Appendix A. Commands and Gestures

Turn VoiceOver on or off

Command-F5

Lock and unlock the VO (Control and Option) keys

VO-;

Open VoiceOver Utility

VO-F8

Start keyboard help

VO-K

Open the VoiceOver Help menu

VO-H

Open the VoiceOver Quick Start

VO-Command-F8

Open VoiceOver online help

VO-?

Read the help tag for the current item

VO-Shift-H

Read the VoiceOver hint for the current item

VO-Shift-N

Open the Commands menu

VO-H-H

Open the Find Commands menu

VO-Shift-F

Close a menu or rotor, stop an action, or exit a mode

Escape

Tell VoiceOver to ignore the next key or key combination you press

VO-Tab

Open the Verbosity rotor

VO-V

Then press the Left Arrow or Right Arrow key to choose the setting. Use the Up Arrow and Down Arrow keys to change the level for the setting.

Increase magnification of the item in the VoiceOver cursor

VO-}

Decrease magnification of the item in the VoiceOver cursor

VO-{

Temporarily hide or show the VoiceOver cursor and the caption or braille panels

VO-Command-F11

Hide or show the caption panel only

VO-Command-F10

Resize or move the caption panel

VO-Shift-F10

Press again to cycle through these actions. Then use the arrow keys to resize the panel or move it. Press the Shift key with the arrow keys to move in smaller increments.

Hide or show the braille panel only

VO-Command-F9

Resize or move the braille panel

VO-Shift-F9

Press again to cycle through these actions. Then use the arrow keys to resize the panel or move it. Press the Shift key with the arrow keys to move in smaller increments.

Tile visuals (dim the screen, highlight the caption or braille panel, and show the item in the VoiceOver cursor in the center of the screen).

VO-F10

Press again to return to the normal view.

Enable or disable the NumPad Commander

VO-Clear

Enable or disable the Keyboard Commander

VO-Shift-K

Enable or disable the Trackpad Commander

Press the VO (Control and Option) keys and rotate two fingers clockwise (enable) or counterclockwise (disable)

Turn the screen curtain on or off

VO-Shift-F11

Cycle through speech settings in the rotor (rate, pitch, volume, intonation, voice)

VO-Command-Right Arrow or Left Arrow

Increase or decrease the current speech setting (rate, pitch, volume, intonation, voice)

VO-Command-Up Arrow or Down Arrow

Start interacting with an item

VO-Shift-Down Arrow

Stop interacting with an item

VO-Shift-Up Arrow

Perform the default action for the item in the VoiceOver cursor

VO-Space bar

Click the mouse

VO-Shift-Space bar

Start multiple selection in a list or table, and select each item

VO-Command-Space bar

To stop multiple selection, cut or copy the selected items, press Escape, or stop interacting with the list or table in which the items are located.

Perform a sticky mouse down or mouse up (for use when dragging an item from one location to drop in another location)

VO-Command-Shift-Space bar

Select a menu or list item

VO-Return

Open or close a disclosure triangle

VO-\

Read a row in a table

VO-R

Read the column header in a table

VO-C

Read a column in a table

VO-C-C

Read row and column numbers in a table

VO-Shift-T

Read the number of columns and rows (the dimensions) in a table

VO-Shift-T-T

Sort a column in a table

VO-|

Interact with scroll bars

VO-Shift-S

Then use the arrow keys to scroll up or down or side to side. To scroll vertically one page at a time, use Page Up and Page Down. To scroll horizontally one page at a time, use Shift-Page Up and Shift-Page Down.

Resize a window

VO-~

Select an edge or corner to resize from the Window Resize Options menu, and then resize it.

To resize an edge, use the VO and arrow keys (for example, press VO-Right Arrow to extend the right edge of a window). To resize a corner, use VO and two arrow keys (for example, press VO-Right Arrow-Up Arrow to extend the top right corner of a window). To resize in smaller increments, also press Shift.

Move a window

VO-`

Then use the VO and arrow keys (for example, press VO-Left Arrow to move a window left). To move a window diagonally, use VO and two arrow keys (for example, press VO-Left Arrow-Up Arrow to move a window diagonally left and up). To move in smaller increments, also press Shift.

Resize an object

VO-Command-~

Select an edge or handle to resize from the Object Resize Options menu, and then resize it.

