This issue can occur on widgets both on the Today screen and on home screens.
VoiceOver's actions menu should be present to allow the user to enter edit mode, and when it is a stacked widget, to cycle to the next or previous widget in the stack.
On some occasions, after placing VoiceOver focus on a widget, this menu is failing to appear.
Place VoiceOver focus on any widget to read its content.
Swipe up or down to cycle the options in the Actions menu.
AS the Actions menu has not occurred, VoiceOver will instead navigate the content by character, or attempt another outcome depending on what the rotor is set to.
Cycle through the rotor to confirm that the Actions menu is not present.
Swipe left or right to exit the widget, then swipe back on to the widget.