Can’t scroll down in Safari on iPad / iPhone / iPod Touch

Most people know that to scroll around a web page you need to drag up, down, or sideways with your finger. However, sometimes HTML frames are used to allow for multiple “.html” documents to be displayed inside of one web page (see the PDF doc in the frame below). Many times these frames are embedded in a web page and you need to be able to scroll down to see the full content (e.g. lists, forms etc) of the frame instead of the whole page.

On your iOS device, if you use just one finger to scroll down, the whole page will scroll down instead of just the frame. If you want to scroll within a frame on a webpage instead of the whole page, you will need to use two fingers inside the frame. This is primarily due to the fact that the website you are visiting has some poorly designed design elements (CSS, HTML 5, JavaScript etc.), thus Safari cannot render them properly.

To overcome this issue, try this:

• DON’T DRAG IT. Just tap on the part of the inside scroll bar you want to go to
• Disable JavaScript in Safari by tapping tap Settings > Safari
• Try double tapping on either side of the screen at edges
• Use a two finger press inside the window that you’re trying to scroll and move them up or down simultaneously. Or pinch your thumb and forefinger together and move it up or down

Also, look for a gray bar at the bottom of the text box, at the right, there is a three slanted line graphic in the corner. If you touch that, then the text box opens up a little more each time you touch it. If the web site’s text box doesn’t have this (and most don’t), try to press and hold the text to bring up the selection indicator. When you drag the indicator below the text box boundary (where your hidden text is) the selector forces it up. Until Apple puts in arrow keys on its keyboard, this is the only workaround we’ve found