To resize an edge, use the VO and arrow keys (for example, press VO-Right Arrow to extend the right edge of an object). To resize a handle, use VO and two arrow keys (for example, press VO-Right Arrow-Up Arrow to extend the top right handle of an object). To resize in smaller increments, also press Shift.

Move an object

VO-Command-`

Then use the VO and arrow keys (for example, press VO-Left Arrow to move an object left). To move an object diagonally, use VO and two arrow keys (for example, press VO-Left Arrow-Up Arrow to move an object diagonally left and up). To move in smaller increments, also press Shift.

Stop scrolling or resizing

Escape

Create a custom label

VO-/

Move the VoiceOver cursor up

VO-Up Arrow

Move the VoiceOver cursor down

VO-Down Arrow

Move the VoiceOver cursor to the left

VO-Left Arrow

Move the VoiceOver cursor to the right

VO-Right Arrow

Move to the top of the visible area (such as a window or text area) where the VoiceOver cursor is located

VO-Home

On some keyboards, press VO-Fn-Left Arrow.

Move to the bottom of the visible area (such as a window or text area) where the VoiceOver cursor is located

VO-End

On some keyboards, press VO-Fn-Right Arrow.

Move to the top of the area (such as a window or text area) where the VoiceOver cursor is located, scrolling if necessary

VO-Shift-Home

On some keyboards, press VO-Shift-Fn-Left Arrow.

Move to the bottom of the area (such as a window or text area) where the VoiceOver cursor is located, scrolling if necessary

VO-Shift-End

On some keyboards, press VO-Shift-Fn-Right Arrow.

Move to the top of a window, the first item in the Dock, or the first item on your desktop, depending on your location

VO-Command-Home

On some keyboards, press VO-Command-Fn-Left Arrow.

Move to the lower-right corner of a window, the last item in the Dock, or the last item on your desktop, depending on your location

VO-Command-End

On some keyboards, press VO-Command-Fn-Right Arrow.

Move the window containing the VoiceOver cursor to the front, making it the active window

VO-Shift-F2

Close (if possible) the window containing the VoiceOver cursor

VO-Command-F2

Open the Item Chooser

VO-I

Move to the Dock

VO-D

Move to the desktop

VO-Shift-D

Move to the menu bar

VO-M

Move to the first status menu in the menu bar

VO-M-M

Open the Spotlight menu

VO-M-M-M

Open a shortcut menu

VO-Shift-M

Jump to a linked item (for example, from a Mail message in the Inbox to its message text)

VO-J

Temporarily disable or enable the cursor tracking options you selected in VoiceOver Utility

The command doesn’t change the settings in VoiceOver Utility.

VO-Shift-F3

Move the VoiceOver cursor to the keyboard focus

VO-Shift-F4

Move the keyboard focus to the VoiceOver cursor

VO-Command-F4

Move the VoiceOver cursor to the mouse pointer

VO-Shift-F5

Move the mouse pointer to the VoiceOver cursor

VO-Command-F5

Jump from the current location to any displayed input method or auto correction panel, and then jump back to the original location

VO-Shift-J

Find text

VO-F

While finding text, cycle through search item history

VO-Up Arrow or Down Arrow

Move the VoiceOver cursor in the given direction, wrapping when necessary

VO-Command-Shift-arrow keys

Set or remove a hot spot

VO-Shift-[number key]

Jump to a hot spot

VO-[number key]

Hear a description of a hot spot

VO-Command-[number key]

Monitor a hot spot

VO-Command-Shift-[number key]

Open the Hot Spot Chooser

VO-[number key]-[number key]

Move to the next hot spot

VO-]

Move to the previous hot spot

VO-[

Jump back to a parent folder

VO-Command-\

Hear a summary of open applications

VO-F1

Open the Application Chooser

VO-F1-F1

Hear a summary of the current window

VO-F2

Open the Window Chooser

VO-F2-F2

Describe the item in the VoiceOver cursor

VO-F3

Describe the size of the item in the VoiceOver cursor

VO-Command-F3

Describe the position of the item in the VoiceOver cursor

VO-Command-F3-F3

Describe the item that has keyboard focus

VO-F4

Describe in more detail the item that has the keyboard focus

In text, the location of the insertion point (from the upper-left corner of the screen) is provided.

