Accessibility
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In addition to the many features that make iPad easy to use for everyone, iPad includes universal access features.
Universal Access Features
Universal access features make iPad easy to use for people who have a vision impairment, are deaf or hard of hearing, or have a physical or learning disability. The accessibility features on iPad include: Â Support for playback of closed-captioned content
 VoiceOver screen reader  Full-screen zoom magnification  White on Black  Mono Audio
Zoom, White on Black, and Mono Audio work with all applications. VoiceOver works with the built-in iPad applications, and some third-party applications you can download from the App Store. Closed-captioning works with movies and podcasts that include it.
For more information about the iPad accessibility features, go to www.apple.com/accessibility.
You can turn individual accessibility features on or off in Accessibility settings on iPad. You can also turn some accessibility features on or off in iTunes when you connect iPad to your computer.
Turn accessibility features on or off in iTunes:
1 Connect iPad to your computer. 2 In iTunes, select iPad in the sidebar. 3 In the Summary pane, click Configure Universal Access in the Options section. 4 Select the accessibility features you want to use, then click OK.
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The features you select are available immediately on iPad when you click OK.
VoiceOver
VoiceOver describes aloud what appears onscreen, so that you can use iPad without seeing it.
VoiceOver tells you about each element on the screen as you select it. When you select an element, a black rectangle encloses it (for the benefit of those who can see the screen) and VoiceOver speaks the name or describes the item. The enclosing rectangle is referred to as the VoiceOver cursor.
Touch the screen or drag your fingers to hear different items on the screen. To interact with items on the screen, such as buttons and links, use the gestures described in “VoiceOver Gestures” on page 108. When you select text, VoiceOver reads the text. If you turn on Speak Hints, VoiceOver may tell you the name of the item. When you select a control (such as a button or switch), VoiceOver provides instructions for you— for example, “double-tap to open.”
When you go to a new screen, VoiceOver plays a sound and automatically selects and speaks the first element of the screen (typically, the item in the upper-left corner). VoiceOver also lets you know when the display changes to landscape or portrait orientation, and when the screen is locked or unlocked.
Note: VoiceOver speaks in the language specified in International settings, which may be influenced by the Region Locale setting. VoiceOver is available in many languages, but not all.
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Setting Up VoiceOver
VoiceOver changes the gestures you use to control iPad. Once you turn VoiceOver on, you must use VoiceOver gestures to operate iPad—even to turn VoiceOver off again and resume standard operation.
Turn VoiceOver on or off on iPad: In Settings, choose General > Accessibility > VoiceOver, then tap the VoiceOver On/Off switch.
Turn VoiceOver on or off in iTunes: Select iPad in the iTunes sidebar. In the Options section of the Summary pane, click Configure Universal Access. Select VoiceOver, then click OK.
You can also set Triple-click Home to turn VoiceOver on or off. See “Triple-Click Home” on page 115.
Note: You cannot use VoiceOver and Full-screen Zoom at the same time.
VoiceOver Settings
You can set VoiceOver to give spoken hints, increase or decrease the speaking rate, or give typing feedback.
Turn spoken hints on or off: In Settings, choose General > Accessibility > VoiceOver, then tap the Speak Hints On/Off switch. Spoken hints are turned on by default.
Set the VoiceOver speaking rate: In Settings, choose General > Accessibility > VoiceOver, then adjust the Speaking Rate slider.
You can choose what kind of feedback you get when you type. You can set VoiceOver to speak characters, words, both, or nothing. If you choose to hear both characters and words, VoiceOver speaks each character as you type it, then speaks the whole word when you enter a space or punctuation.
Choose typing feedback: In Settings, choose General > Accessibility > VoiceOver > Typing Feedback, then choose Characters, Words, Characters and Words, or Nothing.
You can also change the language spoken by VoiceOver.
Change the language spoken by VoiceOver: In Settings, choose General > International > Language, then select a language and tap OK.
Some languages may be influenced by the Region Local setting. In Settings, choose General > International > Region Format, then select the format.
