Screen readers iOS
[Narrator:] In this chapter we will discuss the VoiceOver screen reader for iOS. At the time of making this chapter, we are using iOS 12.4. Please note that Apple updates and changes their operating system from time to time. So your screens or set of functionalities might look slightly different than the ones described in this course.
VoiceOver offers voices in more than 30 languages. Here are some of them.
Gestures
Touch-based devices are gesture driven. Gestures are mostly position dependent. If you want to start an app, you position your finger on top of the app icon and touch the screen.
It is essential that the position of the app icon on screen is part of the gesture. As users with certain visual disabilities cannot detect the position of an element on screen, the normal gestures do not work.
Please be aware that once you activate a screen reader on a mobile device, you need to learn another set of gestures to operate the device.
VoiceOver configuration
To configure VoiceOver to your needs, go to Settings, then tap General, Accessibility, then VoiceOver. To adjust the speaking rate: drag the Speaking rate slider.
To choose a voice: tap Speech, then Voice and choose a voice. To download an enhanced voice, tap the download symbol. By default, the system uses compact voices, which are relatively small in file size and do not need an additional download. If you want to use a language more frequently, you can install a high-quality voice for better understanding. To do this, tap on the name of the voice and download the Enhanced version of that voice. Please note that these voices need to be downloaded from the internet. Depending on the number of selected voices, their quality and the speed of your internet connection, it might take some time to download the data.
To specify the pronunciation of certain words: tap Pronunciations, then the Add button. Enter a word and then dictate or spell out how you want the word to be pronounced.
To adjust the pitch: tap Speech, then drag the slider. You can also turn on Use pitch change so that VoiceOver uses a higher pitch when speaking the first item of a group (such as a list or table) and a lower pitch when speaking the last item of a group.
The screen reader offers a rotor to add additional navigation options when browsing documents.
If you are working with multiple languages, you may want to add additional languages to enable you to switch languages in a fast and efficient way. We will see later how to use this feature.
To adjust the level of spoken detail: tap Verbosity, then choose options to have VoiceOver speak hints, punctuation, uppercase letters, embedded links and more.
There are many more options to configure VoiceOver to your specific needs. For now, we have covered the most important ones. Feel free to experiment with the others, to see if they can enhance your user experience. Please note that if you want to use some of these configuration options, you will need to connect a refreshable Braille display. For others, you have to connect a physical keyboard to your iOS device via Bluetooth.
VoiceOver Accessibility Shortcut
Before we start actually using VoiceOver, we should configure an option for fast activation or deactivation of VoiceOver.
In the accessibility settings you will find the Accessibility Shortcut. Select one or more of the accessibility features here. You can activate or deactivate them using one of the following actions.
On models with a Home button, you can turn accessibility features on or off by triple clicking the Home button. On models without a Home button, turn accessibility features on or off by triple clicking the side button. For our needs, we activate VoiceOver as an accessibility shortcut. Let’s try it. We triple-click the Home button and VoiceOver starts.
[Screen reader:] VoiceOver on. Portrait. FaceTime.
Gestures
[Narrator:] Now that VoiceOver is running, we will learn how to use it. When VoiceOver is on, standard touchscreen gestures have different effects, and additional gestures let you move around the screen and control individual items.
A screen reader presents the user with only one screen element at a time. The current element is visually highlighted by the VoiceOver cursor, which is a rectangle drawn around the element in focus. The user changes the position of the focus by applying different gestures. The VoiceOver cursor will follow the element in focus.
Let’s introduce the most important gestures. To explore the screen, drag your finger over it. VoiceOver speaks the name of each item you touch.
[Screen reader:] Calendar, Friday, December 27. Photos. Maps. Clock, 17... Mail, no unread emails. Double-tap to open.
[Narrator:] The VoiceOver cursor will be positioned on the last element you touched. You can also use VoiceOver gestures to explore the screen in order, from top to bottom and from left to right. To select the next item, swipe right. To select the previous item, swipe left.
[Screen reader:] Clock. Maps. Weather. Notes. Weather. Maps. Clock, 17:06. Double-tap to open.
[Narrator:] To speak the entire screen from the top, swipe with two fingers up.
[Screen reader:] FaceTime. Calendar, Friday, December 27. Photos. Camera. Mail, no unread emails. Clock, 17:07. Maps. W...
