Keyboard or Fingers, or Both:

Choice of Either Screen Control or Keyboard or Both

On any of the iOS devices you can use touch control on the screen, or you can use a keyboard, or both. Using a Bluetooth keyboard is much faster and better. However, you will need a Magic Bluetooth keyboard, which costs about $129. One keyboard can work on any or all of the iOS devices, or on a Mac computer. It will also allow you to easily type papers on your iPhone, for example, or on any other iOS device. Writing papers on an iOS device is much faster with a keyboard.

Normally when you use the forward arrow on the keyboard, the new section of text appears at the bottom of the screen, or in the middle of the screen. When this happens, the text your have just read is visible for potential examination above the new section of text.

Alternatively, If you want, you can use three fingers on an iPad or iPhone to flip up the page and then touch the top section of the page to have this top section read out loud, and then read down using the forward arrow. So, you have two choices for how to read the text on the screen, or you can use both at once.

Two Ways to Read with Voice on iOS Device

The first way to read with voice is to select some text and have it read out loud, at whatever speed you set. This is very easy to set up, and very easy to initiate the speaking. However, you have to keep manually selecting new text. This approach is wonderful for reading papers you have written, using audio editing. After the text is selected, a little speak sign appears for you to press when ready to hear the selection read out loud. As soon as the voice starts, the sign changes to give you a pause option, if the passage is long.

This approach is also ideal for reading an occasional long paragraph in a general interest Internet article, where the whole paragraph does not show up on the screen. The approach here is to just select part of the paragraph at a time and have this read out loud, and then select the rest of the paragraph and have that part read out loud.

The second way to read is by using VoiceOver. This approach allows you much more control. You can proceed manually or automatically, and you can use the forward and back arrows on a keyboard for incredibly fast advance or repeat.

Starting VO Where You Want

Use the “find” feature to locate the last words you read. Then turn VoiceOver on.

Jumping To a New Page, Or Starting Part Way Through an Article

When you move to a new page, or jump a few pages, or start VO part way through an article, you must remember to select the first section of text you want to read, and do so with your finger. Wait until you have text selected before you press the forward arrow on your keyboard, or you will go back to the beginning of the article.

Avoid The Mistake of Selecting Nothing

If you touch a blank part of the page with your finger, where there is no text, the text selection button will disappear, as nothing has been selected. Then if you press the forward arrow, you will go back to the beginning of the article. If you are trying to select text with your finger, always be sure to do just that.

Jumping Back to the Beginning of An Article

To purposely go back to the beginning of an article, press the screen on a blank space, where there is no text, and as soon as the selection frame disappears, press the forward arrow key. You will go back to the beginning of the article. Normally, you want to avoid doing this by mistake.

Alternatively, press control and left arrow.

Selecting a Link in VoiceOver

There are two ways to do this. One way is to double tap the selected item with one finger. This is often difficult to do as you have to tap at just the right rate. The other way to do this is to press Control+Option + space bar on the keyboard. This is very easy to do, and quicker.

To Download Articles for Offline Reading

Just save an article in Dropbox as a favorite (click on the star) and it will be saved for offline reading. You don’t even need to have WiFi to read these articles.

To Read Text Out Loud Before Hearing it Read

To read text out loud, before hearing it read out loud follow this simple technique. Instead of just pressing the forward arrow key when ready to move ahead, press the forward arrow key down, and then as soon as you feel this key depressed, press the control key and then raise both fingers. When you are ready for sound, just press the control key again, by itself. You can easily move through text interactively this way. The easy way to do this is with the index finger, or thumb, of your left hand on the control key and the index finger, or thumb, of your right hand on the right arrow key.

Mirroring Text

Text on an iPhone 4S or an iPad 3 can be mirrored to a large TV if you wish. This is particularly helpful for reading books on an iPhone, when you are back at home. The small text will become large text.

Maintenance: Periodically Tuning Power Off

On iOS devices it is a good idea to turn the power off and then back on every couple of days. This will keep the VoiceOver program running at maximum speed. It will also keep the bluetooth keyboard from developing any strange behaviors.

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Step By Step Basic Instructions for Doing PR

On iOS Device (iPad, iPad Mini, iPhone, or iPod Touch)

With Bluetooth Keyboard

1. 1. General directions for pressing keystrokes
   

2. 2. Charging your unit
   

3. 3. Adjusting sound
   

4. 4. Loading up the right document in Dropbox
   

5. 5. Starting VoiceOver
   

6. 6. Adjusting speech rate
   

7. 7. Stopping at end of sentence or paragraph
   

8. 8. Moving to the next section of text
   

9. 9. Moving to the previous section of text
   

10. 10. To repeat a section of text
    

11. 11. To pause sound at any time during reading
    

12. 12. To start text reading automatically
    

13. 13. Stopping VoiceOver
    

14. 14. Moving around document with VoiceOver on
    

15. 15. To Turn Page; Reading from top of screen
    

16. 16. Getting your current page number with VoiceOver on
    

17. 17. To Read Selection of Text Word by Word
    

18. 18. To Repeat a Single Word Over and Over
    

1. General Directions For Pressing Keystrokes

Most of the keystroke commands you will use are accomplished by pressing a single key (usually an arrow key) with either your right index finger or right thumb. However, occasionally you will be asked to press a combination of keys. These commands consist of pressing one or more of the control keys (Control, Option, or Command) located to the immediate left of the space bar, as well as a single keyboard letter key, or arrow key, or punctuation key, or number key. Always press the control key(s) down first before briefly pressing the final key. This operation is the same whether you are working on a Mac or PC.

2. Charging Your Unit

Make sure your iOS device or laptop is charged up or plugged in.

