May 20, 2022

Google on Thursday announced that the next Android 13 beta will have “out-of-the-box support” for braille displays.

Braille displays allow people with deafblindness use smartphones, and people who are blind silently use mobile phones without screen readers or voice commands.

Google is also working on creating new shortcuts to make using braille displays easier on Android with Talkback. The new shortcuts allow for easier scrolling by moving to the next character, word or line, editing documents by skipping straight to the end, or trying to select, copy or paste the text.

Although Braille display support was already available on Android with Google’s Talkback screen reader, users do not need to install another app first to access the feature.

Braille display users will continue to have access to the same features as navigating the screen with the display buttons, making phone calls, writing an email or sending an SMS.

The sources for this piece include an article in TheVerge.