[Narrator:] To speak the entire screen from the selected item onwards, use a two-finger swipe down.
[Screen reader:] Weather. Notes. Reminders. Stocks. TV. iTunes Store. App Store. Books.
[Narrator:] To pause or continue speaking, tap with two fingers. So far, we have explored the home screen of the iPhone. The home screen can have multiple pages. To navigate between the pages, use a three-finger swipe left to scroll right one page.
[Screen reader:] Page 3 of 3. Tips.
[Narrator:] Use a three-finger swipe right to scroll left one page.
[Screen reader:] Home. Page 2 of 3. FaceTime.
[Narrator:] If you have a document that is larger than the screen, you might need to scroll down. In this case, use a three-finger swipe up to scroll down one page.
[Screen reader:] The history of the European Union. Heading, level 1. Page 2 of 13. Page 3 of 13. Page 4 of 13.
[Narrator:] To scroll up one page, use a three-finger swipe down.
[Screen reader:] Page 3 of 13. Page 2 of 13. Page 1 of 13.
[Narrator:] As you can see, gestures have been made similar to ease learning. So a three-finger swipe is used for both horizontal and vertical page navigation.
So far we have only navigated items, we have not used them yet. To activate the selected item (this is the one highlighted by the VoiceOver cursor), double-tap anywhere on the screen.
[Screen reader:] Settings. Double-tap to open. Settings.
[Narrator:] The VoiceOver rotor VoiceOver features a virtual control called the rotor. You can use the VoiceOver rotor to change how VoiceOver works. You can adjust the VoiceOver volume or speaking rate, move from one item to the next on the screen, select special input methods such as Braille Screen Input or Handwriting, and more. Activate it by rotating two fingers on the screen as if you were turning an actual dial.
[Screen reader:] Words.
[Narrator:] The VoiceOver rotor can be activated anywhere. When using it in the context of a web page or a PDF, it offers additional functions for navigation. Let’s use it to adapt the speaking rate. We turn the dial until we reach the Speaking rate menu.
[Screen reader:] Characters. Headings. Containers. Language. Speaking Rate.
[Narrator:] Then swipe up or down to adjust the value. We can hear the result immediately.
[Screen reader:] 54%. 59%. 64%. 69%. 74%. 69%. 64%. 59%. 54%.
[Narrator:] You can customize the rotor in the settings menu. Feel free to activate and deactivate the different functions to see how they work. We will have a closer look at the rotor when browsing web pages and PDF files.
Using the on-screen keyboard
From time to time we need to write text to input data on our device. Let’s use the Notes app to type some text. There are multiple possibilities to enter text.
For standard typing, select a key on the keyboard by swiping left or right, then double-tap to enter the character.
[Screen reader:] Cap s, cap d, cap f, cap g, cap h. Cap h.
[Narrator:] You can also move your finger around the keyboard to select a key and, while continuing to touch, tap the screen with another finger.
[Screen reader:] g, f, d, e, e, t, y, u, l, k, l, l, l, o, o.
[Narrator:] Touch-typing can be enabled in the settings menu. To touch-type, touch a key on the keyboard to select it, then lift your finger to enter the character.
[Screen reader:] cap f, cap g, cap h. Cap h. g, f, d, e, e. k, l, l, l, l, l, k, i, o, o.
[Narrator:] For handwriting, use the rotor to select handwriting.
[Screen reader:] Handwriting, lower case.
[Narrator:] If it is not in the rotor, then add it in the rotor settings. Choose a character type. Swipe up or down with three fingers to choose lower case, upper case, numbers or punctuation.
[Screen reader:] Upper case. Cap h. Numbers. Punctuation. Lower case. e, l, l, o.
Reading a web page
[Narrator:] VoiceOver is an excellent tool to test a web page for accessibility. This screen reader works best with Safari, the web browser bundled with the iOS operating system. After loading the web page, we would like to start reading it. We swipe down with two fingers to let VoiceOver read the text for us.
[Screen reader:] Collage of original illustrations from Alice's Adventures in Wonderland drawn by John Tenniel. Image. Header of the website banner. Landmark. Enter a key word. For full text, search and press return. Text field. Search. Landmark. A small size text, link. Function navigation menu navigation. Landmark. A medium size text, link. A large size text.
