IOS Teaching Module 03, Standard VoiceOver Control TouchScreen Finger Swipe and Tap Gestures Defined for iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch:
Version 2.0 – Updated November 2019 to reflect Usage with IOS 13.2.3
Table of Contents:
1. Important Notes:
2. physical Methods for Using TouchScreen Finger Tap Gestures Defined:
3. physical Methods for Using On-Screen Finger Swipe Gestures Defined.
4. Facial Recognition Models On-Screen Specialized Finger Swipe Gestures Defined:
5. Standard VoiceOver Finger Tap gestures Defined:
6. [1] Specialized VoiceOver Finger Tap Gestures Defined:
7. Standard VoiceOver Finger Swipe Gestures Defined:
8. Specialized VoiceOver Finger Swipe Gestures Defined:
9. Assistance Contact Information:
1. Important Notes:
1A. This Training Module has been compiled from application and adherence to the “Blind Perspective Philosophy” to insure understanding and accessibility of actions by the Blind are fully explained to allow full access of usage by the Blind through VoiceOver accessibility feature.
1B. Information provided within this document has been Beta Tested by the Author using an iPhone with IOS Version 13.2.3 and an iPad Pro with OS for iPad Version 13.2.3
1C. VoiceOver changes the TouchScreen Finger Swipe and Tap Gestures, from those used with “Sighted Mode”, allowing a blind or low-vision individual the ability to control an iPhone, iPad or iPod Touch.
1D. When VoiceOver is on,VoiceOver TouchScreen Finger Swipe and Tap Gestures must be used to operate iPhone, iPad or iPod Touch.
1E. When VoiceOver is on, standard Touchscreen Finger Swipe and Tap Gestures have different effects, and additional gestures allows for movement around the screen and control individual selected item actions.
2. physical Methods for Using TouchScreen Finger Tap Gestures Defined
2A. On all iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch devices VoiceOver includes one, two, three and four TouchScreen Finger Tap Gestures. Individual actions are activated by a single, double, triple or quadruple tap of the designated one, two, three or four finger selections.
2B. VoiceOver finger taps may be performed through application of multiple techniques; such as when performing a two Finger Tap Gesture, which may be performed using two fingers on one hand, or one finger on each hand or by use of both thumbs.
2C. To determine which method for performing a double tap the individual must Try the different techniques available to discover which works best on an individual basis.
2D. Standard finger swipe and tap gestures controlling activation may be customized as necessary to accommodate any lack of individual motor skills; these changes are made within the Commands Option accessed in Settings > Accessibility > VoiceOver > Commands. Refer to future VoiceOver Settings Training Module for complete details to assign personal customizations; note, unless necessary the standard finger swipe and tap gestures should not be changed as this will cause confusion when seeking help ffrom fellow Blind VoiceOver users and/or Apple Accessibility Helpline Advisors.
2E. Finger Tap gestures require a specific rhythm, separation between fingers, placement on screen and speed between multiple taps; which is all developed through practice.
2F. If a tap gesture does not work, try changing the speed between repetitive taps.
2G. To Practice VoiceOver finger tap gestures; go to Settings > Accessibility > VoiceOver > VoiceOver Practice, then make a single finger Double tap to access VoiceOver Practice. when practice session is completed make a single finger double tap on Done button at top of screen to exit practice session. If the VoiceOver Practice button is not present as a selection within VoiceOver settings, then make sure VoiceOver is turned on.
3. physical Methods for Using On-Screen Finger Swipe Gestures Defined:
3A. On all iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch devices VoiceOver gestures include one, two and three finger on-screen swipes.
3B. For best results, when using multi finger swipe gestures, let your fingers touch the screen with some space between individual on screen fingers.
3C. If a swipe gesture does not work, try changing the motion spee of the swipe; this can be especially effective for activating hidden screen actions; such as Home and app switcher functions, on facial recognition models.
3D. To Practice VoiceOver swipe gestures; go to Settings > Accessibility > VoiceOver > VoiceOver Practice, then make a single finger Double tap to access VoiceOver Practice. when practice session is completed make a single finger double tap on Done button at top of screen to exit practice session. If the VoiceOver Practice button is not present as a selection within VoiceOver settings, then make sure VoiceOver is turned on.
