Using reference links

You will notice that all publications in JW Library include links to all the scriptures referenced in the text. This is to make it easy to look up all the scriptures. After all, the Bible is the primary source for all the things taught in these publications.

VoiceOver users can double tap any scripture link to have it opened in the Study Pane.

On iPhones the Study Pane replaces the article you were reading on the entire screen. On iPads the Study Pane opens on the right side of the screen allowing the text of the article you were reading to remain on the left side. As a result the length of the lines of the text in the article are shortened to fit.

Procedure on iPhone

Whenever VoiceOver says a scripture you want to read, immediately double tap with 1 finger.

If you already read the text of a paragraph but want to go back and look up the scriptures. Turn the VoiceOver rotor to links. Now swipe up to find the previous link.

Of course, there may be several scriptures in a single paragraph, so you may or may not have to swipe repeatedly to find the scripture link you want.

After double tapping the link with 1 finger, If you hear VoiceOver say: SP-Back or hide study pane you know the study pane opened successfully.

The first link you activate in any publication you've just opened will cause VoiceOver to say Hide study pane. This means focus is inconveniently at the bottom of the study pane. Turn the VoiceOver rotor to containers and swipe up once to get to the top of the contents of the study pane.

Sometimes it is just easier to tap somewhere near the middle or higher on the screen and then find the Study Bible using Links on the rotor.

Subsequent links you activate in that publication will likely cause VoiceOver to say sp back which means focus is at the top of the study pane with the content you want below it.

There are several ways that might work to efficiently jump to the text of the scripture from the sp back button. You will have to decide which works best for you on your device.

Method 1: If you have set up a custom Voiceover command to move to next plain text as I describe in this article. Navigation Tips You can use that gesture to jump to where it says the location of the scripture you opened. For example: 2 Timothy 3:16. Continue using that gesture or command repeatedly to read the entire text of the scripture without the verse numbers. This is by far the most efficient method.

Method 2: Swipe down hoping that the Voiceover Rotor remained on Links. If this works you will hear, "Study Bible" and you can swipe right 3 times to reach the beginning of the text of the scripture. If you hear something else, another method will have to be used.

Method 3: Turn the VoiceOver rotor to Containers and swipe down. If you hear, "Study Bible" it worked. You can swipe left 3 times to reach the beginning of the text of the scripture.

Method 4. Use your spacial mapping skill and muscle memory to touch the screen where you've learned the beginning of the scripture will always be.

Whichever method you use, you will know you reached the end of the sited scripture when VoiceOver says: "End article" if you are running an iOS version prior to 17. Articles are no longer announced in iOS 17. This means less feedback to Voiceover users, but I appreciate the reduction in verbosity. I will be much more comfortable letting VoiceOver read a scripture aloud to someone when they will not be distracted by that rather strange announcement.

When you are finished reading the scripture you can use the 2 finger scrub to activate the back button.

After activating the back button to return to the article you must never touch the top of the screen or swipe in any direction. Doing either of these things will thoroughly lose your place. Unfortunately, JW Library doesn't use any method of maintaining or moving VoiceOver focus, so you will have to find your place in what you were reading.

The most reliable method I have found is to touch about 1/3 of the way up from the bottom of the screen. Then I guess wether to swipe up or down with the VoiceOver rotor set to links. Yes, this means you will have to remember what you just looked up in order to find it back again and continue reading from there.

Touching the screen like this is the only option even if you are using most braille displays, because there is no default command to accomplish that step. In iOS 17 there is now a command called "Move to Item at Center" that will do approximately the same thing by using a command from a Braille Display or keyboard. You can find those directions on the page where i also explain the other navigation tips mentioned on this page.

Procedure on iPad

Whenever VoiceOver says a scripture you want to read, immediately double tap with 1 finger.

If you already read the text of a paragraph but want to go back and look up the scriptures. Turn the VoiceOver rotor to links. Now swipe up to find the previous link.

Of course, there may be several scriptures in a single paragraph, so you may or may not have to swipe repeatedly to find the scripture link you want.

On an iPad VoiceOver does not give consistent feedback to tell you when the scripture has appeared in the Study pane on the right side of the screen. Voiceover focus may either jump to the publication's back button or stay on the link you just activated. It will never be anywhere inside the Study pane.

It is sometimes possible to move to the Study pane with one swipe down when the Voiceover rotor is set to containers, and double tapping the scripture link didn't cause Voiceover to say Back button. If Voiceover says back button the swipe down will put focus at the beginning of the article or lesson you were reading instead, which is very frustrating.

The most reliable method of reading the scripture in the Study pane is to learn where it consistently appears on the right side of the screen and learn to place your finger near there. It will be an inch or two from the top.

