Go to page controls

iPhone X: Accessibility - VoiceOver

Back to Home Page


If required, please turn on your screen reader to have the contents of this page read out to you. 

For more information on Screen Readers please go to the V I Support page on the Home sreen menu. Here you will find links to some of the most popular Screen Reader applications.

The iPhone X does not have a physical Home button to press, like previous iPhone models, so to activate SIRI you use the Wake/Sleep button instead.

If VoiceOver has not been enabled and you are visually impaired ask a sighted person to turn this on, by going to Settings, Accessibility then VoiceOver and move the on/off screen switch to on.

Alternatively you can turn on SIRI (Speech Interpretation and Recognition Interface) by pressing and holding the Sleep/Wake button, sometimes referred to as the screen on screen off button for a count, of 1,2,3, then let go of the button and say Voiceover On, which will toggle Voiceover on.
To toggle voice over off, repeat the same procedure but say 'Voiceover off', note when voiceover is already on you will hear a ding ding sound when you press the wake/sleep button.
Ensure you press the Sleep/Wake button quickly to stop SIRI from continuing to listen to your voice.
So the procedure in a nutshell is, toggle Voice over on or off by pressing the wake/sleep button for 2 to 3 seconds, say either 'Voiceover on, or off', then to stop SIRI listening for further speech commands, Press the Sleep/Wake button with a quick press.

Background.

The Apple iOS provides many helpful features to help users who are visually impaired, or have hearing difficulties, to use the iPhone as normal. Even users with physical or motor skills will find that they have been catered for, however I will concentrate mainly on features that visually impaired users will benefit from.

When VoiceOver is on, you need to use special gestures to unlock the iPhone, go to the Home Screen, open Control Center, switch apps, and more.

To power on phone. Hold button on right hand side (Sleep/Wake) in for approx. ten seconds, the phone will go through a power up sequence and Voiceover will eventually report the current time. Once the phone has powered on, to turn off display tap the right hand side button. To turn the display back on either pick up the phone and hold it vertically, tap the front of the screen to wake it up or tap the right hand side button.

To power off phone. Press button on right hand side (Sleep/Wake) and volume up or down button together and wait until Voiceover reports ‘slide to power off’, then double tap with one finger to activate the power off sequence.

To Unlock iPhone. On an iPhone with Face ID: Wake iPhone and glance at it, then drag up from the bottom edge of the screen until you feel a vibration or hear two rising tones.

Or TILT phone up or TAP phone screen. On an iPhone with Touch ID: Press the Home button.

If prompted, enter your passcode. To avoid having your passcode spoken as you enter it, enter your passcode silently using handwriting mode or type onscreen braille.

Open Siri . Press and hold side button (if Voiceover is on you’ll hear a beep), then speak. To turn off SIRI press the side button again.

Go to the Home Screen. On an iPhone with Face ID: Drag one finger up from the bottom edge of the screen until you feel a vibration or hear two rising tones, then lift your finger.

Or after Pressing side button to turn on screen, wait a few seconds (a message appears ‘Swipe up to open’), then swipe up with one finger or thumb.

To go to Home screen from an open App. Swipe up with one finger or thumb, listen for the two rising tones, then lift your finger. On an iPhone with a Home button: Press the Home button.

To open the App Switcher. On an iPhone with Face ID: Drag one finger up from the bottom edge of the screen until you hear three tones, then lift your finger.

To go back from App Switcher to Home screen, swipe up with one finger or thumb until you hear two tones, then lift your finger.

On an iPhone with a Home button: Double-click the Home button.

Switch to another app. Open App switcher then Swipe right or left with three fingers to cycle through the open apps.

To close currently selected App swipe up with three fingers.

To open currently selected App, double tap with one finger.

To browse home pages, swipe left or right with three fingers until the app you want is selected.

To open Control Center. On an iPhone with Face ID: Drag one finger down from the top edge of the screen until you feel a vibration or hear the second tone.

On all iPhone models: Tap any item in the status bar, then swipe up with three fingers. Or touch and hold the bottom of the screen until you hear a tone, then swipe up.

To dismiss Control Center, do a two-finger scrub (move two fingers back and forth three times quickly, making a 'z' shape).

View notifications. On an iPhone with Face ID: Drag one finger down from the top edge of the screen until you feel the second vibration or hear the third tone.

To dismiss the notifications screen, do a two-finger scrub (move two fingers back and forth three times quickly, making a “z”).

On all iPhone models: Tap any item in the status bar, then swipe down with three fingers. Or touch and hold the top of the screen until you hear a tone, then swipe down.

To dismiss the notifications screen, do a two-finger scrub (move two fingers back and forth three times quickly, making a “z”).

To speak status bar information. Tap the status bar at the top of the screen. Swipe left or right to hear the time, battery state, Wi-Fi signal strength, and more.

To rearrange apps on your Home Screen. Use one of the following methods:

Drag and drop: Tap the current screen's icon to be moved, then double-tap and hold your finger on the screen until you hear three rising tones. The item’s relative location is described as you drag. Lift your finger when the icon is in its new location. Drag an icon to the edge of the screen to move it to a different Screen.

Move actions: Tap an app, then swipe down to hear available actions. When you hear “Edit Mode,” double-tap to start arranging apps. Find the app you want to move, then swipe down to the Move action and double-tap. Move the VoiceOver cursor to the new destination for the app, then choose from the available actions: Cancel Move, Create New Folder, Add to Folder, Move Before, or Move After.

When you’re finished, tap Done, then double-tap.

Search from the Home Screen. Tap anywhere on the Home Screen outside the status bar. Swipe down with three fingers. Voiceover says ‘Spotlight’, from here you can search for any App, a list will be updated matching your search string.

Go to top


Accessibility Page Control Section


Keyboard control (Chrome/Safari): Screen Speak - Press ALT + s, Pause Audio - Press Alt + p. To reset/reload page activate the Reload Page button below.


Search Section

If you are using a laptop, then to search for text on any currently displayed page press Control and F, then enter the required search text in the displayed search box. Any text found in the current page will be highlighted, you can use the up and down symbols displayed within the search box to search forward or backwards for occurrences of your search text.

If you are accessing this site via a smart phone or tablet, you will need to navigate to the 'More options' button, usually towards the top right hand side of your screen, to access your device Search options for the currently displayed page. Note that sometimes instead of the word 'Search' your device might display 'Find in page' as the option to select for searching the current page.

To search for text primarily in other pages of the Simplyinformed Website, enter text in the search box below. To get back from the search results Press ALT and Left Arrow. Please note there may be a few initial links that take you to other sites that match your site search string, these can of course be disregarded if you only want to be taken to content on this site. Please note that the Search box is displayed as a table with one row and three columns, in other there are three cells in the search table layout. Cell one is where you enter your search string and press enter, or move to cell two to activate the Search Button. Move to cell three to find the clear search content button to clear out the text in cell on, ready to enter a new search string. Use the Up and Down arrows to move through search table cells when using NVDA. Once the Narrator has been taken to the search box press the enter key so that the screen reader switches into text input mode.

Go to top


Find us on Facebook button Icon

Copyright © Simply Informed 2010 Simply Informed Icon