When it comes to smartphones, one of the first things most people do is text to communicate with friends and family. If you are reading this article, you have the same thought process as most other people. As such, you might be wondering: How do blind people type on smartphones? Fortunately, technology has made it possible for even the blind and visually impaired to send text messages on their phones. Keep reading to learn more.
How Blind People Type on Smartphones
For the blind and visually impaired to type on smartphones, they first must turn on an accessibility feature called “screen reader” on their device. This accessibility feature can be enabled out of the box. This software reads the text on the screen and allows people to type messages, edit documents, and do anything else on their phone that people with sight can do.
But how exactly do the visually impaired type on a smartphone?
All Android devices and iPhones have an on-screen keyboard for messaging and chat applications. Type, users must touch and move their finger on the screen until they find each letter they want to type; the screen reader will read out characters and words while swiping and tapping that alphabet would type the character. Another way blind and visually impaired people type, and text is by doing dictation using a microphone that is available on the Android and iPhone on-screen keyboard. Some blind and visually impaired people use an external braille keyboard with smart phone.
Where can you get hold of these screen readers?
All smartphones come with built-in screen readers. You will find them under accessibility settings. Android calls it “Talkback,” and the iPhone calls it “VoiceOver.” Once you turn it on, the smart phone will start giving spoken feedback when you move your finger on the mobile phone screen.
Take Away
Blind people can use a handful of different strategies to type on a smartphone. They can type using a screen reader, using the dictation function of the on-screen keyboard, or typing on an external keyboard. Overall, smartphones are an essential part of modern life. While you might be under the impression that this is impossible for someone with a visual impairment, I hope you are now glad to know that this is not the case for blind people with a smartphone.
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