VoiceOver for Mac and iOS
Rotor navigation, Quick Nav keyboard shortcuts on macOS, and touch gestures for VoiceOver on iPhone and iPad.
What you'll learn:
- Starting VoiceOver on Mac (keyboard) and on iPhone/iPad (touch)
- Using the VoiceOver Rotor on macOS and iOS
- Quick Nav keyboard shortcuts for web browsing on Mac
- Essential one-, two- and three-finger gestures on iPhone and iPad
Quick Start
Understanding the VO keys on Mac: Throughout the Mac sections of this guide, VO refers to the VoiceOver modifier keys: Control+Option held down together (or Caps Lock, if enabled in VoiceOver Utility). When you see VO+A, hold down Control+Option (or Caps Lock) and press A. On Mac keyboards where the top-row keys control brightness or volume by default, include Fn when pressing function keys (such as Command+Fn+F5 or VO+Fn+F8).
On Mac (macOS): Turn VoiceOver on or off with Command+F5 (or Command+Fn+F5; on Macs with Touch ID, hold Command and triple-click Touch ID) or from System Settings → Accessibility → VoiceOver. Once active, press VO+Right Arrow or VO+Left Arrow to move between items, VO+Space to activate an item, VO+A to read from the VoiceOver cursor, and VO+U to open the Web Rotor for headings, links and landmarks.
On iPhone and iPad (iOS / iPadOS): Go to Settings → Accessibility → VoiceOver, ask Siri "Turn on VoiceOver", or triple-click the Side button on iPhone, the Top button on iPad, or the Home button on models with a Home button (once VoiceOver is assigned under Settings → Accessibility → Accessibility Shortcut). Swipe right or left with one finger to move to the next or previous item, double-tap anywhere with one finger to activate the selected item, and rotate two fingers on the screen like turning a dial to open the Rotor (for example, choose Headings or Lines, then swipe down or up with one finger to move by that setting).
Essential Commands & Gestures Reference
| Command or Gesture | Platform | Action |
|---|---|---|
Command + F5 (or Command + Fn + F5) | Mac | Turn VoiceOver on or off |
VO + A | Mac | Read all from the VoiceOver cursor |
VO + U | Mac | Open the Rotor (headings, links, landmarks, form controls) |
VO + Right / Left Arrow | Mac | Move to next or previous item |
VO + Shift + Down / Up Arrow | Mac | Interact with / stop interacting with a group or scroll area |
VO + Space | Mac | Activate the selected button, link or control |
VO + Command + H | Mac | Move to the next heading |
Triple-click Side button (iPhone), Top button (iPad) or Home button | iPhone / iPad | Turn VoiceOver on or off (when configured in Accessibility Shortcut) |
One-finger swipe right / left | iPhone / iPad | Move to next or previous item |
One-finger double-tap | iPhone / iPad | Activate the focused item |
Two-finger rotation (twist) | iPhone / iPad | Choose a Rotor setting (Headings, Links, Lines, Words), then swipe up/down with one finger |
Two-finger single tap | iPhone / iPad | Pause or resume VoiceOver speech |
Step-by-Step Tutorial Guide
Getting Started on Mac
- Press Command+F5 (or Command+Fn+F5; on Macs with Touch ID, hold Command and triple-click Touch ID) to start VoiceOver
- Press Control to pause or resume speech
- Hold Control+Option (or Caps Lock) as your VO modifier key
- Press VO+K to enter Keyboard Help mode, where pressing any key or shortcut announces what it does; press Escape to exit Keyboard Help
- Press VO+F8 (or VO+Fn+F8 depending on your Mac keyboard settings) to open VoiceOver Utility for speech, verbosity and Rotor settings
Getting Started on iPhone and iPad
- Open Settings → Accessibility → VoiceOver, or ask Siri "Turn on VoiceOver"
- To toggle VoiceOver quickly at any time, go to Settings → Accessibility → Accessibility Shortcut, select VoiceOver, and then triple-click the Side button on iPhone, the Top button on iPad, or the Home button on models with a Home button
- Open VoiceOver Practice inside VoiceOver settings (or four-finger double-tap on the screen) to practise gestures safely
- Touch or drag one finger across the screen to hear items under your finger, or swipe right and left with one finger to step through items in order
Basic Navigation on Mac
