Programmatically determine order in which UIView items should be read by VoiceOver

I am making my iPhone app accessible. VoiceOver is pretty impressive. When a user uses VoiceOver, it automatically reads off the items on the screen and allows the user to double-tap anywhere on the screen to select that item. However, I want VoiceOver to read the items in a specific order, but it always begins with the UINavigationBar items including the back button. I don't want these items not to be read at all, I just want to start with a specific item. Is there a VoiceOver-equivalent of "firstResponder"?