Once you have found the beginning of the scripture you can swipe right as many times as necessary to read all verses included.

Alternatively, if you have set up a custom Voiceover command to move to next plain text as I describe in this article. Navigation Tips You can use that gesture or command repeatedly to read the entire text of the scripture without the verse numbers.

Whichever method you use, you will know you reached the end of the sited scripture when VoiceOver says: "End article" if running an iOS version prior to 17. The Article tag is no longer announced or recognized as a landmark in iOS 17. This means less feedback to Voiceover users, but I appreciate the reduction in verbosity. I will be much more comfortable letting VoiceOver read a scripture aloud to someone when they will not be distracted by that rather strange announcement.

Now that you are finished reading the scripture you will need to place your finger back in the publication on the left side of the screen. Somewhere between the middle and an inch or so from the bottom seems to work best.

Hopefully your VoiceOver rotor is still set to links, so you can swipe up or down to return to the link you just opened and continue from there.

You will notice that there are links in publications that open another publication, or a different section of the same publication, in the Study pane. What if you want to look up a scripture referenced in the text being displayed in the Study pane? No problem.

When you double tap a link inside the Study pane it will open the referenced scripture there inside the Study pane replacing the publication that was already open.

When finished reading that scripture use the SP Back button to go back to the publication that was formerly being displayed in the Study Pane. Yes, I believe that button stands for Study Pane Back.

Unfortunately, Voiceover will not keep your place, so you will have to find that link again by using the rotor set to links.

Sometimes it makes more sense to replace the publication in the main window with what is in the Study pane. To do this double tap the first link in the Study Pane. There should be the SP Back button followed by a dimmed button with the title of the publication being displayed. This button doesn't seem to do anything.

Right after the seemingly pointless button, you find a link with the name of the publication. Double tapping that link will open that publication in the main window of JW Library.

If you want to go back to the previous publication that was in the main window, just activate the bak button.

When I am reading I like to hear as little clutter from my screenreader as possible. If you are the same, you might want to stop VoiceOver from saying link after each scripture reference. You already know that each scripture citation is a link so that announcement is redundant.

To cause VoiceOver to make a small unobtrusive sound to indicate links:

  1. Open Settings > Accessibility > VoiceOver. Or ask Siri to open VoiceOver Settings.

  2. In the VoiceOver Settings swipe right until you find the Verbosity button.

  3. Activate the Verbosity button.

  4. Swipe right until you hear "Links" and activate it.

  5. Double tap on each option to toggle its selection.

"Speak," is most likely selected, so double tap Speak to turn it off.

Double tap "Play Sound" if it is not selected.

You can also choose the "Do Nothing" option if you don't want to have any indication at all that links exist. Just remember that whatever option you choose will be set for all apps, not just in JW library.

Old issue

There used to be a known issue with VoiceOver and some links in JW Library. As far as I can tell the issue has been fixed as of mid August 2022. I explain the issue and some work-arounds here just in case you are stuck using an older version.

The problem seemed to occur because VoiceOver couldn't activate links in JW Library that couldn't fit on one line.

If you double tap a link and hear "Display Study pane on a phone, or the scripture doesn't appear in the Study pane on an iPad," first make sure you actually double tapped a link and not some text near the link. Just touch the screen again and use the rotor to swipe up or down to the link you just tried. Double tap it again.

If the same failure happens again. Try one or more of the following:

  • Try using your device in landscape orientation if you were not already. Meaning hold it in the direction that makes it wider from side to side than it is from top to bottom.

  • If using an iPad, close the study pane before activating the link.

  • Double tap and hold on the link that didn't work. Triple tapping it should work the same.

  • Set the font to a much smaller size. Remember that sighted people will likely no longer be able to read it, but Voiceover doesn't care if the font is set to an invisible size.

Change Text Size

  1. Double tap the More button at the top right of the screen.

  2. Swipe right until you find "Text Settings" and double tap.

  3. Find the Show Study Pane button by sliding your finger up from the Personal Study tab at the bottom right of the screen.

  4. Swipe left to the control that says number percent adjustable.

  5. Swipe up or down until the text size is near the desired percentage.

  6. Find and double tap the Done button at the top right corner of the screen.

It is necessary to follow the above directions to adjust the text size because the text of the publication is still on the screen when the size is being adjusted. That makes the slider for adjusting it a bit hard to find. On the other hand, guessing about what size any percentage means isn't necessary for anyone who can see the text as they adjust it.

Changing text size while running VoiceOver is no longer possible with recent versions of JW Library. They broke it by replacing the accessible standard slider with a stupid custom control.