Toggling VoiceOver On and Off Using the Triple-click Home Shortcut

Do you need a way to easily turn off VoiceOver so a sighted friend can use your iPad, iPod Touch or iPhone? Are you playing a gesture-based audio game that requires you to disable VoiceOver? If you need a way to easily turn VoiceOver off and on without sighted assistance, keep reading for instructions. This quick guide is for you.

Configure Triple-click Home

Triple-click Home allows you to enable or disable accessibility features by pressing the Home button three times in rapid succession. Apple does not enable this feature by default, so it must be configured before it can be used. We assume VoiceOver is enabled while following this guide, so VoiceOver gestures are used. If you are sighted, you may wish to turn off VoiceOver before proceeding.

Follow these steps to configure Triple-click Home to toggle VoiceOver:

1. Press the Home button to make sure you are on the device's Home screen.
2. Locate and double tap Settings.
3. Double tap General.
4. Double tap Accessibility.
5. Double tap Triple-click Home.
6. Double tap Toggle VoiceOver.
7. Press the Home button to return to the Home screen.

Toggling VoiceOver On and Off

Simply triple tap (press three times in rapid succession) the Home button to turn VoiceOver on or off. VoiceOver says "VoiceOver on" or "VoiceOver off" according to its status.

Notes:

• Testing shows this feature may not work reliably when the device is locked. When this happens, the device announces VoiceOver's off status but stays quiet when toggling it back on. We recommend unlocking the device before triple tapping the Home button to toggle VoiceOver.
• The procedures in this quick guide were tested on an iPhone 4 running iOS version 4.0.2. They are known to work on iPads, iPod Touches and iPhone 3 G S models running iOS versions 3 or 4.
• This guide is loosely based on information found in the Triple-click Home section of the iPhone 4 User Guide.

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