Use a Braille Display with Your Fire Tablet

The VoiceView screen reader supports braille output, reading, and basic navigation with compatible braille display devices and your Fire tablet 4th Generation and newer.

Supported Braille Displays

Note: This feature is compatible with English books only.

VoiceView supports the BAUM and Humanware braille protocols. The following braille displays have been verified to work with VoiceView:

  • APH Refreshabraille
  • BAUM SuperVario2
  • BAUM VarioConnect
  • BAUM VarioUltra
  • HumanWare Brailliant BI
  • Orbit Reader 20

To pair your Braille device:

  1. On your Fire Tablet, turn on VoiceView from any screen. Press the Power button until you hear an alert, and then place two fingers (slightly apart) on the screen and hold for five seconds.
  2. Swipe down from the top of the screen with two fingers and then select Settings.
  3. Select Accessibility, then select VoiceView Screen Reader.
  4. Select Braille, then select Pair Bluetooth Braille Display.
  5. Make sure your braille display is on and discoverable, then select Scan.
  6. Find your braille display in the list and connect.
    Note: Some displays require a pairing code. Consult your braille device's documentation for details.

To adjust settings for your braille device:

  1. Swipe down from the top of the screen with two fingers and then tap Settings.
  2. Tap Accessibility, tap VoiceView Screen Reader, then tap Braille.
    • Mute Speech and Sounds: Deactivate VoiceView sounds and speech.
    • Braille Table: Allows you to choose between Computer Braille, Uncontracted English Braille, Contracted English Braille, and Unified English Braille.
    • Show Accessibility Focus on Braille Display: Raise dots 7 and 8 beneath the item with accessibility focus.

Chords

You can send commands by pressing chords on a refreshable braille display which has a braille keyboard.

Table 1. Chords
Chord Mnemonic Command
1-3-4-6 SPACE z Navigate Back
1-2-5 SPACE h, "home" Navigate to Home
1-2-3-5 SPACE s, "switcher" Show App Switcher
1-3-4-5 SPACE n, "notifications" Show Notifications & Quick Actions
1-2-3-4-5-6 SPACE none Go to VoiceView Settings
4 SPACE none Navigate to Next Item
1 SPACE none Navigate to Previous Item
1-2-3-7 SPACE none Navigate to First Item
4-5-6-8 SPACE none Navigate to Last Item
1-5 SPACE e, "enter" Activate selected item
1-3-4 SPACE m, "mute" Toggle Mute On/Off
2-4-5 SPACE j, "jump" Jump focus to first item on braille display
7-8 SPACE none Show/Hide focus Indicator
1-2-4-5 SPACE g, "toggle" Toggle between computer braille and your chosen Braille Table

Braille Find Chords

To use VoiceView's "find" feature, press the find chord, 1-2-4 SPACE, start a search. After typing the phrase you want to find, press enter (dot 8 or chord 1-5 SPACE) to search forward. You can also indicate the direction you want to search in: chord 8 SPACE to search forward, or chord 7 SPACE to search backward. You can repeat your search with chord 8 SPACE or 7 SPACE, without re-entering the search text. Searches begin from the left edge of the braille display, or from the current result. Dots 7 and 8 will be raised beneath the current result. You can use the hide/show focus indicator chord, 7-8 SPACE, to turn off the focus indicator.

Table 2. Find Chords
Chord Mnemonic Command
1-2-4 SPACE f, "find" Open "find" input field to type search.
8 SPACE none Navigate to the next result matching input field.
7 SPACE none Navigate to the previous result matching input field.

Text Editing Chords

Use these chords when editing text by pressing chords on a refreshable braille display which has a braille keyboard. Editing some items with VoiceView, such as web addresses, requires using computer braille. For these fields, "computer braille required" will be spoken when you begin editing the field. For text fields that do not require computer braille, you can still choose to use it with the 1-2-4-5 SPACE chord. Note: Some chords do not use SPACE.

Table 3. Text Editig Chords
Chord Mnemonic Command
7 none Backspace
8 or 1-5 SPACE none Return / Enter
6 SPACE none Navigate to Next Character
3 SPACE none Navigate to Previous Character
1-2-3 SPACE none Navigate to Beginning
4-5-6 SPACE none Navigate to End
1-8 SPACE Control + a, "all" Select All

Web Navigation Chords

To more efficiently navigate web content use these commands by pressing chords on a refreshable braille display which has a braille keyboard. Note: Some chords do not use SPACE.

Table 4. Web Navigation Chords
Chord Mnemonic Command
1-2-5-8 Dot 8 + h, "heading" Navigate to Next Section / Heading
1-2-5-7 Dot 7 + h, "heading" Navigate to Previous Section / Heading
1-2-3-8 Dot 8 + l, "list" Navigate to Next List
1-2-3-7 Dot 7 + l, "list" Navigate to Previous List
2-4-8 Dot 8 + i, "item" Navigate to Next List Item
2-4-7 Dot 7 + i, "item" Navigate to Previous List Item
1-3-8 Dot 8 + k, "link" Navigate to Next Link
1-3-7 Dot 7 + k, "link" Navigate to Previous Link
1-2-4-8 1-2-4-8 Dot 8 + f, "form" Navigate to Next Form Control
1-2-4-7 1-2-4-7 Dot 7 + f, "form" Navigate to Previous Form Control

Braille Screen Input

Braille Screen Input is an alternative to the soft keyboard which allows users to type in braille directly on the tablet’s screen. The braille is translated to plain text and input into the selected edit field.

  • To open Braille Screen Input, select an editable text field and perform a two finger triple tap.
  • To calibrate, tap 3 fingers with the right hand, then tap three fingers with the left hand.
  • To exit braille screen input, perform a two finger triple tap away from the keys.
  • To type a space, swipe right.
  • To press enter, swipe right with two fingers.
  • To delete the last character, swipe left.
  • To delete the last word, swipe left with two fingers.
  • To navigate the text, swipe up or down with one finger.
  • To change granularity, scrub up and down with one finger.
  • To read the whole entry, scrub left and right with one finger.
  • To change keyboard echo, scrub up and down with two fingers.
  • To switch between tabletop and screen away mode, scrub with three fingers.
  • To type a full 6 dot cell, type dots 4 5 6 twice in a row.
  • For tabletop mode, put the Power button to the right.
  • For screen away mode, put the power button at the top.
  • To hear usage hints, swipe with four fingers.

For More Information

You can learn more about Fire tablet accessibility features in our Accessibility on Fire Tablet help pages.