Before we get started, you’ll need a couple of things: a basic understanding of VoiceOver, your current iCloud Password, your Passcode, and your Security Questions. See the Frequently Asked Questions section below if you’re unsure about any of these terms.
For more advanced users, here is a path for changing the iCloud password: Settings to iCloud to Account (your name and email) to Password & Security to Change Password.
Step 1
Open the Settings app. If you’re having a difficult time finding the app, simply ask Siri to “Open Settings” or you can skip down to step 3 by asking Siri to “Open iCloud Settings”.
Step 2
Move the focus down the Settings menu until you find the “iCloud Button”, which is located after the “Privacy Button” and before the “iTunes & App Store Button”. Open the iCloud settings menu by activating the iCloud button.
Step 3
Move the focus down the iCloud Settings Menu until you hear your name and email address announced as a button – this button will open your iCloud Account Settings. This option should appear as one of the first choices on the menu, coming after the “iCloud Heading” and before the “Family Button”. Open your iCloud account settings.
Step 4
At this point, you’ll likely encounter an alert asking you to “Sign In to iCloud”. This should be pretty familiar for iOS users. Simply use the onscreen keyboard to enter your current iCloud password. If your password doesn’t work, you can read abouttroubleshooting your iCloud password below. Now, move the focus down to the “Password & Security Button” which will appear after the “Contact Information Button” and before the “Devices Button”. Open Password & Security settings by activating the Password and Security button.
Step 5
Move the focus down to the “Change Password Button” which you should find after the “Password & Security Heading” and before the “Change Security Questions Button”. Open Change Password settings by activating the Change Password button.
Step 6
Depending on your settings, at this point you’ll either be asked to input your Passcode or you’ll be prompted to answer your security questions. If you hear “Passcode” you’ll use the onscreen keyboard or keypad to enter your passcode. If you hear “Text field is editing, Answer, insertion point at start”, you’ll need to answer two security questions. Move your focus up and down the page to hear the security questions and use the text fields to enter your responses. When you’ve entered your responses, move your focus back up the page to the “Verify Button” which is in the top right corner of the page after the “Verify Your Identity Heading” and before the “Question 1 of 2 Heading”. If your responses fail to match what Apple has on record, you’ll be met with an “Incorrect Answers” alert. Simply move your focus to the “OK button” on this alert and you can attempt to submit your security questions again. If your security question responses are not working, you might consider contacting Apple Support.
Step 7
Use the onscreen keyboard to enter a new password. Remember iCloud passwords must be 8 or more characters, include upper and lowercase letters, and include at least one number. Once you’ve created a new password, activate the “Return Button” on the onscreen keyboard. This will move your focus to the Verify field where you must re-type your new password.
Frequently Asked Questions
Question: What VoiceOver gestures do I need to know?
Just the basics. Here is a quick review of the basic gestures:
| Single Finger Tap |
This gesture selects an item. What does that mean? Well, it moves the iOS focus to that item. Visually the item becomes outlined. However, having focus means that we can perform an action on that item. For example, to open an app in VoiceOver, you’ll first need to select it and bring the iOS focus to it. |
| Single Finger Drag |
The problem with the single finger tap is that it requires you to tap on something. For users who can’t see the screen, being able to find and tap the correct area of the screen is much more difficult. Instead, users can do a single finger drag. This will move the focus around the screen as you drag your finger. Whatever item was last announced by VoiceOver is the item that has focus. This gesture is extremely useful for finding apps, moving through controls, and using the on screen keyboard. |
| Single Finger Flick Left and Right |
Another important gesture for moving the focus around is the single finger flick. If you’re a Windows user, you can think of the single finger flick as being analogous to the Tab key. The flick will move you forwards and backwards through available items. If your focus is on the app in your home screen that is in the top left grid space, a single finger tap will move you to the next app in the top row. Continue to perform this gesture, and you’ll eventually move through all the apps on the first page of your home screen. |
| Single Finger Double Tap |
The single finger double tap is how you activate an item. This gesture is critical. You will use it to open apps, submit forms, toggle settings, and more. As you can tell from that list, exactly what this gesture will do varies depending on the active item. If the active item in an app, it will launch the app. If the active item is a hyperlink, it will send you to that page. If the active item is text, it won’t do anything! |
Question: What is the iCloud password?
This is the password you typically need to enter in the App Store to download new apps. The iCloud password is not the same as your passcode. iCloud password has at least 8 characters, require both upper and lowercase letters, and have to have at least one number.
Question: What is the Passcode? And what if I don’t have one?
The Passcode is the code you enter to unlock your device. Passcodes are optional, so if you don’t use one to unlock your device, you likely don’t have one. However, if you use TouchID (your fingerprint) to unlock your phone, you have a passcode. There are three different types of passcodes: four digit numeric, custom numeric, or custom alphanumeric. Four digit numeric passcodes include four numbers, such as (0, 0, 0, 1) or (1, 2, 3, 4). Custom numeric passcodes are comprised of a variable amount of numbers, such as (1, 2, 3) or (1, 8, 2, 9, 9, 0, 4). Custom alphanumeric passcodes are comprised of a variable amount of numbers and/ or letters, such as (t, e, s, t) or (1, 2, 3, a, b, c) or (T, t, T, t, 1, 3).
Question: What are the Security Questions?
These are three questions you set up when you initially created your iCloud account. These are pre-created questions you chose and provided a response for. For example, you might have selected the question, “What was the last name of your first teacher?” and entered the answer “Smith”. When attempting to change certain iCloud settings, Apple will give you 2 of the 3 security questions to answer. Your responses to these questions need to be precise. For example, if you entered “Ms. Smith” when asked the example from above, the system would call that incorrect. Further, these responses are case sensitive, so if I submit “smith”, I would also get a failed submission.
Question: What if my password works in iTunes but doesn’t work for iCloud?
It is possible to be signed into two different iCloud accounts on a single iDevice. Your iCloud settings can be set up for one account while your iTunes settings are set up for another. This means you enter one password to download apps on your device but another to interact with your iCloud settings. This is not an ideal situation, and you should consider just using a single account for your iDevice. To check if you are signed into two accounts, go to Settings and move the focus down to iCloud. You’ll hear VoiceOver announce the associated email address, for example, when I move here, VoiceOver announces “iCloud, james.allen@vermont.gov”. Now, move down to the next option, which should be “iTunes & App Store”, in the Settings menu without activating the iCloud button we just were on. Open the iTunes & App Store menu by activating this button. Move your focus down the page until your hear your Apple ID. If this email address is different from what you heard on iCloud, you are signed in with two different accounts. As I said, it is best to sign into the same account in iCloud and iTunes, so the best course of action in this scenario is to sign out of one account and into the other. However, it is likely you’ll need to know the passwords for both accounts to make these changes.
Question: What if I need more help?
If you need additional support, I recommend checking out this article from Apple Support on changing your iCloud password. Further, you can connect with Apple accessibility support via the phone by calling 877-204-3930.
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