3. Sound

Make sure sound is turned on and at the right level. Use the three keys on your keyboard with speakers on them to adjust sound: increase sound, decrease sound, or mute sound.

Make sure your earphones are plugged in, if desired.

4. Loading Up the Right Document in Dropbox

Go to the Home screen by pressing the home button once.

Click on the icon called Dropbox.

If the table of contents shows up, click on the item, or folder, you want to read. If it is a folder, the folder will open up, and then pick what you want to read.

Normally, you will go back to what and where you were reading previously.

If you are in a document and want to go back to the folder choices, click on the arrow (or the word Dropbox) at the top left of the screen. Doing this will bring you back to the table of contents at the folder level, or at the main level. If you see the word dropbox at the top left of the screen, you are in a folder level and still not at the basic level of the table of contents, so press dropbox in the upper left corner again to go to the most basic level of the table of contents. At this point the word Dropbox should be in the center of the screen, not on the upper left.

Remember the items on the table of contents are listed in alphabetical order. Scroll down or tap the index letter you want.

5. What Button to Press to Start the Voice (Called VoiceOver)

To start VoiceOver, press the home button three times on an iOS Device.

After you have turned VoiceOver on, you will need to click on (or touch) a paragraph to start hearing it read out loud.

Alternatively, you may need to start the text playing automatically by pressing control-option-A and then pause the sound by touching control. After doing this, you should be able to click on the sentence you want to have read. You will need to use this technique if the whole window is outlined in black (instead of just a sentence or word).

Note: keep assisted sound (VoiceOver) off until you are where you want to be to start reading.

6. To Adjust Speed of Voice

With VoiceOver On, press the screen with two fingers and then rotate these fingers until you see the words “Speech Rate”  in the little window that appears. Once you have moved to “Speech Rate”, keep the left fingers down and then press the up arrow key or down arrow key to raise or lower the speaking rate. You can change this as often as you want.

7. Stopping Sound at End of Sentence or Paragraph

The sound will stop automatically at the end of each paragraph for as long as you want. If the text is presented with a single hard return or a blank line between sentences, or punctuation intervals, then each sentence or punctuation interval will be considered a paragraph, and pausing will occur automatically after each selection of text. This will also be true if individual phrases are presented one per line.

8. Moving to the Next Section of Text

To move to the next section of text, press the right arrow key.

9. To Move to the Previous Selection of Text

To move to the previous sentence or paragraph, press the left arrow key.

10. To Repeat a Section of Text: 3 Choices:

1. a.Touch it with your finger.
   

2. b.Alternatively, you can press the left arrow key and then the right arrow key in quick succession. This is much faster.
   

3. c.Ideally, press down control-option with two fingers of your left hand and hold them down as you tap the space bar with your thumb, or the thumb or index finger of your right hand. As long as you hold the two fingers down, the text will repeat as often as you press the space bar.
   

11. To Pause Sound at Any Time During Reading

With VoiceOver turned on, press control to pause the sound, press control again to toggle sound back on within a section of text.

12. To Have Text Start to Read Automatically (No Pausing)

Press control and option and the letter A. To pause the text at anytime, just press control, and then again to resume sound.

13. How to Stop Box Around Text (turn VoiceOver off)

To turn sound off if it is on, press the home button three times to toggle sound (called VoiceOver) off.

14. How to Move Around Document with VoiceOver On

You should use the scroll bar to get to where you want to be in the document, before you turn VoiceOver on.

After you turn VoceOver on, if you want to move forward or back a page at a time, press Option and the down arrow key to go forward, or Option and the up arrow key to go back a page.

If VoiceOver is on and you want to go back to the beginning of the document, press control and the left arrow key.

To go back several sentences or a paragraph, just keep pressing the left arrow key.

15. To Turn Page; Reading From the Top of Screen

Normally, once you get to the bottom of the screen, new text is added at the bottom of the screen, a sentence or paragraph at a time.

If you want to read text from the top of the screen, do the following: Once you have read all the text on the bottom of the screen, press the “page down” arrow. The next screen of text will appear. After the new screen of text appears, touch the top line to begin reading, or press the “right arrow” key. You will only have to tap the top line or section once per screen; then on you will be able to use the right arrow key.

Remember to touch some text after you move to a new screen of text. Otherwise, no text will be selected; and if no text is selected and you press the right arrow key, you will go back to the beginning of the article.

16. Getting Your Current Page Number with VoiceOver On

Whenever you move to a new screen of text by pressing option and down arrow, or swiping the screen with three fingers, VoiceOver will tell you that you are on page number xx of yy.

Get this page number when you leave a long article on the Internet. You need to remember this number so you can return to it quickly in VoiceOver when you return to reading.

To do this, press option and down arrow until you get to the page number you want. Remember to select some text as soon as you get to your desired page number. By holding option and the down arrow down, you can go about 100 pages in a minute. If you want to temporarily block the sound, press mute, until you want to hear the current page number read out again.

17. To Read Selection of Text Word by Word

Make sure rotor has been turned to words. You only need to do this once. Press the down arrow once and the first word in the phrase or punctuation interval will be read out loud. Each time you press the down arrow again, the next word in the text will be read out loud, until you get to the end of the selected text. You can go as fast or slow as you want. To go back to the beginning of the line, press the up arrow and hold it down as long as necessary. You will not go back farther than the beginning of the line.

18. To Repeat a Single Word Over and Over

Move from pressing the down arrow to pressing the up arrow, and then the down arrow, and then the up arrow, as often as you want. Press the down arrow again to move forward one word in the selection.

Updated by Proportional Reading, 2018