VO-F4-F4

Describe the item under the mouse pointer

VO-F5

Describe the location of the mouse pointer in x, y coordinates (from the upper-left corner of the screen)

VO-F5-F5

Describe the location of the mouse pointer (from the upper-left corner of the window)

VO-F5-F5-F5

Read the selected item

VO-F6

Read the contents of the VoiceOver cursor

VO-A

Read the visible contents of the window, the Dock, or your desktop, depending on your location

VO-Shift-W

Repeat the last spoken phrase

VO-Z

Copy the last spoken phrase to the Clipboard (also called the “Pasteboard”)

VO-Shift-C

Save the last spoken phrase and the crash log to a file on the desktop for troubleshooting

VO-Shift-Z

Find

VO-F

Open the Find Commands menu

VO-Shift-F

Find the next searched text

VO-G

Find the previous searched text

VO-Shift-G

Find the next list

VO-Command-X

Find the previous list

VO-Command-Shift-X

Find the next bold text

VO-Command-B

Find the previous bold text

VO-Command-Shift-B

Find the next style change

VO-Command-C

Find the previous style change

VO-Command-Shift-C

Find the next italic text

VO-Command-I

Find the previous italic text

VO-Command-Shift-I

Find the next color change

VO-Command-K

Find the previous color change

VO-Command-Shift-K

Find the next font change

VO-Command-O

Find the previous font change

VO-Command-Shift-O

Find the next table

VO-Command-T

Find the previous table

VO-Command-Shift-T

Find the next underlined text

VO-Command-U

Find the previous underlined text

VO-Command-Shift-U

Find the next control

VO-Command-J

Find the previous control

VO-Command-Shift-J

Find the next different item

VO-Command-D

Find the previous different item

VO-Command-Shift-D

Find the next item that’s the same type as the current item

VO-Command-S

Find the previous item that’s the same type as the current item

VO-Command-Shift-S

Find the next graphic

VO-Command-G

Find the previous graphic

VO-Command-Shift-G

Find the next heading

VO-Command-H

Find the previous heading

VO-Command-Shift-H

Find the next link

VO-Command-L

Find the previous link

VO-Command-Shift-L

Find the next heading of the same level

VO-Command-M

Find the previous heading of the same level

VO-Command-Shift-M

Find the next plain text

VO-Command-P

Find the previous plain text

VO-Command-Shift-P

Find the next visited link

VO-Command-V

Find the previous visited link

VO-Command-Shift-V

Find the next misspelled word

VO-Command-E

Find the previous misspelled word

VO-Command-Shift-E

Find the next blockquote

VO-Command-Q

Find the previous blockquote

VO-Command-Shift-Q

Find the next blockquote of the same level

VO-Command-W

Find the previous blockquote of the same level

VO-Command-Shift-W

Read the contents of the VoiceOver cursor

VO-A

Select all text in the VoiceOver cursor

VO-Shift-A

Start and stop text selection in a text field (text selection tracking must be on)

VO-Return

Speak text attributes

VO-T

Add a hot spot in text

VO-Shift-[number key]

For example, VO-Shift-1 or VO-Shift-9.

Jump to a hot spot in text

VO-[number key]

For example, VO-1 or VO-9.

Read the paragraph in the VoiceOver cursor

VO-P

Read the next paragraph

VO-Shift-Page Down

Read the previous paragraph

VO-Shift-Page Up

Read the sentence in the VoiceOver cursor

VO-S

Read the next sentence

VO-Command-Page Down

Read the previous sentence

VO-Command-Page Up

Read the line in the VoiceOver cursor

VO-L

Read the next line

VO-Down Arrow

Read the previous line

VO-Up Arrow

Read the word in the VoiceOver cursor

VO-W

Spell alphabetically the word in the VoiceOver cursor

VO-W-W

Spell phonetically the word in the VoiceOver cursor

VO-W-W-W

Read the next word

VO-Right Arrow

Read the previous word

VO-Left Arrow

Read the character in the VoiceOver cursor

VO-C

Read phonetically the character in the VoiceOver cursor

VO-C-C

Read the next character

VO-Shift-Right Arrow

Read the previous character

VO-Shift-Left Arrow

Move to the first visible word

VO-Home

On a portable computer, press VO-Fn-Left Arrow.

Move to the last visible word

VO-End

On a portable computer, press VO-Fn-Right Arrow.

Move to the beginning of text, scrolling if necessary

VO-Shift-Home

On a portable computer, press VO-Shift-Fn-Left Arrow.

