Google has launched a new braille keyboard for Android devices that will let users who are blind or have low vision type in braille without any additional hardware and in any app, available for devices running Android 5.0 and up.
The TalkBack Braille keyboard is a virtual keyboard designed to be compatible directly with Android. This keyboard will allow users who are blind to type quickly and easily, regardless of your typing intent.
Once TalkBack is turned on in the Accessibility section, user will swipe up with three fingers to open the keyboard, which has a standard six-key layout, and each key represents one of six braille dots.
The new keyboard, the company writes in a blog post, was created as a collaboration with various users and developers of braille software, and should be familiar to anyone who’s used something like it in the past.
“Our team collaborated with braille developers and users throughout the development of this feature, so it’ll be familiar to anyone who has typed using braille before. It uses a standard 6-key layout and each key represents one of 6 braille dots which, when tapped, make any letter or symbol. To type an “A” you would press dot 1 and to type a “B,” dots 1 and 2 together.” according to the Google Blog Post.