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VoiceOver Gestures
When VoiceOver is turned on, it changes the gestures you use to control iPad, so that you can hear descriptions without activating buttons. These VoiceOver gestures let you move around the screen and control the individual elements that you select. Some VoiceOver gestures use two, three, or four fingers to tap or flick. For best results when using more than one finger, relax and let your fingers touch the screen with some space between them.
There are many ways to enter VoiceOver gestures. For example, you can two-finger tap by using either two fingers on one hand, or one finger on each hand. You can also use your thumbs. Try different techniques to discover what works best for you.
If your gestures don’t work, try quicker movements, especially for double-tapping and flicking gestures. To flick, try quickly brushing the screen with your finger or fingers.
Practice gestures: In Settings, choose General > Accessibility > VoiceOver > Practice Gestures, then tap the Practice VoiceOver Gestures button. Practice the gestures described in “VoiceOver Settings,” below. When you finish practicing, tap Done.
Make single-finger flicking gestures quickly, to distinguish them from dragging gestures.
Here’s a summary of VoiceOver gestures:
Navigate and Read
 Tap: Speak item.
 Flick right or left: Select the next or previous item.
 Flick up or down: The effect varies depending on the Rotor Control setting. See “Using VoiceOver” on page 110.
 Two-finger tap: Stop speaking the current item.
 Two-finger flick up: Read all, from the top of the screen.
 Two-finger flick down: Read all, from the current position.
 Three-finger flick up or down: Scroll one page at a time.
 Three-finger flick right or left: Go to the next or previous page (such as the Home screen or Safari).
 Three-finger tap: Speak the scroll status (which page or rows are visible).
 Four-finger flick up or down: Go to the first or last element on a page.
 Four-finger flick right or left: Go to the next or previous section (for example, on a webpage).
Select and Activate
 Double-tap: Activate selected item.  Touch an item with one finger, tap the screen with another finger (“split-tapping”):
Activate item. Â Double-tap and hold (1 second) + standard gesture: Use a standard gesture.
The double-tap and hold gesture tells iPad to interpret the subsequent gesture as standard. For example, you can double-tap and hold, and then without lifting your finger, drag your finger to slide a switch.
You can use standard gestures when VoiceOver is turned on, by double-tapping and holding 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, then VoiceOver gestures resume.
 Two-finger double tap: Play or pause in iPod, YouTube, Voice Memos, or Photos. Start or pause recording in Voice Memos. Start or stop the stopwatch.
 Three-finger double tap: Mute or unmute VoiceOver.  Three-finger triple tap: Turn the display on or off.
Rotor Control
The rotor is a virtual control that acts like a physical dial when VoiceOver is turned on. Use the rotor to change VoiceOver settings and to access additional commands and features.
Operate the rotor: Rotate two fingers on the iPad screen to “turn” the dial and choose items on the rotor. Flick up and down to use the selected item.
The effect of the rotor depends on what you’re doing. For example, if you’re reading text in an email, you can use the rotor to switch between hearing text spoken word- by-word, character-by-character, or line-by-line when you flick up or down. When you browse a webpage, use the rotor to choose whether you hear text word-by-word or character-by-character, hear just the headers, hear just the links (all of them, visited links, or links not yet visited), hear form elements, or hear descriptions of images.
You can use the rotor setting to hear all of the text, or to jump from one element of a certain type (such as headers or links) to another.
Change the language voice: Select the language voice you want in the rotor, then use the rotor to quickly switch language voices.
 In Settings, choose General > Accessibility > VoiceOver > Language Rotor.
 Tap the language voices you want in the language rotor.
 Turn the rotor to “languages,” then flick up or down to select the language voice you want to use.
You can also re-order the language voices in Settings. Rotor options depend on the context of what you’re doing.
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Reading text
 Select and hear text character-by-character  Select and hear text word-by-word  Select and hear text line-by-line
Browsing a webpage
 Select and hear text character-by-character  Select and hear text word-by-word  Select and hear text line-by-line  Select and hear headers
 Select and hear links  Select and hear form controls  Select and hear visited links  Select and hear links not visited  Select and hear images  Select and hear static text  Zoom in or out
Entering text
 Move the insertion point and hear text, character-by-character  Move the insertion point and hear text, word-by-word  Move the insertion point and hear text, line-by-line  Text editing functions
 Auto-text Using a control
 Select and hear the value, character-by-character  Select and hear the value, word-by-word  Select and hear the value, line-by-line  Adjust the value of the control object
Using VoiceOver
Unlock iPad: Select the Unlock button, then double-tap the screen.
