Android Accessibility Suite

Google LLC

About this app

Android Accessibility Suite is a collection of accessibility apps that help you use your Android device eyes-free or with a switch device.

Android Accessibility Suite includes:
• Accessibility Menu: Use this large on-screen menu to lock your phone, control volume and brightness, take screenshots, and more.
• Select to Speak: Select items on your screen and hear them read aloud.
• TalkBack screen reader: Get spoken feedback, control your device with gestures, and type with the on-screen braille keyboard.

To get started:
1. Open your device's Settings app.
2. Select Accessibility.
3. Select Accessibility Menu, Select to Speak, or TalkBack.
• For TalkBack, you can also press and hold both volume keys.

Android Accessibility Suite requires Android 6 (Android M) or later. To use TalkBack for Wear, you'll need Wear OS 3.0 or later.

Permissions Notice
• Phone: Android Accessibility Suite observes the phone state so it can adapt announcements to your call status.
• Accessibility Service: Because this app is an accessibility service, it can observe your actions, retrieve window content, and observe text that you type.
• Notifications: When you allow this permission, TalkBack can notify you about updates.

Note: Switch Access has been removed from the Android Accessibility Suite. You can download the Switch Access app instead (g.co/play/switchaccess).

Ratings and reviews

It's well known that the accessibility options on Android phones can be used maliciously to gain an unbelievable amount of information off of another user. I found an extensively large button menu in the Switch Access settings, which just on its own leaves me wondering if I have ever had a secure moment on any Android phone. The Accessibility Suite is good at heart, but it seems like it's just a giant corrupt permissions menu.

When you figure out how to set the talkback shortcut to turn on and off talkback by holding down both volume keys, it becomes quite empowering, allowing you to read any kindle book aloud, for example. But until you find that, you will think that your phone has become possessed! I wish that BESIDES the holding of both volume keys to toggle, there would be some gesture to turn it on and off. Activating it should also automatically turn the speaker on, or you will have no idea what's going on!

TalkBack is awful, the worst feature I've ever seen on any phone ever. It is FAR, FAR too easy to activate accidentally, and unless you know the exact phone magic you performed to turn it on it is IMPOSSIBLE to turn it off. I can't even see how it's useful to people with disabilities, because its two main apertures of control (double tap to activate, two fingers to swipe) are complete garbage, 90% of the time it doesn't register that you've performed the right series of taps. GET RID OF TALKBACK

What's new

TalkBack 14.0.1
• Bug fixes and stability improvements

TalkBack 14.0
• Braille support in more languages
• New edit commands with braille display
• New edit gestures with braille keyboard

Select to Speak
• Select text in an app and choose “Read aloud” to hear the text spoken. Some apps may not support this yet.