[Narrator:] This gives us a lot of navigation information, but we would like to read the real content of the page. We stop reading using a two-finger tap. We can now navigate manually to the next or previous element by swiping left or right.
[Screen reader:] Home, link. List start. Sitemap, link. Contact, link. List end. End. End. Function navigation menu navigation. Sitemap, link.
[Narrator:] We would prefer to get an overview of the complete document, such as what headings there are. We can access this information by using the VoiceOver rotor. We rotate two fingers on the screen to get the rotor. We continue to rotate until we come to the Headings function.
[Screen reader:] Lines. Speaking Rate. Handwriting, lower case. Language. Headings. 3 headings.
[Narrator:] Once this function is activated, we can swipe up or down to move to the next or previous heading on the web page.
[Screen reader:] Introduction. Heading level 1. The content of the page main. Landmark. Main characters. Heading level 2. Language test. Heading level 2. Main characters. Heading level 2. Introduction. Heading level 1. The content of the page main. Landmark.
[Narrator:] When a web page is designed with accessibility in mind, it offers landmarks, headings, alternative descriptions for images and so on. Landmarks collect multiple items of a web page into a functional group, for example a banner area, a footer, a navigation block or the content.
The web rotor can be used to jump directly from landmark to landmark by swiping up and down with one finger.
[Screen reader:] Handwriting, lower case. Landmarks. Lewis Carroll, link. List start, Landmark. A small size text, link. Function navigation menu navigation. Landmark. Enter a key word. For full text, search and press return. Text field. Search. Landmark. Collage of original illustrations from Alice's Adventures in Wonderland drawn by John Tenniel. Image. Header of the website banner. Landmark. Enter a key word. For full text, search and press return. Text field. Search. Landmark. A small size text... Lewis Carroll... Introduction. Heading level 1. The content of the page main. Landmark.
[Narrator:] We continue reading and reach an image.
[Screen reader:] Alice in the shower of cards. Image.
[Narrator:] As we can hear, the image has an alternative description that can be read by the screen reader. The same navigation principle applies for images, which can be navigated using the rotor.
[Screen reader:] Handwriting, lower case. Images, 3 images. The White Rabbit blowing his trumpet. Image. Alice in the shower of cards. Image.
[Narrator:] Let’s check how VoiceOver presents a table.
[Screen reader:] Alice's Adventures in Wonderland. The White Rabbit blowing his trumpet. One of the best-known and most popular works... Main characters. Heading level 2. Main characters. Name. Row 1, column 1. Table start. 5 rows, 2 columns. Description. Row 1, column 2. Alice. Row 2, column 1. Alice is a child in the mid-Victorian era. Row 2, column 2. Alice unintentionally goes on an underground adventure after accidentally falling down a rabbit hole into Wonderland. Row 2, column 2. The White Rabbit. Row 3, column 1. The White Rabbit appears at the very beginning of the book, wearing a waistcoat...
[Narrator:] VoiceOver informs us about the structure of the table. It speaks header and data elements, and tells us where we are in the table. Let’s try to read a multilingual text.
[Screen reader:] Name. Description. Language test. Heading level 2.
[Narrator:] The following lines are all in different languages.
[Screen reader:] Language test. List start. This is a paragraph in English.
[Screen reader reading a text in a foreign language.]
[Screen reader reading a text in a foreign language.]
[Narrator:] The VoiceOver screen reader can recognise different languages and uses the correct voice for each list item.
As you can see, VoiceOver is a great tool for people with visual disabilities to read web pages. Please note that most of the navigation options will only work if the author of the website has made the web pages accessible. For more information about how to make a web page accessible, please refer to the chapter on HTML/ARIA.
Reading a PDF
We will now read a PDF using the VoiceOver screen reader. Reading PDFs works best with Books, an eBook and PDF viewer built into the iOS operating system.
We open a PDF file. We can start reading the page elements by swiping down with two fingers. While reading the document, we can hear that VoiceOver recognises headings, images, links and tables.
[Screen reader:] Alice's Adventures in Wonderland. Heading level 1. Alice's Adventures in Wonderland... [speed-up text]. It tells of a girl named Alice falling through a rabbit hole into a fantasy world populated by peculiar anthropomorphic creatures.
