Google announced on Thursday the launch of a virtual braille keyboard for Android that’s designed to enable those with low vision or blindness to type on their phones without additional hardware. The tech giant says it collaborated with braille developers and users to create it, and to ensure it can be used anywhere a user would normally type — including social media, text messaging, and email apps.
Google previously developed and released BrailleBack, an accessibility service for Android that helps users make use of braille devices, but BrailleBack didn’t offer on-screen typing. The new braille keyboard, which will roll out to devices running Android 5.0 or newer via an update to the Android Accessibility Suite on the Google Play Store, is activated with a three-finger swipe up on the screen. It supports braille grade 1 and grade 2 in English (with additional languages to follow) and it can be turned on or off as simply as switching between international keyboards.