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Using Talkback in Android

Adhiambo | Mohit, 2023

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What is Talkback?

  • TalkBack is Android's built-in screen reader.
  • When TalkBack is on, users can interact with their Android-powered device without seeing the screen, using gestures such as swipes and taps, and spoken feedback.
  • This is especially important for people with visual impairment.

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Turn TalkBack On/Off

  • Open your device's Settings app.
  • Navigate to Accessibility section, vision, and select TalkBack.
  • At the top of the TalkBack screen, toggle on Use TalkBack.
  • In the confirmation dialog, select OK to confirm permissions.

Turning on Talkback may vary by device or Android versions. Here are some ways to turn it on:

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Turn TalkBack On/Off

Alternatively, ask your Google Assistant to turn on TalkBack for you.

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TalkBack Shortcut

  • To easily toggle TalkBack in the future, you can enable the TalkBack shortcut which allows you to turn on TalkBack by either:
    • pressing the volume buttons for three seconds, or
    • swiping up with three(3) fingers from the bottom of the screen.

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Navigating with TalkBack

  • Touch - as the user touches different parts of the screen, TalkBack will announce the components such as buttons, and after a pause, may suggest an action a user can take on an active item, such as “double tap to activate” a button.
  • Swipe gestures - swiping right with one finger will navigate to the next item while swiping to the left with one finger will navigate to the previous item.
  • Double tap - this selects an active item, for example, clicking an item in a Recyclerview.
  • Swipe up then right to show context menu
  • Output - <content-text>, <type-of-view>, <possible-gestures>

Using the Oppia Android app for example, users can explore the app through:

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Summary

We have learnt about:

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  • What is TalkBack.
  • Why we should keep TalkBack compliance in mind while building apps.
  • Some TalkBack best practices.