Actually YES!
In 3.5, it is hard to find, but it looks like one does need to be able to gesture and the caster specificly suffers arcane failure rate! So one hand would hold the scroll if the wizard did not have some other way [cough mage hand] and then he has to throwdown the somatics and shoutout the verbals.
I personally don't use this because I was already rough enough on fighter/mages in my game and think their options are more than limited enough already. [House rules alert: I have more spells that don’t have AFR but; Mithral very hard to obtain, no prcs, one non stacking Feat that reduces AFR 10%, otherwise core]
Spell Completion
This is the activation method for scrolls. A scroll is a spell that is mostly finished. The preparation is done for the caster, so no preparation time is needed beforehand as with normal spellcasting. All that’s left to do is perform the finishing parts of the spellcasting (the final gestures, words, and so on). To use a spell completion item safely, a character must be of high enough level in the right class to cast the spell already. If he can’t already cast the spell, there’s a chance he’ll make a mistake. Activating a spell completion item is a standard action and provokes attacks of opportunity exactly as casting a spell does.
Activate the Spell
Activating a scroll requires reading the spell from the scroll. The character must be able to see and read the writing on the scroll. Activating a scroll spell requires no material components or focus. (The creator of the scroll provided these when scribing the scroll.) Note that some spells are effective only when cast on an item or items. In such a case, the scroll user must provide the item when activating the spell. Activating a scroll spell is subject to disruption just as casting a normally prepared spell would be. Using a scroll is like casting a spell for purposes of arcane spell failure chance.
