Blind and Visually Impaired Community
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IPhone accessibility features? (self.Blind)
submitted by poochbrah
I am looking to switch from android to iPhone and wondering if anyone can explain to me if there is a speak on touch feature and how it works.
As I have some usable vision, I prefer not to use voice over solely and currently use select to speak on android. This feature works by having a small button in the bottom right of the screen which once pressed allows me to highlight any section of the screen to be read aloud. This includes the reading of icons, settings menus, buttons within apps, reddit and most other things.
On iPhone I've come across a gesture called spoken content which appears to have a finger icon which allows you to do something similar but this seems to require more button presses than the equivalent on android. For example I'd have to click on the spoken content icon then select the finger and then drag on what I want read aloud as opposed to just selecting the select to speak icon which sits in the corner once and then highlight what I want read on android.
Is what I've said above correct? Is there such a feature on iPhone or do you have any other possible solutions?
I am aware of the speak screen feature but not interested in this as I don't want the entire screen to be read every time I want a small specific section to be read.
As I have some usable vision, I prefer not to use voice over solely and currently use select to speak on android. This feature works by having a small button in the bottom right of the screen which once pressed allows me to highlight any section of the screen to be read aloud. This includes the reading of icons, settings menus, buttons within apps, reddit and most other things.
On iPhone I've come across a gesture called spoken content which appears to have a finger icon which allows you to do something similar but this seems to require more button presses than the equivalent on android. For example I'd have to click on the spoken content icon then select the finger and then drag on what I want read aloud as opposed to just selecting the select to speak icon which sits in the corner once and then highlight what I want read on android.
Is what I've said above correct? Is there such a feature on iPhone or do you have any other possible solutions?
I am aware of the speak screen feature but not interested in this as I don't want the entire screen to be read every time I want a small specific section to be read.
JosephSeabourne 4 points 1y ago
There's something called ‘speak selection’. Once enabled in settings, you select text normally as if you were going to copy and paste it, then in the bar that pops up (which says 'copy', 'paste, 'select all', etc), they'll be a button that says 'speak'. Click that and it will read to you. If you can't read the text on the buttons to press that, how I do it is just by learning how many buttons along the 'speak' button is.
There's also a feature — which I only just learnt about whilst having a look for you — called ‘speak on touch’ which looks a lot more like what you're describing. When enabled in settings, they'll be a small button that you can move around the edge of you screen. If you press and hold it for a few seconds, it will read the entire screen. If you double tap it and then drag your finger around, it will read what your finger is hovering over.
There's also a feature — which I only just learnt about whilst having a look for you — called ‘speak on touch’ which looks a lot more like what you're describing. When enabled in settings, they'll be a small button that you can move around the edge of you screen. If you press and hold it for a few seconds, it will read the entire screen. If you double tap it and then drag your finger around, it will read what your finger is hovering over.
fairminded-hemlock 2 points 1y ago
I didn’t know the speak on touch feature and i love it! Before i just activated and deactivated voiceover which took a lot of time, considering all the gestures
But is it just on my iphone or the controller button is buggy as fuck? First time it works fine, then even if it disappears from the screen (which it should do when you’re not using it) and i didn’t long press or double tap again, it keeps reading things, and i can’t even open the whole menu anymore to click on the pause button that’s inside?
But is it just on my iphone or the controller button is buggy as fuck? First time it works fine, then even if it disappears from the screen (which it should do when you’re not using it) and i didn’t long press or double tap again, it keeps reading things, and i can’t even open the whole menu anymore to click on the pause button that’s inside?
CloudyBeep 5 points 1y ago
You can toggle VoiceOver by triple-clicking the side button. If this doesn't work, enable the Accessibility Shortcut in Settings.
fairminded-hemlock 2 points 1y ago
I had multiple accessibility options there and it has to ask you every time, but yesterday i assigned triple click on home (8 user here) to VoiceOver and others to double and triple tap on the back (you do it in another section for physical and mobility accessibility, don’t know the exact name because my phone is not in english)
CloudyBeep 2 points 1y ago
This is called Back Tap.
poochbrah [OP] 2 points 1y ago
Thank you so much for your help. The speak on touch feature sounds like exactly what I am looking for.
Can you describe the feature a bit more for me please? So if I've understood you correctly, once enabled there is a floating button on the screen which I can move around. Can I move this to an easy to access location such as the bottom right section of the screen?
To then use it as I want, all I have to do is double tap this button and then drag anywhere on the screen and it will read that specific section?
Can you confirm that it is able to read icons and menu options for example the settings menu or a single comment on reddit?
Can you describe the feature a bit more for me please? So if I've understood you correctly, once enabled there is a floating button on the screen which I can move around. Can I move this to an easy to access location such as the bottom right section of the screen?
To then use it as I want, all I have to do is double tap this button and then drag anywhere on the screen and it will read that specific section?
Can you confirm that it is able to read icons and menu options for example the settings menu or a single comment on reddit?
JosephSeabourne 6 points 1y ago
1. Yes, correct, it is a floating button. You can move freely around the edge of the screen, e.g. the bottom right corner.
2. Yes, to use it double tap the button and then place your finger anywhere you want it to read. You could lift your finger and explore by dragging your finger around the screen from any start position until you find what you are looking for. Once you click on something to activate it, e.g. a button on screen, you'll need to double tap the speech button again to continue using the feature.
3. I haven't had a chance to play around with it too much, but it seems to be reading anything a typical screen reader can read, i.e. comments, menus, etc.
2. Yes, to use it double tap the button and then place your finger anywhere you want it to read. You could lift your finger and explore by dragging your finger around the screen from any start position until you find what you are looking for. Once you click on something to activate it, e.g. a button on screen, you'll need to double tap the speech button again to continue using the feature.
3. I haven't had a chance to play around with it too much, but it seems to be reading anything a typical screen reader can read, i.e. comments, menus, etc.
poochbrah [OP] 2 points 1y ago
This sounds great. I'll go to the apple shop tomorrow to try myself
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