We’ve seen a lot of work from Google in the last 12 months around accessibility. One that has made a particularly large impact that I have seen is the Live Transcribe app.
Adding accessibility to a touchscreen device for people with vision impairment isn’t quite so easy, but Google has delivered.
TalkBack braille keyboard is a new virtual braille keyboard integrated directly into Android. It’s a fast, convenient way to type on your phone without any additional hardware, whether you’re posting on social media, responding to a text, or writing a brief email.
As part of our mission to make the world’s information universally accessible, we hope this keyboard can broadly expand braille literacy and exposure among blind and low vision people.
The inclusion is the culmination of joint efforts between Google’s team and Braille developers. Like any other keyboard, the Talkback Braille keyboard allows you to enter and alter data. Using it is as easy as changing your keyboard as you would between G Board and Swiftkey options. You can enable it by turning on Talkback in Accessibility and it supports Grade 1 (spelling all words letter by letter) and Grade 2 (contractions) Braille.
Accessibility is extremely important to so many lives, it’s truly wonderful to see Google improving the options in Android.