Move to end of text, scrolling if necessary

VO-Shift-End

On a portable computer, press VO-Shift-Fn-Right Arrow.

Add new tab stop in TextEdit (the VoiceOver cursor must be on a tab stop in the ruler)

VO-Space bar

Delete the current tab stop in TextEdit (the VoiceOver cursor must be on a tab stop in the ruler)

VO-Delete

Interact with tab stop in TextEdit (the VoiceOver cursor must be on a tab stop in the ruler)

VO-Shift-Down Arrow

Then use the Left and Right Arrow key to move the stop.

Reads the current word and character in the VoiceOver cursor

VO-F3

Reads the total number of lines and the number of visible lines in a document

VO-F3-F3

Move to the next column

VO-Command-Y

Move to the previous column

VO-Command-Shift-Y

Move to the next frame

VO-Command-F

Move to the previous frame

VO-Command-Shift-F

Move to the next auto web spot

VO-Command-N

Move to the previous auto web spot

VO-Command-Shift-N

Move to the next web spot

VO-Command-]

Move to the previous web spot

VO-Command-[

Open the Web rotor

VO-U

Read from the current location on a webpage to the end of the page

VO-A

Read from the beginning of a webpage to the current location

VO-B

Read a link address (URL)

VO-Shift-U

Read the next sentence

VO-Command-Page Down

Read the previous sentence

VO-Command-Page Up

Read webpage statistics

VO-Shift-I

Remove a web spot

VO-Command-Shift-{

Create a web spot

VO-Command-Shift-}

Set the sweet spot

VO-Command-Shift-}-}

Turn the grouping of items within a table on or off

VO-=

Enable the Trackpad Commander and VoiceOver gestures

VO-Two-finger rotate clockwise

Disable the Trackpad Commander and VoiceOver gestures

VO-Two-finger rotate counterclockwise

Turn the screen curtain on or off

Three-finger triple-tap

Mute or unmute VoiceOver

Three-finger double-tap

Force the VoiceOver cursor into a horizontal or vertical line when you drag a finger across the trackpad

Hold down the Shift key and drag a finger horizontally or vertically

Move the VoiceOver cursor to the next item

Flick right

Move the VoiceOver cursor to the previous item

Flick left

Move content or the scroll bar (depending on the Trackpad Commander setting)

Three-finger flick in any direction

Go to the Dock

Two-finger double-tap near the bottom of the trackpad

Go to the menu bar

Two-finger double-tap near the top of the trackpad

Open the Application Chooser

Two-finger double-tap on the left side of the trackpad

Open the Window Chooser

Two-finger double-tap on the right side of the trackpad

Jump to another area of the current application

Press Control while touching a finger on the trackpad

Speak the item in the VoiceOver cursor or, if there isn’t an item, play a sound effect to indicate a blank area

Touch (includes tap or dragging)

Select an item

Double-tap anywhere

You can also split-tap (touch one finger and then tap with a second finger)

Start interacting with the item in the VoiceOver cursor

Two-finger flick right

Stop interacting with the item in the VoiceOver cursor

Two-finger flick left

Scroll one page down or up

Three-finger flick up or down

Escape (close a menu without making a selection)

Two-finger scrub back and forth

Increase or decrease the value of a slider, splitter, stepper, or other control

Flick up (increase) or flick down (decrease)

Read the current page, starting at the top

Two-finger flick up

Read from the VoiceOver cursor to the end of the current page

Two-finger flick down

Read the current scroll page

Three-finger tap

Pause or resume speaking

Two-finger tap

Describe what’s in the VoiceOver cursor

Triple-tap

Change how VoiceOver reads text (by word, line, sentence, or paragraph)

Press Command while touching a finger on the trackpad

Change the rotor settings

Two-finger rotate

Move to the previous item based on the rotor setting

Flick up

Move to the next item based on the rotor setting

Flick down

Mark an item that you want to drag and drop in another location

VO-,

Drop the marked item after the VoiceOver cursor

VO->

Drop the marked item in front of the VoiceOver cursor

VO-<

Drop the marked item on the VoiceOver cursor

VO-.

Open the Activity Chooser

VO-X

Switch to the previous activity

VO-X-X

Move to the next hot spot

VO-]

Move to the previous hot spot

VO-[

Jump from the current location to any displayed input method window or auto correction panel, and then jump back to the original location

VO-Shift-J