4. Facial Recognition Models On-Screen Specialized Finger Swipe Gestures:
On facial recognition iPhone and iPad models the screen extends from edge to edge forcing the removal of the classic on screen home key, thus requiring related actions to be incorporated as new on screen hidden functions and power key actions. On facial recognition models; there are now four specialized on-screen finger swipe gestures activating hidden Home Screen, App Switcher, Control Center and Notification Center buttons, the location of these buttons are located by on-screen vibrations when VoiceOver half-tick feature is activated, or by a audible click when the sound feature is activated. When VoiceOver mode is activated; the half-tick feature can cause an undesirable amount of vibration and the sound clicks can prove to be a distraction when focusing on the announced audible information, which is why many VoiceOver users choose to turn these features off and rely on learned muscle memory to locate these on-screen hidden function button positions to activate these functions by feel of length of finger swipe only without audible or tactile vibration feedback.
4A. On facial recognition iPhone and iPad models, the Home screen is activated by placing a single finger on the very bottom of the screen, then sliding the on screen finger towards the top of the screen untill the first quick is heard or the first vibration is felt followed with raising the on screen finger to activate the home screen ; note, the distance from the bottom of the screen to the location of the Home Button is approximately one fourth up from the bottom edge of the screen.
4B. On facial recognition iPhone and iPad models, the app switcher is activated by placing a single finger on the very bottom of the screen, then sliding the on screen finger towards the top of the screen until the second quick is heard or the second vibration is felt followed with raising the on screen finger will activate the app switcher; note, the app switcher button is located approximately three fourths up from the bottom edge of the screen.
4C. On facial recognition iPhone and iPad models; the control center is activated by placing a single finger on the very top of the screen, then sliding the on screen finger towards the bottom of the screen until the first quick is heard or the first vibration is felt followed with raising the on screen finger to activate the control center; note, the control Center button is located approximately one fourth down from the top edge of the screen.
4D. On facial recognition iPhone and iPad models, the Notification Center is activated by placing a single finger on the very top of the screen, then sliding the on screen finger towards the bottom of the screen until the second quick is heard or the second vibration is felt followed with raising the on screen finger to activate the Notification Center; note, the Notification Center button is located approximately three fourths down from the top edge of the screen.
To toggle the VoiceOver Half Ticks and Sound feature open Settings > Accessibility > VoiceOver> Audio> Sounds and Half Ticks, then swipe single finger to the right to gain access to the Sound Button; making a single finger double tap will toggle VoiceOver Sound Button, a second single finger swipe to the right will gain access to the VoiceOver Half Tick Button; a single finger double tap will toggle VoiceOver Half Tick button, a third single finger swipe to the right will access the VoiceOver Half Tick Intensity Function, then by making a single finger flic up will increase or flick down will decrease Intensity setting.
5. Standard VoiceOver Finger Tap gestures Defined:
5A. One Finger Taps Defined:
5A1. One Finger Single Tap Gesture – Selects and Speaks the Touched Item.
5A2. One Finger Double Tap Gesture – Activates Announced Selected Item.
5A3. One Finger Triple Tap Performs Secondary Activation Defined as a Long Press.
5A4. One finger Quadruple Tap Gesture – Move to First Item..
5B. Two Finger Standard Tap Gestures Defined:
5B1. Two Finger Single Tap Gesture – Toggles Speech on and off.
5B2 Two Finger Double Tap Gesture – initiates an action or halts an action in progress.
5B3. Two Finger Triple Tap Gesture – Shows Item Chooser.
5B4. Two Finger Quadruple Tap Gesture – Not Assigned as a Standardized Gesture.
5C. Three Finger Standard Tap Gestures Defined:
5C1. Three Finger Single Tap Gesture – Reads Item info; ie, selected item Status.
5C2. Three Finger double Tap Gesture – Toggles Mute on and off.
5C3. Three Finger Triple Tap Gesture – Toggles Screen Curtain on and off.
5C4. Three Finger Quadruple Tap Gesture – Copy speech to Clipboard.
