked, you are at the Home screen with
rows of apps, and the Status menu at the top.
3. Basic VoiceOver navigation of the Main Home screen: 1 finger drag
around the screen to here what is under your finger or 1 finger flick left
or right to move item by item left or right around the screen. 1 finger
double tap to activate the item you wish to use. 1 finger flick left or
right will only move you between the items on the main screen, it will not
access the Status menu (see next point), but dragging 1 finger will. The
first row of icons on the main Home screen are: Messages, Calendar, Photos,
and Camera, with further rows of icons (apps) below this. At the bottom (of
all Home screens), you have 4 apps (icons): Phone, Mail, Safari (web
browser), and Music.
4. Accessing the Status menu: locate the Speaker grill just below the top
edge of the iPhone, and drag 1 finger down just a little. . VoiceOver will
announce an item on the Status menu, followed by the announcement "Status
bar item" and "Swipe down with three fingers to reveal the Notification
centre" (second message is the VoiceOver hint). Once in the Status menu,
you can 1 finger flick left or right to move left or right to the items in
the Status menu: eg signal strength, time, battery status etc. 1 finger
drag or touch anywhere on the screen to take VoiceOver out of the Status
menu.
5. Practising VoiceOver gestures: VoiceOver itself has a practise mode
(much like keyboard practise on desktop screen readers) where you can
practise all the gestures with out them actually doing anything besides
speaking their function: To do this: go to Settings, General,
Accessibility, VoiceOver, VoiceOver Practise, and try out a few of the
gestures in this document. Press the Home button (bottom middle) to return
to the Main Home screen. Remember, you can navigate to all of these items
by 1 finger drag or flick left or right to locate each item, and then a 1
finger double tap to select an item. Tip: touching the screen with 4
fingers at the top will jump the voiceOver focus to the top most item on the
screen which in the Setting screens is the Back button to go back a screen,
1 finger double tap as usual to activate this if you wish to go back a
screen, and of course, 4 finger touch at the bottom of the screen moves the
VoiceOver focus to the last item on the screen.
6. Adjusting the volume of VoiceOver: VoiceOver volume is adjusted by
using the Volume up and Volume down buttons on the left hand side of the
iPhone just below the top left hand edge and below the sleep/wake switch
whilst VoiceOver is talking. Two finger flick up will start VoiceOver
talking from the top of the screen, whilst talking, press the Volume up or
Volume down buttons to control the volume of VoiceOver. When finished, a
two finger touch on the screen will stop VoiceOver talking (which can be
used any time to silence VoiceOver).
7. Silencing the iPhone: To silence the iPhone, locate the silence/wake
switch on the top left edge of the iPhone just below the top. Flicking the
switch down towards the back of the iPhone will silence the iPhone (you will
feel the iPhone vibrate). Rather than ringing, the iPhone will now vibrate.
Flicking the switch up towards the front face of the iPhone, will put it
back in normal operation. When in Silent mode, you will not hear any sounds
that VoiceOver makes when your touching the screen (but it will keep
talking).
8. Answering and hanging up a call: 2 finger double tap anywhere on the
screen will answer a call. 2 finger double tap anywhere on the screen
whilst on a call, will hang up the call. When not answering or hanging up a
call, the two finger double tap will start and stop music playing etc if you
have been previously been listening. When you are on a call, taking the
iPhone away from your ear will turn the loud speaker on (hands-free mode),
and putting the iPhone back to your ear will put it back in private mode so
that only you can hear the caller.
9. Dialling a call: to dial a call, activate the Phone app (bottom left
of the Home screen), VoiceOver announces "Blank phone number", drag your
finger around the screen or 1 finger flick left or right) through the
standard layout phone keypad, when you find the number you want to use, 1
finger double tap to put that number in to the phone number field, when you
have finished putting in all numbers, locate the Call button below the 0,
and 1 finger double tap to make your call. tip: the Delete button to delete
the last number (or all numbers that you have put in to the dialling field)
is located to the right of the Call button, 1 finger double tap the Delete
button to start deleting numbers. If you don't get VoiceOver saying "Blank
phone number", locate the Keyboard item tab on the bottom of the screen, and
one finger double tap to activate it (this will put the dialling keypad on
the screen). You can also use Siri to dial a phone number or a contact (see
next item). To exit the Phone app, just press the Home button (bottom
middle).
10.Using touch typing mode: If you would like to speed things up a bit when
using the dial keypad: rather than 1 finger double tap on a number, just
take your finger off the number to put the number in to the phone dialling
field): for this, you need to use the rotor. This is rotating or turning
two fingers on the screen (like a dial). Each time you turn the dial, you
go to a new option on the rotor. When you dial to type, a 1 finger flick up
or down will change between standard and touch typing. You must be on the
phone number field for typing mode to appear in the rotor. This also
applies to the on-screen QWERTY keyboard when you come to using
iMessages/text messages. The rotor also lets you move by such items as
character, word etc. e.g. to spell out one of the icons (apps) on the home
screen, two finger dial around to character, and then 1 finger flick up or
down will move left or right through the current icon (app) name. Remember,
1 finger left or right moves to the previous or next item, 1 finger flick up
or down moves by the current rotor setting or select something like the
desired typing mode.
