6th generation 16gb nano keeps switching to voiceover but i have it turned off

for the last few months my nano will switch to voiceover while i am listening to a playlist. the voice will start listing the artists in my playlist. how irritating!

i have checked my settings, and voiceover is toggled off.

what is causing this?

am i inadvertently touching it and making it switch?

how can i get it out of voiceover mode? i have tried powering down, but that didn't work.

how do i prevent it from happening in the future?

i just attached it to my imac and opened itunes, then closed itunes. now it seems to be behaving properly. if connecting it solved the problem, that is a problem because i can't lug my 27" imac to the gym.

thank you for your help.