[Narrator:] We continue reading and reach an image.
[Screen reader:] Alice holding a bottle labelled "Drink me". Image.
[Narrator:] As we can hear, the image has an alternative image description that can be read by the screen reader.
[Screen reader:] More information at www.alice-in-wonderland.net, link. Table of characters. Heading level 2.
[Narrator:] If we want to navigate the table of contents, we can open it via the button in the upper navigation bar.
[Screen reader:] Table of Contents, button. Selected grid view. Button 1 of 3. List view. Button 2 of 3. Alice's Adventures in Wonderland. Page 1. Table of characters. Page 1. Titles in other languages. Page 1. Table of characters. Page 1. Alice's Adventures in Wonderland. Page 1.
[Narrator:] If we select a chapter, we will be guided to the relevant page.
[Screen reader:] Alice's Adventures in Wonderland. Page 1.
[Narrator:] We can now start reading that page. VoiceOver automatically flips pages when it reaches the end of a page.
[Screen reader:] ...than she had picked up. Alice swims through her own tears and meets a mouse who is swimming as well. She tries to make small-talk with him in elementary French, thinking he may be...
[Narrator:] This makes it much easier for users with visual impairments to read books. If we want to navigate to a specific position on the page, we can browse the page by swiping our finger over it. VoiceOver will read the content under our finger.
[Screen reader:] Alice holding a bottle labelled "Drink me". Image. The Caterpillar is a hookah-smoking caterpillar, exactly three inches high. Row 3, column 3. Alice is feeling bored and drowsy, while sitting on the riverbank with her elder sister who is reading a book with no pictures.
[Narrator:] We can also make use of the VoiceOver rotor by rotating our fingers. The rotor allows us to navigate headings, images or tables. Let’s navigate between different headings.
[Screen reader:] Words. Lines.Speaking Rate. Language. Headings. Chapter One - Down the Rabbit Hole. Heading level 3. Synopsis. Heading level 2. Titles in other languages. Heading level 2. Description. Row 1, column 3. Heading. Name. Row 1, column 2. Heading. Position. Row 1, column 1. Heading. Table of characters. Heading level 2.
[Narrator:] Let’s check how VoiceOver presents a table.
[Screen reader:] Table of characters. Heading level 2. Position. Row 1, column 1. Heading. Table start. 4 rows, 3 columns. Name. Row 1, column 2. Heading. Description. Row 1, column 3. Heading 1. Row 2, column 1. Alice. Row 2, column 2. A mid-Victorian era child. Alice unintentionally goes on an underground adventure after...
[Narrator:] VoiceOver informs us that there is a table. If we enter the table, VoiceOver tells us our current position and the cell type. Let’s try to read a multilingual text.
[Screen reader:] Titles in other languages. Heading level 2. Titles in other languages. Heading level 2.
[Narrator:] The following lines are all in different languages.
[Screen reader:] English title: Alice's Adventures in Wonderland. List start.
[Screen reader reading a text in a foreign language.]
[Screen reader reading a text in a foreign language.]
[Screen reader:] Synopsis. Heading level 2.
[Narrator:] The VoiceOver screen reader can recognise the different languages and use the correct voice for each list item. As you can see, VoiceOver is a great tool to enable people with visual disabilities to read PDF pages. Please note that most of the navigation options will only work if the author of the document has made the PDF file accessible.
For more information about how to make a PDF file accessible, please refer to the chapter on The PDF standard.
So far we have used free tools for reading web pages and PDFs on iOS. Please note that there are also specialised commercial software solutions available for people with disabilities, which improve organising and reading files even further. This course can only offer an introduction to VoiceOver. For more information, please consult the user guide of your device. You will find some links below the video.
VoiceOver supports wireless keyboards and refreshable Braille displays connected via Bluetooth. Once these devices are paired with your iPhone or iPad, you have additional navigation possibilities to enhance your user experience. Please refer to the iOS user guide and the manual of your device to learn more.
Where to continue?
In this chapter, you have learned how to use a screen reader using the iOS operating system. Depending on your personal interests, you could continue with one of the following chapters:
- Screen readers – Windows
- Screen readers – macOS
- Screen readers – Android
[Automated voice:] Accessibility. For more information visit: op.europa.eu/en/web/accessibility.