VoiceOver Commands for Braille Devices

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VoiceOver Commands for Braille Devices

If you have a Braille display paired with your iPhone, iPad, or iPod Touch that has a Braille keyboard, you can use VoiceOver to control your device almost entirely from the Braille display. In addition to entering text in apps like RTFC Translator, you can also enter VoiceOver commands.

VoiceOver commands are always entered by a specific dot combination on the Braille keyboard in combination with the space bar. A function is always triggered only when all braille keys are released. The space bar can remain pressed in order to be able to enter several commands in quick succession. When entering text, all braille keys must always be released so that the desired character appears.

The space bar is represented by SPC in the following tables. The numbers correspond to dots 1 to 8 on the Braille keyboard. Some of the key combinations are easy to memorize because they correspond to actual characters in Braille. An example are the clipboard functions, which can be executed with SPC+c, SPC+x or SPC+v.

Navigation

Key Combination	Description
SPC+1	Move to previous item
SPC+4	Move to next item
SPC+1 2 3	Move to first item
SPC+4 5 6	Move to last item
SPC+2 4	Show item chooser
SPC+2 3 4	Move to status bar
SPC+4 6	Notification center
SPC+2 5	Control center
SPC+1 2	Back (depending on the current context)
SPC+3 5	Move to previous visible app (with split view on iPad)
SPC+2 6	Move to next visible app (with split view on iPad)
SPC+1 7	Move to previous container (iPad only)
SPC+4 7	Move to next container (iPad only)

Scrolling

Key Combination	Description
SPC+2 4 6	Scroll left
SPC+1 3 5	Scroll right
SPC+3 4 5 6 or SPC+3 4 5 6 8	Scroll up
SPC+1 4 5 6 or SPC+1 4 5 6 8	Scroll down
SPC+3 4	Read item summary

Rotor

Key Combination	Description
SPC+3	Previous rotor item
SPC+6	Next rotor item
SPC+2 3	Previous rotor setting
SPC+5 6	Next rotor setting

Interaction

Key Combination	Description
SPC+3 6	Activate item
SPC+1 2 5	Press home key
SPC+3 4 5	Press volume up
SPC+1 2 6	Press volume down
SPC+1 4 6	Hide/show screen keyboard
SPC+3 5 6	Preview item with 3D Touch
SPC+3 6 7 8	Perform long press

Read aloud

Key Combination	Description
SPC+1 2 3 5	Read from current item
SPC+2 4 5 6	Read from first item

Editing and Clipboard

Key Combination	Description
SPC+2 3 5 6	Select all
SPC+2 3 5	Select left
SPC+2 5 6	Select right
SPC+2 3 4 5	Forward tabulator
SPC+1 2 5 6	Backward tabulator
SPC+1 3 4 6	Cut
SPC+1 4	Copy
SPC+1 2 3 6	Paste
SPC+1 4 5	Press delete key
SPC+7	Press backspace key
SPC+1 5 or SPC+8	Press enter key
SPC+1 3 5 6	Undo
SPC+2 3 4 6	Redo
SPC+1 2 4	Item text search
SPC+2 3 4 5 6	Read text style
SPC+1 5 6	Dictate (in input box)

Control Commands

Key Combination	Description
SPC+1 2 3 4 5 6	Toggle screen curtain
SPC+1 2 3 4	Toggle speech
SPC+1 3 4 or SPC+1 3 4 7	Toggle mute
SPC+1 2 5 (twice)	App switcher
SPC+1 3 or SPC+1 3 7	Start help Stop with SPC+1 2
SPC+1 2 3 4 6	Label item
SPC+1 2 3 4 5 or SPC+1 2 3 4 5 8	Toggle quick navigation
SPC+1 5 6	Toggle playback

Braille

Key Combination	Description
SPC+2	Move braille left
SPC+5	Move braille right
SPC+1 3 4 5	Toggle status display
SPC+4 5	Translation
SPC+1 2 4 5	Toggle output mode
SPC+2 3 6	Toggle input mode

If you have specific questions about using your Braille display or Braille keyboard with your mobile device, please contact the respective hardware manufacturer or supplier. Please note that we generally do not provide support for hardware.

Frequently Asked Questions