Version 13.1 of Android Accessibility Suite brings some welcome improvements to TalkBack, Google’s screen reader service. These include:
- Spell check using reading controls. You can swipe to find a misspelled word and then choose to do an action like correct it, copy, paste, etc. You’ll also hear spelling suggestions after typing a word and can also access app actions from reading controls.
- New gesture to control TalkBack volume: Keep 1 finger on the screen while pressing either volume key. To control other volumes, press either volume key.
- Faster typing with a new gesture on Android 13+. When typing, you can keep 1 finger on the screen while dragging your finger around on the on-screen keyboard. To select a key, use another finger to tap. You don’t need to lift your finger off the screen between letters.
- Support for connecting to HID Braille displays via USB! Talkback in v13.0 added Braille display support, but it didn’t support displays that used the Braille HID standard. Support for connecting to HID Braille displays via Bluetooth has yet to be added, though.
- Lastly, support for more Braille languages has been added.
This great blog post goes into a lot more detail about these new features in TalkBack. Give it a read!
Not related to TalkBack, but a dedicated app for Switch Access was published on Google Play a few days back. When you update to v13.1 of Android Accessibility Suite, it’ll tell you to switch to that app if you want the latest Switch Access features.