- Use VO+Right Arrow and VO+Left Arrow to move between items
- Press VO+Shift+Down Arrow to interact with a toolbar, scroll area, table or group, and VO+Shift+Up Arrow to stop interacting
- Press VO+Space to activate a button, link or control
- Press VO+A to read continuously from the VoiceOver cursor
- Press VO+D to move to the Dock, or VO+M to move to the menu bar
- Press VO+F1 (or VO+Fn+F1) twice quickly to open the Application Chooser
Touch Navigation on iPhone and iPad
- Swipe right with one finger to move to the next item; swipe left with one finger to move to the previous item
- Double-tap anywhere on the screen with one finger to activate the selected item
- Two-finger swipe up reads from the top of the screen; two-finger swipe down reads from the currently selected item
- Two-finger single tap pauses or resumes speech
- Two-finger Z-scrub (draw a back-and-forth "Z" with two fingers) dismisses an alert or goes back to the previous screen
- Three-finger swipe up or down scrolls down or up a page
Using the Rotor
- On Mac: Press VO+U to open the Web Rotor, use the Left and Right Arrow keys to switch between categories (Headings, Links, Form Controls, Landmarks), type to filter the list, or use the Up and Down Arrow keys and press Enter to jump to an item
- On iPhone and iPad: Rotate two fingers on the screen like turning a dial until you hear the category you want (such as Headings, Links, Form Controls, Words or Lines), then swipe down or up with one finger to move through the page by that unit
Web Navigation with Quick Nav (Mac) and Rotor (iOS)
- On Mac: Press VO+Shift+Q to turn Arrow-key Quick Nav on or off (or press the Left and Right Arrow keys together if that shortcut is enabled in VoiceOver Utility), and press VO+Q to turn Single-Key Quick Nav on or off for web browsing
- With Single-Key Quick Nav enabled on Mac, press H for the next heading (or 1–6 for heading levels), L for the next link, F for the next form control, B for the next button and T for the next table
- On iPhone and iPad: Set the Rotor (two-finger twist) to Headings, Links or Landmarks, then swipe down or up with one finger to jump between those elements; to read text line by line or word by word, set the Rotor to Lines or Words and swipe down or up with one finger
Customising VoiceOver Settings
- On Mac: Press VO+F8 (or VO+Fn+F8) to open VoiceOver Utility, or hold VO+Command+Shift (or VO+Command on older VoiceOver configurations), keep those modifier keys held while pressing Left/Right Arrow to choose Rate, Pitch or Volume and Up/Down Arrow to adjust it, then release the keys when finished
- On iPhone and iPad: Go to Settings → Accessibility → VoiceOver to adjust the Speaking Rate slider, Speech voices, Verbosity and which items appear in your Rotor
Quick Tips
- Mac: Press Control to pause or resume speech
- iPhone / iPad: Tap once with two fingers to pause or resume speech, and double-tap with two fingers (Magic Tap) to answer/end a call or play/pause media
- Customise your Rotor in VoiceOver settings so it only includes the categories you use regularly
Short practice exercise:
Open a web page in Safari. On a Mac, press VO+U, arrow left or right to Headings, and press Enter on a heading to jump there. On an iPhone or iPad, twist two fingers to choose Headings on the Rotor, then swipe down with one finger to jump from heading to heading.
Practice & Learning Resources
Official Help & Free Online Resources:
- NVDA User Guide: Open the NVDA menu with NVDA+N, then choose Help → User Guide (or read it online at nvaccess.org)
- JAWS Training & Help: Press Insert+F1 for context-sensitive help, or visit Freedom Scientific Training
- WebAIM Articles: webaim.org
- RNIB Technology Advice: rnib.org.uk
Well-Structured Websites for Practising Navigation:
- GOV.UK: gov.uk (clear headings, landmarks and simple form controls)
- BBC: bbc.co.uk (headings, regions and article links)
- Wikipedia: wikipedia.org (nested headings, tables and internal links)
- WebAIM NVDA Guide & Practice: WebAIM NVDA Article
Need one-to-one training?
Practise the tasks you need with individual screen-reader training, at a pace that suits you.
Request a free consultation →