With Google's New App, Even Blind People Can Text On Smartphones

The smartphone is becoming more and more popular for its convenience but they aren't really friendly with a number of people including the blind and people who are vision-impaired because the on-screen keyboard makes it much harder for them to type. Therefore, Google decided to develop a Braille keyboard, dubbed TalkBack, for smartphones to help special users, starting with Android.

This may confuse you a little when you first hear about it. Very simple, the phone screen is divided into 6 zones representing 6 dots in Braille. Users type by touching those zones; different combinations represent different letters or numbers. This will be much easier and familiar for the blind and vision-impaired.

Right now, TalkBack only has English and supports Braille grades 1 and 2 on Android (from 5.0). To use this new feature, go to Settings and turn it on in the accessibility section. Users can switch it on or off like they can do with other international keyboards.

A representative of Google said that it was part of their mission to help more and more people access sources of information so they hoped that this product could give the blind and people with impaired vision more tools and more support.

In the past, since the technology was not developed very much, vision-impaired people had tons of difficulties with reading texts on desktops, navigating directions or recognizing colors. But now, thanks to technological advancements, they just need a smartphone and apps along with other kinds of tools to live, communicate, study and work more easily.

Google is not the only company working on tools supporting people with poor vision. There are other companies doing it, Apple is an example. Let’s hope that disabled people will get more and more help so they will have more chance to learn, work, and succeed.

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