Type braille directly on iPad using VoiceOver

If you turn on Braille Screen Input, you can use your fingers to enter six-dot, eight-dot, or contracted braille directly on the iPad screen, without a physical braille keyboard.

Enter braille on the screen

Set the rotor to Braille Screen Input.

If you don’t see Braille Screen Input in the rotor, go to Settings > Accessibility > VoiceOver > Rotor, then select it from the list.
Place iPad in one of the following positions:
- Tabletop mode: Lay iPad flat in front of you.
- Screen away mode: Hold iPad with the screen facing away so your fingers curl back to tap the screen.

Enter braille characters by tapping the screen with one or more fingers at the same time.

Tip: To have iPad read dots aloud, tap and hold the dots, then when you hear the timer tones and announcement, release the dots.

To move the entry dots to match your natural finger positions, double-tap all the dots.

You can also use gestures to perform actions such as the following:

Action	Gesture
Enter a space	Swipe right with one finger; in screen away mode, swipe to your right
Delete the previous character	Swipe left with one finger
Move to a new line	Swipe right with two fingers
Cycle through spelling suggestions	Swipe up or down with one finger
Enter a carriage return, or send a message (in Messages)	Swipe up with three fingers
Cycle through the braille modes	Swipe left or right with three fingers
Translate immediately (when contractions are enabled)	Swipe down with two fingers
Switch to the next keyboard	Swipe up with two fingers

To exit Braille Screen Input, do a two-finger scrub (move two fingers back and forth three times quickly, making a “z”), or adjust the rotor to another setting.

Change Braille Screen Input settings

Go to Settings > Accessibility > VoiceOver > Braille > Braille Screen Input.
Do any of the following:
- Set six-dot, eight-dot, or contracted braille as the default.
- Reverse the dot positions for six-dot and eight-dot braille.
To view or edit the commands and gestures you can perform when Braille Screen Input is turned on, go to Settings > Accessibility > VoiceOver > Commands > Braille Screen Input.

Helpful?

iPad User Guide

Type braille directly on iPad using VoiceOver

Enter braille on the screen

Change Braille Screen Input settings