Select items on the screen: Drag your finger across the screen. VoiceOver identifies each element as you touch it. You can also move systematically from one element to the next by flicking left or right with one finger. Elements are selected from left to right, top to bottom. Flick right to go to the next element, or flick left to go to the previous element.
“Tap” a selected item when VoiceOver is turned on: Double-tap anywhere on the screen.
Speak the text of an element, character-by-character, word-by-word, or line-by-line:
With the element selected, flick up or down with one finger. Flick down to read the next character, or flick up to read the previous character. Twist the rotor control to read word-by-word or line-by-line.
Adjust a slider: With one finger, flick up to increase the setting or down to decrease the setting. VoiceOver speaks the setting as you adjust it.
Scroll a list or area of the screen: Flick up or down with three fingers. Flick down to page down, or flick up to page up. When paging through a list, VoiceOver speaks the range of items displayed (for example, “showing rows 5 through 10”).
Scroll continuously through a list: Double-tap and hold. When you hear a series of tones, you can move your finger up or down to scroll the list. Continuous scrolling stops when you lift your finger.
Use an index: Some lists have an alphabetical index along the right side. The index can’t be selected by flicking between elements; you must tap the index 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.
Rearrange the Home screen: On the Home screen, select the icon you want to move. Double-tap and hold, then drag the icon. VoiceOver speaks the row and column position as your drag the icon. Release the icon when it’s 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 another page of the Home screen. When you finish rearranging the icons, press the Home button.
You can turn speaking off, stop speaking an item, turn the display off, or have VoiceOver speak the entire screen.
Mute VoiceOver
Stop speaking an item
Turn off the display while you use VoiceOver
Speak the entire screen from the top
Speak from the current item to the bottom of screen
Double-tap with three fingers. Double-tap again with three fingers to turn speaking back on. To turn off only VoiceOver sounds, set the screen rotation lock to Lock.
Tap once with two fingers. Tap again with two fingers to resume speaking. Speaking automatically resumes when you select another item.
Triple-tap with three fingers. Repeat to turn the display on again.
Flick up with two fingers.
Flick down with two fingers.
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You can hear iPad status information by tapping the status bar at the top of the screen. This includes the time, battery life, Wi-Fi signal strength, and more.
Entering and Editing Text
When you select a text field with VoiceOver, you can use the onscreen keyboard to enter text. You can use the editing features of iPad to cut, copy, or paste in the text field.
Note: Safari doesn’t support copying webpage content. The editing features work only in editable text fields.
Enter text:
1 Use VoiceOver to select an editable text field, then double-tap to display the insertion point and bring up the onscreen keyboard. If the field already contains text, the insertion point is placed at the beginning or at the end of the text. Double-tap again to place the insertion point at the opposite end. VoiceOver tells you the position of the insertion point.
The insertion point and onscreen keyboard may appear automatically when you select a text field. VoiceOver announces when you’re in editing mode—based on the rotor setting.
2 To type, do one of the following: Â “Touch-type” by dragging your finger to select a key, then lifting your finger to enter
the character.
 “Standard-type” by flicking left or right to select a key on the keyboard, then double- tapping to enter the character.
 Enter a character by dragging your finger around the keyboard to select a key, and, while holding the key with one finger, tapping the screen with another finger.
VoiceOver speaks the key when it’s selected, and again when it’s entered.
Enter an accented character: Double-tap and hold, until you hear a sound indicating that the alternate characters have appeared, then drag left or right to select and hear the choices. Release your finger to enter the current selection.
Move the insertion point: Flick up or down to move the insertion point forward or backward in the text. VoiceOver makes a sound when the insertion point moves, and speaks the character that the insertion point moved across. Use the rotor to choose whether you want to move the insertion point by characters, words, or lines.
Select text: Use the rotor to choose edit. Flick up or down to choose between the Select and Select All functions, then double-tap. If you chose Select, the word closest to the insertion point is selected when you double-tap. If you chose Select All, all the text is selected.