11.Using Siri (if activated): hold down the Home button (bottom middle)
until you hear an ascending double beep, speak an instruction such as "What
is the time", and Siri after a descending double beep will give you the
time. When Siri is on the screen, two finger double tap will activate Siri
with the ascending double beep, speak your instruction, wait for the
descending double beep or two finger double tap, and Siri will speak the
result of your instruction. To dismiss Siri, press the Home button (bottom
middle). If you want to dial a number using Siri, at the instruction point,
just say "dial 1300 847 466" and Siri will dial this number (Vision
Australia). Alternatively, if Vision Australia is in your contacts, you
could just say "call Vision Australia" and Siri would also call Vision
Australia.
12.Moving between screens: The iPhone comes with two screens of apps. To
move to the second screen of apps from the Main Home screen, do a three
finger flick left to scroll the screen to the right. To move back to the
first screen of apps, do a three finger flick right to scroll the screen to
the left or press the Home button (bottom middle). If you press the Home
button whilst on the first screen of apps, you will be taken to the
Spotlight search screen, just press the Home button to get back to the Main
Home screen.
13.Activating an app (like the Phone app above): to activate or use an app,
1 finger drag or flick left or right with 1 finger to locate the app (such
as Weather), when located 1 finger double tap anywhere on the screen to use
or activate that app. Once in the app, just like the Home screen, 1 finger
drag around the screen to explore the app or use the 1 finger flick left or
right gesture to also explore the app. To exit or come out of an app, just
press the Home button (bottom middle).
14.Plugging in headphones: the headphone jack on the iPhone 5 is on the
bottom edge of the iPhone towards the left. You can adjust the volume of
VoiceOver independently of the general speaker volume by using the Volume up
or Volume down controls as above.
15.iPhone battery notification: When your iPhone is at either 20 or 10
percent charge, it will pop up a message alerting you that it is getting
low. Plug the iPhone in to recharge. If the iPhone is fully discharged,
after you have plugged it in to charge, when it wakes up, you will hear two
quick vibrations as it powers up. The lighting cable to charge the iPhone
is plugged in to the small lightning connector at the bottom edge of the
iPhone in the middle.
16.Triple click: to allow a non VoiceOver user to use your iPhone, you need
to enable Triple click. When this is activated, you can press the Home
button (bottom middle) three times to turn VoiceOver on or off when ever you
need to. This is done by activating Settings, General, Accessibility,
Triple click, and then selecting VoiceOver. Once on, press the Home button
(bottom middle) to return to the Main Home screen. Remember, you can
navigate to all of these items by 1 finger drag or flick left or right to
locate each item, and then a 1 finger double tap to select an item. Tip:
touching the screen with 4 fingers at the top will jump the voiceOver focus
to the top most item on the screen which in the Setting screens is the Back
button to go back a screen, 1 finger double tap as usual to activate this if
you wish to go back a screen, and of course, 4 finger touch at the bottom of
the screen moves the VoiceOver focus to the last item on the screen.
17.Gesture to mute VoiceOver and turn on screen privacy mode (screen
curtain): Three finger tap twice on the screen will turn VoiceOver speech
off or on (this is not the same as Triple click where VoiceOver is
completely turned off), mentioned hear just as a warning, and avoid if
possible. Screen curtain is useful as it blanks the screen so that no
person can see what is on your screen. To turn this on or off, three finger
triple tap: remember, three finger double tap was the speech off or on
gesture.
18.Locking the iPhone: Press the Power button (top right) to lock the
iPhone. The iPhone will automatically lock after 1 minute if the screen is
not being touched.
19. Adjusting the auto lock from 1 minute: as you might come to appreciate,
having the screen lock every 1 minute particularly when your learning is a
pest. To adjust the time for auto lock: Settings, General, Auto-Lock, and
then select 1 (default), 2, 3, 4, 5 or Never. Press the Home button (bottom
middle) to return to the main Home screen. Remember, you can navigate to
all of these items by 1 finger drag or flick left or right to locate each
item, and then a 1 finger double tap to select an item. Tip: touching the
screen with 4 fingers at the top will jump the voiceOver focus to the top
most item on the screen which in the Setting screens is the Back button to
go back a screen, 1 finger double tap as usual to activate this if you wish
to go back a screen, and of course, 4 finger touch at the bottom of the
screen moves the VoiceOver focus to the last item on the screen.
20.Turning off the iPhone (not recommended): Hold the Power button (top
right) in for two seconds. VoiceOver will announce "Slide to power off" and
"slide or double tap" (second message is the VoiceOver hint). 1 finger
double tap anywhere on the screen to Power off. If the screen is not
touched for 30 seconds, it will lock. Otherwise, drag 1 finger up from the
Home button (bottom middle) to find the Cancel button, and then 1 finger
double tap anywhere on the screen to activate the Cancel button. The Power
off control is towards the top of the screen if you wish to
