Android Keyboard with Virtual Braille Unveiled by Google Making Smartphones Accessible to People with Vision Impairment

Talkback Braille Keyboard
Talkback Braille Keyboard

An innovative virtual keyboard is about to be introduced by Google which makes it easier for the visually impaired to type. The keyboard doesn’t require any additional hardware. 

This new feature is referred to by Google as the “Talkback Braille Keyboard”. As Google explains in a blog post, “TalkBack braille keyboard is a new virtual braille keyboard integrated directly into Android.”

 Talkback Braille Keyboard
Talkback Braille Keyboard
 Talkback Braille Keyboard
Talkback Braille Keyboard

Google further adds that the virtual keyboard has 6 keys, where each one is representative of the 6 dots of Braille. Different alphabets or symbols can be typed by tapping on the keys. For example, to write ‘A’ all you will have to do is press dot one. Similarly, ‘B’ can be typed by pressing together dots one and one. Typing an email or a message is, therefore, as simple as tapping on the keys.

Switching on the keyboard is easy. One simply needs to navigate to it through the virtual keyboard menu. The process is similar to that of switching over to any other international keyboards.

 

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