SMSReaderAccessibility
Last updated: October 20, 2026 (version 0.1.0)
SMSReader is meant to be a reader for reading with your eyes or your ears, and for using by touch, by voice or with other devices. This is how it works with the accessibility features of iPadOS and iOS.
VoiceOver
- Reads the text of the page paragraph by paragraph. With "Read Body Text Only" on (Settings › VoiceOver), running heads, page numbers, notes and links are left out.
- Words with readings (ruby) are read as their readings say, and words with emphasis marks are announced as emphasized.
- Tagged PDFs are read by their structure: headings, body text, notes, descriptions of figures.
- Three-finger swipes turn the page. The rotor moves through body text and notes, and actions offer next and previous page, moving 10 pages, bookmarks, zoom, showing the menus and more.
- Buttons have names and states on every screen: the Library, shelves, Settings, the page overview, the table of contents.
Voice Control, Switch Control and Full Keyboard Access
- In the reader, the left and right edges are "Next Page" and "Previous Page" buttons and the middle is "Menu" (in Voice Control: "Tap Next Page" and so on). In a book with a Home View, the lower half of each edge is "Next View" or "Previous View".
- Zoom In and Show Whole Page are in the reader's "…" menu.
- Pausing and resuming reading aloud and moving by paragraph are done with buttons on screen.
Keyboard
| Arrows, Space, Page Up / Down | Turn the page |
|---|---|
| ⌥ + arrows | Move 10 pages |
| ⌘F | Search |
| ⌘G | Go to page |
| ⌘D | Bookmark |
| ⌘T / ⌘L | Page overview / Contents and bookmarks |
| ⌘[ / ⌘] | Back from a jump / Forward again |
| ⌘= / ⌘- / ⌘0 | Zoom in / Zoom out / Whole page |
| ⌘⇧M | Show or hide the menus |
Seeing
- Text size: Settings, lists and sheets follow your text size up to the largest accessibility sizes. The reader's toolbar buttons show enlarged when touched and held.
- Dark Mode: follows the system appearance. The pages themselves can be inverted with "Invert Colors" in the reader's settings, and the background around them can be chosen.
- Differentiate Without Color: marks shown by color alone also differ in shape (a check on the current page, a dot where a jump came from, line styles for the Home View frames, an outline on the current search result).
- Increase Contrast: darkens the background of the page number and other messages and of the help.
- Reduce Motion: slides, the move into the page overview, zooming and Home View moves change at once, without animation.
Listening and speaking
- Read aloud: the text can be read aloud without VoiceOver, with the voice and rate you chose for Spoken Content. The paragraph and word being read are highlighted, and the page turns at its end.
- Turn pages by voice: say "next", "previous", "page 12", "back to the library" and more (English and Japanese). Speech is recognized on the device.
- Siri and Shortcuts: "Continue reading in SMSReader", "Read aloud in SMSReader" and others start reading without touching the screen.
- Scanned books: pages without text are recognized on the device, so they can be read aloud and read with VoiceOver.
Not supported yet
- VoiceOver's two-finger swipe down (Read All) stops at the end of the page. To keep going, use Read Aloud, which turns the pages as it reads.
- The pages are the PDF as it is, so their type size and colors are the PDF's. To read them larger, zoom in or set a Home View.
- Text recognition, and telling headings and notes apart in untagged PDFs, may contain mistakes.
Tell us
If something is hard to use, or you would like support for an assistive technology, please let us know. Mentioning your device and the accessibility features you use helps.