VoiceOver describes aloud what appears onscreen, so you can use iPad without seeing it.

VoiceOver tells you about each item on the screen as you select it. When you select an item, the VoiceOver cursor (a black rectangle) encloses it and VoiceOver speaks the name or describes the item.

Touch the screen or drag your fingers to hear different items on the screen. When you select text, VoiceOver reads the text. If you turn on Speak Hints, VoiceOver may tell you the name of the item and provide instructionsfor example, double-tap to open. To interact with items on the screen, such as buttons and links, use the gestures.

When you go to a new screen, VoiceOver plays a sound, then selects and speaks the first item on the screen (typically in the upper-left corner). VoiceOver also lets you know when the display changes to landscape or portrait orientation, and when the screen becomes locked or unlocked.

Note: VoiceOver speaks in the language specified in International settings, which may be influenced by the Region Format setting in Settings > General > International. VoiceOver is available in many languages, but not all.

VoiceOver basics on iPad

Note: VoiceOver changes the gestures you use to control iPad. Once VoiceOver is turned on, you must use VoiceOver gestures to operate iPadeven to turn VoiceOver off again to resume standard operation.

• Turn VoiceOver on or off: Go to Settings > General > Accessibility > VoiceOver. You can also set Triple-click Home to turn VoiceOver on or off.

Explore the screen: Drag your finger over the screen. VoiceOver speaks each item you touch. Lift your finger to leave an item selected.

• Select an item: Tap it, or lift your finger while dragging over it.
• Select the next or previous item: Flick right or left with one finger. Item order is left-to-right, top-to-bottom.
• Select the item above or below: Use the rotor to turn on Vertical Navigation, then flick up or down with one finger.
• Select the first or last item on the screen: Flick up or down with four fingers.
• Select an item by name: Triple-tap with two fingers anywhere on the screen to open the Item Chooser. Then type a name in the search field, or flick right or left to move through the list alphabetically, or tap the table index to the right of the list and flick up or down to move quickly through the list of items.
• Change the name of the selected item so its easier to find: Double-tap and hold with two fingers anywhere on the screen.
• Speak the text of the selected item: Set the rotor control to characters or words, then flick down or up with one finger.
• Turn spoken hints on or off: Go to Settings > General > Accessibility > VoiceOver.
• Include phonetic spelling: Go to Settings > General > Accessibility > VoiceOver > Use Phonetics.
• Speak the entire screen from the top: Flick up with two fingers.
• Speak from the current item to the bottom of the screen: Flick down with two fingers.
• Stop speaking: Tap once with two fingers. Tap again with two fingers to resume speaking. Speaking automatically resumes when you select another item.
• Mute VoiceOver: Double-tap with three fingers. Double-tap again with three fingers to turn speaking back on. To turn off only VoiceOver sounds, set the Ring/Silent switch to Silent. If an external keyboard is connected, you can also press the Control key on the keyboard to mute or unmute VoiceOver.

Adjust the speaking voice: You can adjust the characteristics of the VoiceOver speaking voice to make it easier for you to understand:

• Change the speaking volume: Use the volume buttons on iPad. You can also add volume to the rotor and swipe up and down to adjust.
• Change the speaking rate: Go to Settings > General > Accessibility > VoiceOver and drag the Speaking Rate slider. You can also add Speech Rate to the rotor, then swipe up or down to adjust.
• Use pitch change: 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. Go to Settings > General > Accessibility > VoiceOver > Use Pitch Change.
• Change the language for iPad: Go to Settings > General > International > Language. VoiceOver pronunciation of some languages is affected by Settings > General > International > Region Format.
• Change pronunciation: Set the rotor to Language, then swipe up or down. Language is available in the rotor only if you select more than one pronunciation.
• Select the pronunciations available in the language rotor: Go to Settings > General > Accessibility > VoiceOver > Language Rotor. To change the position of a language in the list, drag up or down.
• Change the basic reading voice: Go to Settings > General > Accessibility > VoiceOver > Use Compact Voice.

How to use iPad with VoiceOver

• Use a standard gesture when VoiceOver is turned on: Double-tap and hold your finger on the screen. A series of tones indicates that normal gestures are in force. They remain in effect until you lift your finger, when VoiceOver gestures resume.
• Adjust a slider: Select the slider, then flick up or down with one finger.
• Double-tap the selected item: Triple-tap anywhere on the screen.
• Tap to activate the selected item: Double-tap anywhere on the screen.
• Unlock iPad: Select the Unlock slide, then double-tap the screen.
• Scroll a list or area of the screen: Flick up or down with three fingers. When paging through a list, VoiceOver speaks the range of items displayed (for example, showing rows 5 through 10). You can also scroll continuously through a list, instead of paging through it. Double-tap and hold. When you hear a series of tones, move your finger up or down to scroll the list. Continuous scrolling stops when you lift your finger.
  • Scroll continuously through a list: Double-tap and hold. When you hear a series of tones, move your finger up or down to scroll the list. Continuous scrolling stops when you lift your finger.
  • Use a list index: Some lists have an alphabetical index along the right side. The index cant be selected by flicking between items; you must touch the index directly to select it. With the index selected, flick up or down to move along the index. You can also double-tap, then slide your finger up or down.
  • Reorder a list: You can change the order of items in some lists, such as the Rotor and Language Rotor settings in Accessibility settings. Select Lists icon on the right side of an item, double-tap and hold until you hear a sound, then drag up or down. VoiceOver speaks the item youve moved above or below, depending on the direction youre dragging.
• Rearrange your Home screen: On the Home screen, select the icon you want to move. Double-tap and hold the icon, then drag it. VoiceOver speaks the row and column position as you drag the icon. Release the icon when its in the location you want. You can drag additional icons. Drag an
  item to the left or right edge of the screen to move it to a different page of the Home screen. When you finish, press the Home button.
• Speak the iPad status information: Tap the top of the screen to hear information about the time, battery life, Wi-Fi signal strength, and more.
• 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.

Note: This article will work on all iPads using iOS 6; including iPad Mini, iPad 2, The New iPad (iPad 3), iPad 4 (iPad with Retina display).