Updated for iOS 5!
A complete list of gestures, keyboard and Braille shortcut commands to handle your iOS device.

A quick URL to this page: axslab.com/ios-shortcuts

iOS VO Gestures

1 Finger Gestures

Gesture Action
Touch or move around the screen Speaks and select the item under your finger
Tap 2 times fast Activate the selected item. (open app, press button)
Tap 2 times and hold Activates "drag-mode" (move icons, swipe-delete)
Tap 3 times fast Double presses a button (see tip below)
Swipe left or right Selects the previous or next item
Swipe up or down Preforms or move to the selected rotor option

Note: Tap 2 times on the clock in status bar to scroll to top in any app.

2 Finger Gestures

Gesture Action
Hold 1 finger & tap with another Select when dragging, activate with tap (aka split-tap)
Tap once Pause/resume speech
Tap 2 times fast Preforms special action
Tap 2 times and hold Add label to selected item
Tap 3 times Open Item Chooser for current area
Swipe up Read all from first object in selected area
Swipe down Read all from selected item
Scrub back and forth Go back, cancel, close pop-up
Pinch out/in Select/deselect
Hold and twist left or right Select the next or previous rotor item

Note: You can use the scrub gesture to split/merge keyboard when it's selected

3 Finger Gestures

Gesture Action
Tap once Speaks the current page number and position
Tap 2 times fast Toggle speech on/off (good for braille use)
Tap 3 times fast Toggle screen curtain on/off (VO works but screen is off)
Swipe left or right Move to previous or next horizontal screen/page
Swipe up or down Move/scroll down or up (like moving a paper)

Note: To open notification center select the status bar and swipe 3 fingers down. Also 3 fingers up/down works for pulling down to refresh in many apps. (but can be a problem in some. (like Facebook side bar)

4 and 5 Finger Gestures

Gesture Action
Tap the upper half with 4 fingers Select the first item in the area
Tap the lower half with 4 fingers Select the last item in the area
Swipe left or right When in an app, switch to next or previous app
Swipe up or down Open or close multitask pane
Pinch in Go to home screen

iOS VO Keyboard shortcut commands

The Alt key is also known as Option or Aleternative

VoiceOver VO keys = Control + Alt

On a windows keyboard the windows key = Cmd key

Apple keyboard layout from Space to outside: Command Alt Control then only on left side, Function

General navigation

Keys Action
VO + left or right Select previous or next item
VO + up or down Preforms or move to the selected rotor option
VO + Space Activate the selected item. (open app, press button)
VO + H Go to home screen
VO + H 2 times Open/close multitask pane
Escape Go back, cancel, close pop-up
Cmd + Tab Switch to next app or hold Shift for previous
VO + A Read all from first object in selected area
VO + B Read all from selected item
VO + M Move to status bar
VO + I Open Item Chooser for current area
VO + F Search and go to match with Enter
VO + G Next search match, hold Shift for previous

Handling VoiceOver

Keys Action
Control Pause/resume speech
VO + S Toggle speech off/on
VO + Shift + S Toggle Screen Curtain on/off
VO + Cmd + up or down Adjust the selected speech rotor option
VO + Cmd + left or right Change the speech rotor setting
VO + / Add label to selected item
VO + K Start VoiceOver training, Escape to exit

Quick Nav Commands

Turn on "Quick Nav" to use these commands by pressing left + right

Keys Action
up + down Activate the selected item. (open app, press button)
left or right Selects the previous or next item
up or down Preforms or move to the selected rotor option
up + left or right Change to next or previous rotor setting
Alt + left or right Move to next or previous horizontal screen/page
Alt + up or down Move/scroll up or down the screen/page
Control + up or down Select the first or last item in the area
Control + left or right Go to next or previous container/area

Safari Web Shortcuts

Hold Shift for previous

Keys Action
H Next heading
1 to 6 Next respective heading level 1–6
L Next link
S Next text element
W Next landmark
R Next text field
X Next list
T Next table
M Next element of same type
I Next image
B Next button
C Next form element

Text Field Commands

You must have "Quick Nav" off to use these commands.

When moving cursor, hold Shift to select/deselect text

Keys Action
left or right Move cursor by character
up or down Move cursor by row
Alt + left or right Move cursor by word
Control or Cmd + left or right Move cursor by phrase
Cmd + A Select all
Cmd + C Copy selection
Cmd + X Cut selection
Cmd + V Paste
Cmd + Z Undo. Note: you can also shake the device
Cmd + Shift + Z Redo. Note: you can also shake the device
Eject Show/hide screen keyboard

Other Keyboard Action

Keys Action
VO + - Preforms special action
Cmd + Space Change language keyboard layout
F1 Decrease screen brightness
F2 Increase screen brightness
F7 Previous song
F8 Pause/resume song
F9 Next song
F10 Mute sound
F11 Decrease volume
F12 Increase volume

iOS VO Braille shortcut commands

In 6-dot Braille a Braille cell contains 2 columns with 3 dots in each. They are numbered with the first being at the top of the left column with dot 2 and 3 under it, dot 4 is on the top of the right column followed by 5 and 6 under it. In 8-dot Braille dot 7 is under dot 3 and 8 under dot 6.

When inputing Braille space bar is usually in the middle and to the left dot 1, 2, 3 and to the right 4, 5 and 6.

All of the commands below must be followed by pressing Space.

Tip: You can unlock the device with Dots 1-4

General

Dots/Chord Action
⠁1 or 4 Select previous or next item
3 or 6 Preforms or move to the selected rotor option
2-3 or 5-6 Change to next or previous rotor setting
3-6 Activate the selected item. (open app, press button)
1-2-5 Go to Home screen
1-3-5 Move screen/page to the right
2-4-6 Move screen/page to the left
1-4-5-6 Move screen/page down
1-2 Go Back, cancel, close pop-up
1-2-5 2 times Open/close multitask pane
1-2-3 Select the first item in the area
4-5-6 Select the last item in the area
2-4-5-6 Read all from first object in selected area
1-2-3-5 Read all from selected object
2-3-4 Move to Status bar
3-4 Speaks the current page number and position

Handling Braille and VO

Dots/Chord Action
2 or 5 Pan braille left or right
1-2-3-4 Pause/Resume speech
1-3-4 Mute/Unmute speech
All 6 Toggle Screen Curtain on/off
2-3-6 Switch between 6 and 8 dot braille
1-2-4-5 Toggle Contracted braille on/off
1-2-6 Volume up on device
3-4-5 Volume down on device
1-2-3-4-6 Add label to selected item
1-3-4-5 Toggle announce history, Dot 1 or 4 to browse
1-3 Start VoiceOver training, Dots 1-2 to exit

Input/Edit text

Dots/Chord Action
2-3-4-5 Tab key
1-5 Enter key
1-4-5 Delete/backspace key
2-5-6 Select text
2-3-5 Deselect text
2-3-5-6 Select all
1-4 Copy selection
1-3-4-6 Cut selection
1-2-3-6 Paste
1-3-5-6 Undo
2-3-4-6 Redo
1-4-6 Show/Hide screen keyboard