5D. Four Finger Standard Tap Gestures Defined:
5D1A. Four Finger Single Tap Gesture At Top of Screen – Selects the first page item.
5D1B. Four Finger Single Tap Gesture at Bottom of Screen – Selects the last page item.
5D2. four Finger Double Tap Gesture – Starts Help.
5D3. Four Finger Triple Tap Gesture – Not Assigned as a Standardized Gesture.
5D4. Four Finger Quadruple Tap Gesture – Not Assigned as a Standardized Gesture.
6. Specialized Finger Tap Gestures Defined:
6A. An alternative method to perform a double tap is to use the split-Finger Tap Gesture. To accomplish a split Finger double Tap Gesture; First select an item through single finger touch or swipe gesture, then double tap with one finger and hold finger on the screen followed by touching the screen with another finger, finalize action by lifting both fingers from screen. This method works well when taking a picture to minimize phone motion resulting in misalignment of camera.
6B. Single Finger Double Tap and Hold Gesture – Hold for one second plus will create a Standard Gesture –Use of a standard gesture instructs IOS devices to interpret the next gesture as a standard action; for example, this gesture method may be used to slide an on screen switch, such as the power off slide switch.
6C. To access additional action items, not listed in rotor action selections, make a single finger double tap and hold until edit mode is announced or vibration is detected, then raise finger from screen to activate edit mode; which allows access to multiple commands to manage selected item,through employment of additional finger swipe and tap gestures.
6D. Two finger double Tap and hold – Hold for one second plus, until label is announced, then raise fingers from screen to activate label action; change of label name is accomplished through additional finger swipes and typing keyboard entries. This action allowing the change of a homepage icon label can be advantageous to make the icon easier to find.
7. Standard Finger Swipe Gestures Defined:
7A. Single Finger Standard Swipe Gestures Defined:
7A1. Single Finger Swipe Gesture to the Right – Move to Next Item.
7A2. Single Finger Swipe Gesture to the Left – Move to Previous Item.
7A3. Single finger Swipe Gesture Upwards -Move to Previous Selected Rotor Item.
7A4. Single Finger Swipe Downwards – Moves to Next Selected Rotor Item.
7B. Two Finger Standard Swipe Gestures Defined:
7B1. Two Finger Swipe to the Right – Not Assigned as a Standard Swipe Gesture.
7B2. Two Finger Swipe to the Left – Not Assigned as a Standard Swipe Gesture.
7B3. Two Finger Swipe Gesture Upwards – Reads All Text from the Top to the Bottom.
7B4. Two Finger Swipe Gesture Downwards -Reads All Text Starting from Cursor Location.
7C. Three Finger Standard Swipe Gestures Defined:
7C1. Three Finger Swipe Gesture to the Right – Returns to the previous home screen.
7C2. Three Finger Swipe Gesture to the Left – Advances to the next home screen page.
7C3. Three Finger Swipe Gesture Upwards – Scrolls forward one page at a time.
7C4. Three Finger Swipe Gesture Downwards -Scrolls backwards one page at a time.
7D. Four Finger Standard Swipe Gestures Defined:
7D1. Four Finger Swipe Gesture to the Right – Switch to Next App.
7D2. Four Finger Swipe Gesture to the Left – Switches to Previous App.
7D3. Four Finger Swipe Gesture Upwards – Not Assigned as a Standard Gesture.
7D4. Four Finger Swipe Gesture Downwards – Not Assigned as a Standard Gesture.
8. Specialized Standard Finger Swipe Gestures Defined:
8A. Two Finger Scrub Swipe Gesture – Move two fingers back and forth three times quickly (making a “z”) pattern to dismiss an alert or go back to the previous screen.
9. Assistance Contact Information Defined:
9A. For additional information, clarification or training contact Apple Accessibility Helpline at(877) 204-3930.
9B. This Training Module was originally compiled February 2019 and updated as Version 2.0; to reflect changes dictated by the introduction of IOS13, by Peter Crumley with information provided by Apple and application as a Blind VoiceOver user.
9C. As with all Training Modules this module will remain a living document to be updated as required.
9D. User reviews are welcome in the form of solution driven corrections and suggested content structure.
9E. Author contact email: