Screen Reader

TalkBack

TalkBack will provide you with spoken feedback while you are navigating through your phone so you don’t have to see the screen to be able to use it. This is a great feature if you are visually impaired.

To turn TalkBack on, turn on the switch next to where it says Use TalkBack.

At the bottom of the screen on your phone, you will see directions on how to use the TalkBack feature.

TalkBack Definitions

• Gestures

  • Gestures are any swiping or tapping motions that you make to select items or navigate through your phone.

• Unlabeled Item

  • An unlabeled item is an item without a preset function. For example, the text in a middle of an article is an unlabeled item where as an app on your home screen or a tab in your settings is a labeled item.

• Focused Item

  • A Focused Item is the item that is currently selected and prepared for you to interact with. A Focused item will have a Focus Indicator around it (a box) to let you know that an item is selected.

TalkBack Shortcut

Turning this setting on will allow TalkBack to have full control over your device to work with apps to help your phone work with apps to help with any accessibility needs. Its will read all content on your screen and across other apps. TalkBack will also track your interactions with an app or hardware sensor and it will be able to interact with apps on your behalf to make your experience much easier.

TalkBack Settings

New Features in TalkBack

You must have TalkBack enabled first, then you can come here to learn about new TalkBack features, how to use TalkBack, and other tutorials that you may need to know when using TalkBack.

Audio

Text-To-Speech Settings/Text-To-Speech Output

With these settings you can adjust the Text-To-Speech voice settings like language, rate and pitch of the voice that reads text aloud.

Preferred Engine

This will be the preferred search engine that Text-To-Speech will use to function. The default will be Speech Services by Google unless you have a different one downloaded.

To the right of where it says Preferred Engine, you will see a Gear Icon (Settings Icon). Tap on the Gear Icon and you will see the following options:

• Install Voice Data

  • When you open this setting, you will see a list of languages that you can choose from if you prefer the TalkBack voice to be in another language.

• Use Wi-Fi Only

  • When this is on you can download voice data using Wi-Fi only. This will help conserve data usage which is helpful if you don’t have an unlimited data plan with your wireless carrier.

• Amplify Speech Volume

  • This will make the spoken text voice louder than usual so it’s easier to hear over other audio that may be playing. Or if you just need it to be louder in general.

• Language Detection

  • You will be given three options for language detection:
    • Off: If language detection is working how you want it normally.
    • Conservative: You will want to turn this on if the language is switching to fast.
    • Aggressive: You will want this on if the language is switching too slow.

• Anonymous Usage Reports

  • When this is on, Google will collect anonymous usage reports to make sure that the Text-To-Speech service is working properly. Your identity will not be seen by Google and this helps everyone who is using this feature by allowing Google to add updates where they’re needed.

• Feedback

  • From here you can personally send an email if something isn’t working the way you want it to, or if you are happy with the way this feature functions.

• Open Source Licenses

  • I wouldn’t worry about this section too much unless you’re a developer.

Language

From here you can set your preferred TalkBack Language if you want it to be different than the system language that you already have set.

Speech Rate

This will determine how fast or slow the TalkBack voice will be. To change the speech rate, simply drag the slider left to make it slower or drag the slider right to make it faster.

Pitch

This will determine how high or low the TalkBack voice will be. To change the pitch, simply drag the slider left to make it lower or drag the slider right to make it higher.

Verbosity

With these settings you can adjust how TalkBalk will speak.

Choose a Preset

When you choose a preset, you can choose between High, Low or Custom. If you choose High, all of the following settings will be turned on. If you choose Low, all of the following settings will be turned off. If you choose Custom, you will have the option to change the following settings to your liking.

Verbosity Details

Speak Usage Hints

After TalkBack describes content on your screen, you will get suggestions and descriptions on how to use the features.

Speak List and Grid

When you are tapping through a list or grid, TalkBack will read aloud information about the list or grid.

Always Speak Number of List Items

As you’re tapping through a list, TalkBack will read aloud the number of items on the list.

Speak Element Type

This will read out text as speech for focused items.

Speak System Windows

This will read aloud the system windows you switch between. For example, If you  switch to the status bar it will read aloud that you are in the status bar. If you navigate to notifications, it will read aloud that you are in notifications etc.

Speak Notifications When Screen is Off

This will read aloud notifications when your screen is off. Be careful with this setting as it could read aloud notifications that you would like to be private.

Use Pitch Changes

This will speak deleted letters in a higher pitch so you know what characters you’ve entered and which ones you’ve deleted.

Speak Letters With Examples

When you type letters you will here a word that starts with that letter. For example, if you type “A” you will hear “Alpha”, “H” “Hotel” etc.

Keyboard Echo: On-Screen Keyboard

You will have a few options here that will determine what your on-screen keyboard will echo. You can choose:

• None: No echo
• Characters
• Words
• Characters and Words

Keyboard Echo: Physical Keyboard

You will have a few options here that will determine what your on-screen keyboard will echo. You can choose:

• None: No echo
• Characters
• Words
• Characters and Words

Capital Letters

You can choose how TalkBack reads aloud Capital letters so you will know if something is capitalized or not with these options:

• Do Nothing: Won’t signify if you are typing a capital or lowercase letter.
• Say “Capital”
• Change Pitch
• Play Sound

Miscellaneous

Speak Element IDs

This will speak element IDs for buttons that aren’t labeled.

Speak Punctuation and Symbols

This will allow TalkBack to read aloud punctuation and symbols such as “.,;&$#” etc.

Sound and Vibration

Vibration Feedback

This setting will cause your phone to vibrate, signaling that you have successfully tapped on or selected an item.

Audio Ducking

This will put TalkBack in the forefront of any sounds that are playing. For example, if you are listening to a song, the songs volume will decrease in volume while TalkBack is reading aloud text for the duration of TalkBacks response, then will continue playing the music back at the normal volume it was playing at until you use TalkBack again.

Sound Feedback

This will make a sound signaling that you have successfully tapped on or selected an item.

Sound Feedback Volume

 If you have Sound Feedback on, you can choose the volume level of the feedback.

• Match Speed Volume
• 75% of Speech Volume
• 50% of Speech Volume
• 25% of Speech Volume

Controls

Customize Focus Indicator

The Focus Indicator is the box that surrounds the item that you are selecting on the screen. These setting options are helpful if you have a visual impairment but you can still see the phone screen well enough to recognize the Focus Indicator.

Thick Borders

Turning this on will increase the border size of the focus indicator to help you see it better.

Colors

You can keep the default Focus Indicator box the way it is or you can choose a color that helps you see the box better in contrast with the screen colors.

Customize Gestures

With these settings you can practice and customize gestures. Gestures are the swiping and tapping motions you make to navigate through your phone.

Beneath Practice Gestures and Reset Gesture Settings on your phone, you will see a variety of gestures that you can customize for:

• 1 Finger

• 1 Finger Back-and-Forth

• 1 Finger Angle

• 2 Fingers

• 3 Fingers

• 4 Fingers

Practice Gestures

You must have TalkBack enabled first to practice gestures. Once you have TalkBack enabled you can practice gestures here before you use the TalkBack feature so you don’t accidentally start pressing on buttons and settings that you didn’t mean to. If you’re new to TalkBack, it is highly recommended that you practice gestures first.

Reset Gesture settings

This will reset all customized gestures back to their original settings if you made a mistake by setting the wrong motion for a gesture or if you just prefer the default settings after experimenting.

Customize Menus

 

Customize TalkBack Menu

To access the TalkBack Menu, tap on the screen with three fingers, swipe up then right, or swipe down then right.

Actions for Current Item

Actions

When this setting is on you will be shown actions that exist for the current selected item such as Copy, Paste, Select, or any other actions that you are capable of after selecting a text or item.

Links

This setting will allow you to open links with a focused item. 

Page Navigation

When this is on this will allow you to go to the next page or previous page and will show when you are reading content with multiple pages.

Add or Edit Labels

This setting will show when you are selecting an unlabeled item.

Describe Image

When this is on, TalkBack will speak text and icons within a selected image.

Navigation

When navigation is turned on, TalkBack will read by character, word, lines, and more.

Navigation Options

Below is a list of navigation options that you can select or deselect based on you navigation preferences:

• Characters

  • This will read one character at a time.

• Words

  • This will read one word at a time.

• Lines

  • This will read one line at a time.

• Paragraphs

  • This will read one paragraph at a time.

• Headings

  • This will allow you to jump between headings

• Controls

  • This will allow you to jump between items that you can interact with such as buttons, checkboxes, and text fields.

• Links

  • This will allow you to jump between links

• Landmarks

  • This will allow you to jump between landmarks on webpages like the main page, about section, navigation etc.

• Special Content

  • This will allow you to jump between special content on webpages like graphs and tables.

• Other Web Navigation

  • miscellaneous items that only appear on web pages.

• Windows

  • This will allow you to jump to other windows such as volume controls or the navigation bar.

• Navigation

  • This will read one item at a time.

Reading

Reading settings for TalkBack will determine how TalkBack reads aloud.

• Read From Top

  • Staring from the top, read all items on the screen.

• Read From Next Item

  • TalkBack will start from the next item and read all of the items on the screen.

• Copy Last Spoken Phrase

  • This will automatically copy the last thing that TalkBack read aloud to your clipboard so you can paste the text somewhere.

• Repeat Last Spoken Phrase

  • This setting will allow you to hear the last spoken phrase TalkBack said if you need TalkBack to repeat it.

• Verbosity

  • This will activate verbosity settings so you can change whether typed keys, usage hints, grid info, and other info is read aloud.

• Spoken Language

  • You can change your spoken language. This will only show when you have multiple text-to-speech languages set and installed.

• Audio Ducking

  • Audio ducking is a feature that will lower the volume of other sounds so TalkBack can take precedence. Other media volume will return to normal when TalkBack is finished talking.

• Sound Feedback

  • Sound feedback will allow you to hear sound effects while you navigate through your phone indicating that you’ve selected items or performed actions.

• Vibration Feedback

  • Vibration feedback will allow you to feel your phone vibrate while you navigate through your phone indicating that you’ve selected items or performed actions.

Special Features

• Screen Search

  • Screen search will allow you to search for an item to find it on the screen.

• Hide or Show Screen

  • This will allow you to hide or show your screen so your screen is not visible in a public place. You can then select to show your screen again when you feel comfortable in doing so.

• Voice Commands

  • Voice Commands will allow you to control TalkBack with your voice.

Other

• TalkBack Settings

  • This will bring you to your TalkBack settings

• Text-To-Speech Settings

  • This will open your Text-To-Speech Settings.

• System Actions

  • Go to all apps and Quick Settings

Customize Reading Controls

To access Reading Controls, swipe left or right with three fingers, or swipe up or down with three fingers.

Reading

• Characters

  • This will read one character at a time.

• Words

  • This will read one word at a time.

• Lines

  • This will read one line at a time.

• Paragraphs

  • This will read one paragraph at a time.

• Headings

  • This will allow you to jump between headings

• Controls

  • This will allow you to jump between items that you can interact with such as buttons, checkboxes, and text fields.

• Links

  • This will allow you to jump between links

• Landmarks

  • This will allow you to jump between landmarks on webpages like the main page, about section, navigation etc.

• Windows

  • This will allow you to jump to other windows such as volume controls or the navigation bar.

• Default Navigation

  • This will read one item at a time.

• Speech Rate

  • Speech rate will change how quickly TalkBack speaks.

• Verbosity

  • This will activate verbosity settings so you can change whether typed keys, usage hints, grid info, and other info is read aloud.

• Speak Punctuation Symbols

  • This will allow TalkBack to read aloud punctuation and symbols such as “.,;&$#” etc.

• Spoken Language

  • You can change your spoken language. This will only show when you have multiple text-to-speech languages set and installed.

Special Features

• Hide Screen

  • This will allow you to hide or show your screen so your screen is not visible in a public place. You can then select to show your screen again when you feel comfortable in doing so.

• Audio Ducking

  • Audio ducking is a feature that will lower the volume of other sounds so TalkBack can take precedence. Other media volume will return to normal when TalkBack is finished talking.

• Scroll

  • Scroll Forward or Backward.

• Accessibility Volume

  • This will increase or decrease the accessibility volume.

Cover Proximity Sensor To Stop Speech

When this is on you can cover the proximity sensor to stop TalkBack from talking (cover the top front part of the phone where the camera is on the screen not the back camera).

Automatically Describe Icons

This will allow you to hear descriptions when you focus on an unlabeled icon.

Braille

 

Braille Keyboard

Set Up Braille Keyboard

To set up your Braille keyboard tap on Set Up Braille Keyboard, and follow the on-screen instructions.

Typing Language

Select a typing language from the menu then click Ok. This will set up the language that your prefer to type in.

Preferred Language

Set up your preferred braille language in this setting. Settings may change based on typing and system language.

Review All Gestures

From here you can see all of the Braille Keyboard gestures.

Layout

This will give you three options for how you would prefer your Braille Keyboard layout to be:

• Adapt to how you hold the device

• Hold device with screen away from you (screen-away mode)

• Place device flat on a table (tabletop mode)

Include All Pressed Dots

Each pressed dot is part of the input (whatever you are typing), even if the dot is released before other dots.

Reversed Dots

This setting will allow you to swap the dot positions, so that dots 1 and 4 trade places, for example.

Braille Display

In order to use Braille Display you must first turn on the TalkBack feature. Then turn on the switch next to where it says Use Braille Display.

Devices

Here is where you will see all of the Braille Devices you have linked to your phone.

Languages and Commands

Languages

This is where you can set any languages you want to use with Braille Display.

Preferred Reading Language

This will be the language that you prefer to read in. Settings may change based on TalkBack and system languages.

Preferred Typing Language

This will be the language that you prefer to type in. Settings may change based on TalkBack and system languages.

Braille Commands 

This will show a list of commands to use your braille devices.

General

Auto Connect

This will allow saved braille displays to connect when they are within range.

Show Braille on Output Screen

This will show braille on the display screen.

General

Tutorial and Help

You must have TalkBack enables to access these settings. From here you can get Tutorials on how to use TalkBack and you will be able to practice gestures from here as well.

Advanced Settings

Speak Passwords

When this is on, your passwords will be spoken aloud when you enter them.

Note: I understand that if you have a visual impairment then knowing the passwords that you’re typing in is a concern, however, I recommend that if this is the case use biometrics such as Face ID or Fingerprint to fill in your passwords for you.

Custom Labels

You can manage custom labels for unlabeled items here. You can either import or export custom labels.

Single-Tap To Activate

This will allow you to tap once on an item to activate it rather than double tap.

Element Description Order

You can customize your Element Description order (the order in which TalkBack reads aloud the description of an element). You will have three options:

• State, Name, Type
• Type, State, Name
• Name, Type, State

Reduce Window Announcement Delay

This will reduce the delay time for TalkBack to announce windows on your device.

Typing Preference

For typing preferences you will have three options:

• Hold finger to select any key, then double-tap
• Hold finger to select a letter key, then lift, Double-tap for other keys
• Hold finger to select any key, then lift

Touch And Hold Delay When Typing

For the timeframe of the touch and hold delay you will have these options:

• 0.5 seconds
• 1 second
• 2 seconds
• 3 seconds (default)
• 5 seconds

Keyboard Shortcuts

In this window you can choose between a Classic Keymap or the Default Keymap. You can also customize the keymap from the settings on this window or reset the keymap from here if you want your customized settings to go back to one of the preset keymap settings.

Developer Settings

These are some fancy settings that the average user won’t need to know about. These are just settings for a developer to do some more advanced customization or work on the device. Don’t mess with these without a specific purpose.