iDevice Primer 102: iOS Gestures

What gestures are essential to operating the iDevice?

VoiceOver includes a great many gestures. However, for basic usage, I would say that the following are essential:

• 1 finger flick right/left: place a single finger on the screen, and quickly move it left or right (left moves back by an element, right moves forwards). For instance, put your finger on the home screen, on one of your apps. Now put your finger back on the screen and flick right. You should move to the next app on the screen. Flicking left will move you back one app. This gesture is used to "flick" through popups, web pages, app screens, and just about everywhere on the iDevice.
• Double tap: tap a single finger on the screen twice quickly. This will action whatever item VoiceOver last spoke (remember that none of the VoiceOver gestures require you to touch the part of the screen where what you want is located, all gestures go off what VoiceOver last said). If you hear VoiceOver reading something or making a soft sort of bouncy click (I'm not sure how else to describe it), you did not tap quickly enough. I find that the taps should be no more than half a second apart.
• Two finger tap: place two fingers on the screen; that's it. This stops speech, or restarts it if you had stopped it with this gesture. Again, it does not matter where you put your fingers, as long as there are two of them. Once speech stops you can lift your fingers, no tapping or other movement required.
• Two finger double tap: tap two fingers on the screen, then tap them again within about half a second. This does a couple things: if music is playing, it will play or pause the music, even if the music is in the background. If you are using an iPhone and you get a call, this will answer the call, or hang up the call when you are done.

Here is a link to a comprehensive list of gestures and keyboard commands for iOS.

With the above gestures you can navigate and open apps, play music, and talk on the phone. More advanced topics like typing, using the rotor, and so on are not, in my judgement, essential (though they are extremely helpful).

Can I practice gestures without having them do anything, like a screen reader's keyboard description mode?

Yes, VoiceOver provides a practice area for just this purpose. To use it, open Settings, then general, then accessibility, then VoiceOver, then VoiceOver Practice. You will be placed in a large area that takes up most of the screen. In this area, no gesture will do anything, and you can tap, flick, pinch, or anything you like. If a gesture does something, its description will be spoken within a second of the gesture being performed. Gestures that do nothing will simply have no description spoken.
To exit this practice area, feel on the screen until VoiceOver says "done button". Double tap and you will be returned to the VoiceOver area of Settings.

What is a "split tap"?

A split tap accomplishes the exact same thing as a double tap (it activates the most recent item spoken by VoiceOver). It is more convenient to perform, though, especially when you are moving a finger around the screen instead of flicking left or right.

To do it, move your finger to the item you want. Once VoiceOver speaks the item, touch anywhere else on the screen with another finger, leaving the first finger in place. For instance, to launch a "Youtube" app on your home screen, move a finger around until you hear "Youtube". Instead of double tapping, leave that finger where it is on the screen and touch anywhere on the screen with another finger (I usually feel with my index finger and then use my middle finger to tap, but what finger you use is unimportant - it could even be a finger from the other hand).

Both split tapping and double tapping do the same thing, but it is often more convenient to use one method over the other, and both methods are always available.

Are there iOS gestures that I can't perform on a braille keyboard?

Yes, I have found two so far.

• Item chooser (tripple tap three fingers)
• gesture passthrough (double tap and hold one finger)

How can I access the Notifications Center in iOS5?

To access the Notifications Center in iOS5, touch any item on the Status Bar, then place three fingers on the screen and swipe down. To close it, you have a few options:

• Scrub two fingers, like activating a "back" button.
• Flick to the "Dismiss Notification Center" button and double tap it.
• Touch a status bar item, then swipe three fingers up anywhere on the screen.

If you are using a braille display, activate the Notification Center by pressing space-s to go to the Status Bar, then space-3-4-5-6. Space-b will close it.

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