Replying to mail and forwarding mail using VoiceOver on iPhone and iPad

If you have opened and read an email message you may want to reply to it. Here's how. 

Apple is a little inconsistent about labelling of an option or button that lets you reply and forward. Sometimes it is spoken as "reply" and at other times it is spoken as "more" or "more actions". They all do the same job but it's a bit confusing that you eventually get to a button that is spoken as "reply" that really does the reply. Hopefully it will all come clear below.

When you open an email message in the Inbox or any other mailbox, VoiceOver will usually speak a snippet from the beginning of the email followed by "actions available" or possibly "swipe up or down to select a custom action". These are different versions of the same message that lets you know that you will be presented with a set of actions, one by one, if you swipe up or down with one finger. Read the email and when you know you want to reply,  swipe upwards with one finger until you hear "reply" and then double tap to commence the reply process. You will then be presented with several buttons near the bottom of the screen; VoiceOver will usually be focused on this area of the screen and will speak the name of the sender. Swipe right until you hear reply and double tap to commence your reply.Alternatively, to explore the other choices, swipe right and the available choices will include "reply all" and  "forward".  Reply all will send a reply to all the recipients of the original message and should be used with care.  Forward will send the message to a new recipient. Let's assume for now that you just want to reply to the sender, so double tap on the "reply" button.  You should hear "message body, text field, is editing", followed by the message to which you are replying. Pause VoiceOver speech with a two finger tap if necessary. 

You are now ready to enter your reply by your favourite input method.  Many blind users prefer to dictate, so here is a reminder of the dictation process. Double tap with two fingers; wait for the ping then speak your reply: double tap with two fingers to end dictation; VoiceOver will then speak the dictated text. You can add to the message with another dictation session if you wish. When you have finished entering your reply, locate the "send, button" near top right of the screen and double tap. If you decide not to send the reply, you will find a Cancel button near top left of the screen.

An alternative to swiping up to find the reply action is to locate the  "more actions" button near bottom right of the screen and double tapping. The "more actions" button is to the left of the "compose" button. This brings up the same list of action choices that appears if you select the reply action.  If you swipe right, you will find reply amongst the choices.  

Forwarding an email is the process of sending an email in any of your mailboxes, including your Inbox and Sent mail,  to a new recipient or recipients. If you want to forward an email to a new recipient or recipients, the process is similar to replying.  Open the email. Either swipe up to find reply and double tap or locate the more actions button near bottom right of the screen and double tap. The menu of choices will appear in the lower part of the screen. Swipe to locate forward and double tap. You will then be editing the Too field in a new email which will include the forwarded message.  Add one or more recipients as usual. If you don't need to add an explanatory message of your own, locate the send button and double tap. If you do need to add some explanatory text, swipe right to the message body. Double tap to start editing the message body. If you don't hear "insertion point at start", double tap with one finger until you do hear "insertion point at start". This will ensure that your text appears before the forwarded message and doesn't come after the forwarded message where it may easily be overlooked. Finally, enter your text and then locate and double tap the send button.

It's also possible to reply to or forward an email message directly from the Inbox or other mailbox list. Swipe up until you hear "more" and then double tap. The standard menu of choices appears at the bottom of the screen.

Back to navigation page