Pinch to increase or decrease the selection.
Cut, copy, or paste: Make sure the rotor is set to edit. With text selected, flick up or down to choose Cut, Copy, or Paste, then double-tap.
Undo: Shake iPad, or flick left or right to choose the action to undo, then double-tap.
Change the pitch: In Settings, choose General > Accessibility > VoiceOver, then tap the Use Pitch Change button. Then, when you delete a letter, it’s spoken with a lower pitch.
Speak keys phonetically: In Settings, choose General > Accessibility > VoiceOver, then tap the Use Phonetics button. Then, when you pause on a key, VoiceOver speaks the letter of that key phonetically (for example, alpha for a, bravo for b, charlie for c, and so on).
Using Maps
Use VoiceOver to zoom in or out, select pins, and get information about locations.
Zoom in or out: Use the rotor to choose zoom mode, then flick up or down to zoom in or out.
Select a pin: Touch a pin, or flick left or right to move from one item to another.
Zoom
The Zoom accessibility feature lets you magnify the entire screen to help you see what’s on the display.
Turn Zoom on or off: In Settings, choose General > Accessibility > Zoom, then tap the Zoom On/Off switch. Or, use Triple-click Home, (see “Triple-Click Home” on page 115).
Zoom in or out: Double-tap the screen with three fingers. By default, the screen is magnified 200 percent. If you manually change the magnification (by using the tap- and-drag gesture, described below), iPad automatically returns to that magnification when you zoom in by double-tapping with three fingers.
Increase magnification: With three fingers, tap and drag up to increase magnification or down to decrease magnification. The tap-and-drag gesture is similar to a double- tap, except you don’t lift your fingers on the second tap—instead, drag your fingers on the screen.
Move around the screen: While zoomed in, drag the screen with three fingers. Hold one finger near the edge of the display to pan to that side of the screen image. Move your finger closer to the edge to pan more quickly. When you open a new screen, Zoom always goes to the upper-center of the screen.
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White on Black
Use White on Black to invert the colors on the iPad display, which may make it easier to read the screen. When White on Black is turned on, the screen looks like a photographic negative.
Invert the screen’s colors: In Settings, choose General > Accessibility, then tap “White on Black.”
Mono Audio
Mono Audio combines the sound of the left and right channels into a mono signal played on both sides. This lets users with hearing impairment in one ear hear the entire sound signal with the other ear.
Turn Mono Audio on or off: In Settings, choose General > Accessibility, then tap the Mono Audio button.
Speak Auto-Text
Speak Auto-text speaks the text corrections and suggestions iPad makes when you type.
Turn Speak Auto-text on or off: In Settings, choose General > Accessibility, then tap the Speak Auto-text button.
Speak Auto-text also works with VoiceOver or Zoom.
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Triple-Click Home
Triple-click Home is an easy way to turn some Accessibility features on or off by quickly press the Home button three times. You can set Triple-click Home to turn VoiceOver on or off, turn White on Black on or off, or ask if you would like to triple-click the Home button to:
  Â
Turn VoiceOver on or off Turn Zoom on or off Turn White on Black on or off
Triple-click Home is normally turned off.
Set the Triple-click Home function: In Settings, choose General > Accessibility > Triple-click Home, then choose the function you want.
Closed Captioning and Other Helpful Features
Many standard features available on iPad help make it accessible to all users, including those with disabilities.
Closed Captioning
You can turn on closed captioning for videos in iPod settings. See “iPod” on page 130.
Widescreen Keyboards
All the built-in iPad applications show a larger onscreen keyboard when you rotate iPad to landscape view. You can also type using an Apple Wireless Keyboard or the iPad Keyboard Dock.
Minimum Font Size for Mail Messages
To increase readability, set the minimum font size for Mail message text to Large, Extra Large, or Giant. See “Mail” on page 127.
Universal Access in Mac OS X
Take advantage of the Universal Access features in Mac OS X when you use iTunes to sync information and content from your iTunes library to iPad. In the Finder, choose Help > Mac Help, then search for “universal access.”
For more information about iPad and Mac OS X accessibility features, go to www.apple.com/accessibility.
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