OK, I know I've asked about selecting text before, but, this time, I am wondering how you select text (either all or partial) OUTSIDE of an edit field using VoiceOver for iPhone 5. Thanks.
One of the best summary posts I've read in answer to your question was recently given by David Chittenden on the viphone mailing list. I'll quote his response, and also provide the Mail Archive link to his post, with subject Re: Can I Capture the Text from an App's Help File? David wrote:
There are two ways to capture the text unless the text is blocked so it cannot.
Set your rotor to characters, words, or lines. Touch part of the screen to bring VO focus to that part of the text. Double tap and hold (pass through) to highlight the particular text. Now, edit should be an option in your rotor. Select all, copy, open mail, create a new message, and paste the text.
Rather than the pass through gesture, use the opening pinch gesture to highlight some text. All other gestures remain the same.
Note that the question was from someone who wanted to mail the copied text to herself. You can amend the directions to copy open a notes app instead of mail, and paste in the text. You can also use method 2 to exactly select the text that you want to copy, if you are very proficient with selection on the touch screen. However, it is probably easier to use the rotor to "Select all", then copy and paste your text into a notes app, where you can delete the parts you don't want.
Hi there,
I have run across some text where option 1 does not work as expected. I have discovered another method which might work if the others do not:
1. Touch the part of the screen containing the text you want to copy.
2. Do a two-finger double tap and hold to bring up the label element box.
3. Double-tap the text field to make sure focus goes there. You can remove or change the text here if you need too.
4. Use the rotor to go to edit, then use select all and copy to put your text on the clipboard.
5. Double-tap the cancel button. from there, you can paste the text wherever you need it.
HTH
Oh, thanks! This is not really an official option, but more like an unofficial hack that a buddy of mine discovered. The label element box was put there to allow you to assign labels to buttons and controls that some app developers did not assign labels too. He just found a way to repurpose the control to make it possible for us to select certain types of text.
I second that this hack is awesome! Geez, I would've never thought of it myself! Not sure if something a little more...ergonomic has been devised by the Apple folks since I last sent that message, but I tried it now and it still worked! Yay!
Comments
Selecting Text
One of the best summary posts I've read in answer to your question was recently given by David Chittenden on the viphone mailing list. I'll quote his response, and also provide the Mail Archive link to his post, with subject Re: Can I Capture the Text from an App's Help File? David wrote:
There are two ways to capture the text unless the text is blocked so it cannot.
Note that the question was from someone who wanted to mail the copied text to herself. You can amend the directions to copy open a notes app instead of mail, and paste in the text. You can also use method 2 to exactly select the text that you want to copy, if you are very proficient with selection on the touch screen. However, it is probably easier to use the rotor to "Select all", then copy and paste your text into a notes app, where you can delete the parts you don't want.
HTH. Cheers,
Esther
Another Method
Nice one bill, I didn't know
Re: nice one
I second that this hack is
I second that this hack is awesome! Geez, I would've never thought of it myself! Not sure if something a little more...ergonomic has been devised by the Apple folks since I last sent that message, but I tried it now and it still worked! Yay!