Speaker: Kim Kilpatrick

The New Braille Features in iOS and iPad OS 26, Part 2: Braille Access (Extra 84)

Apple released the latest versions of its flagship operating systems, including iOS and iPad 26 for the popular iPhone and iPad product lines, in September 2025. Amongst the many new features are a significant number of improvements for braille users in VoiceOver, the built-in screen reader.

In this, the second part of a two-part series, Matthew Horspool will devote the entire session to Braille Access, a new notetaker-like experience for connected braille displays. He will talk about:

  • Launching apps and items
  • Taking, reading and managing braille notes
  • Reading and transferring BRF files
  • The braille clock and calculator
  • Live braille captions
  • Braille Access settings
  • Configuring braille keyboard commands for Braille Access

Chapter marks have been added to aid navigation.

Links of Interest

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The New Braille Features in iOS and iPad OS 26, Part 1 (Extra 83)

Apple released the latest versions of its flagship operating systems, including iOS and iPad 26 for the popular iPhone and iPad product lines, in September 2025. Amongst the many new features are a significant number of improvements for braille users in VoiceOver, the built-in screen reader.

In this, the first part of a two-part series, Matthew Horspool will lift the lid on what is new and changed for users of braille displays and Braille Screen Input. He will cover:

  • Braille Keyboard Input
  • Item overview
  • New cursor and text selection options
  • Quick navigation
  • Single-hand Braille Screen Input
  • Changing gestures in Braille Screen Input Command mode

Chapter marks have been added to aid navigation.

Links of Interest

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A History of Tactile Literacy: In Conversation with Tilly Guthrie (Episode 73)

Victorian Britain was a heavily visual era. Sighted people gained access to the Penny Post, and the ability to communicate with friends across the nation with relative ease in an alphabet which was already well-established. On the other hand, for the blind community, many different tactile alphabets were invented simultaneously to address their exclusion from this culture, and blind education was completely decentralised.

Tilly Guthrie is a PhD researcher in the history of tactile literacy, specialising in the period between the invention of Braille in the 1820s and its eventual adoption in Britain at the end of the nineteenth century. In this conversation with Braillists Chairman, Dave Williams, she describes some of the tactile alphabets in use at that time and shows how their concurrence affected blind people’s access to culture and community and how blindness was perceived by the sighted.

More Information

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