Over the years, Google has added many features to Android to make the operating system more accessible to people with special needs. For instance, Andriod 10 brought Live Caption and Live Transcribe, while Android 12 added a new feature called Camera Switches, allowing users to control their phones with facial expressions. As part of this continued push, Google will be adding native support for braille displays in Android 13.

In a blog post on Thursday, Google announced that the upcoming Android 13 beta release would bring out-of-the-box support for braille display. For the unaware, a refreshable braille display is an electro-mechanic device that surfaces information by raising round-tipped pins through holes in a flat surface. It enables blind and deafblind users (who can't use a screen reader) to access smartphones or computers. It has always been possible to use a braille display on Andriod using the Talkback app. But now, Google is baking the Talkback features right into Android so users won't need to download a separate app.

"With this new update, there are no additional downloads necessary to use most braille displays. People can use braille displays to access many of the same features available with Talkback. For instance, you can use display buttons to navigate your screen and then do activities like compose an email, make a phone call, send a text message or read a book," wrote Nimber Jaber, Accessitliy Analyst at Google, in a blog post.

Users will have access to all the usual Talkback features, including the ability to composite an email, make a phone call, read a book, and so on. In addition to these features, Google has also added some new shortcuts in Talkback. For example, you can use new navigation shortcuts to scroll and move to the next character, word, or line. And then, there are shortcuts for settings and editing documents, like selecting, copying, pasting, etc.

Source: Google Blog