Soft Braille Keyboard
Free App
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About Soft Braille Keyboard
This Braille keyboard presents itself as a standard Android input method and can be used in any application where a keyboard is displayed to enter text. This enables an experienced Braille typist to exceed the typing speeds of sighted users across all of their applications.
Two keyboard layouts are supported. A conventional horizontal layout for large screens like tablets and a vertical layout suitable for smaller displays like phones. In both modes you can type using the standard Braille fingers and use convenient gestures to manipulate and read the text input. Both keyboard styles support additional configuration so that you can configure your perfect layout.
Both six dot literary and eight dot computer Braille are supported.
App translation is currently in progress, but currently Chinese, Czech, English, Italian, Polish, Portuguese (European / Brazil), Russian, Slovak, Spanish and Vietnamese languages are fully supported.
Several Braille tables are supported by the app and more are constantly being added. These include English, Chinese, Czech, Dutch, Italian, Polish, Portuguese, Russian, Slovak, Spanish, Swedish and Vietnamese. Many more tables are present, but have not been fully tested yet. Please contact the developer directly if you want your language included.
Contracted Braille is supported for English UEB and US.
The keyboard has many more features including spell checking, voice dictation, text manipulation features, word count, auto-capitalisation and more.
Basic usage instructions:
* Open the Soft Braille Keyboard app and click the first button "Enable Soft Braille Keyboard", and enable this keyboard.
* Tap the second button "Set Soft Braille Keyboard as the default keyboard" and choose Soft Braille Keyboard.
* Tap on the edit field in the Soft Braille Keyboard application.
* Disable Talkback temporarily by pressing and holding the volume up and down keys simultaneously.
* If you are using a phone use the vertical layout by cradling the phone in your hands with the screen facing away from you and the device in landscape mode. Arrange your fingers in two vertical lines, so your two pointer fingers are closest to the top edge of the phone, middle fingers in the centre and ring fingers closest to the bottom edge. Leave a small gap between your two hands. Press and hold your three left fingers for 1.5 seconds and then do the same with your three right fingers to calibrate the keyboard.
* If you are using a tablet use the horizontal layout by placing the device flat on a table and arrange your six fingers in a straight line from left to right leaving a small gap between your two hands like a Perkins Brailler layout. Press and hold your three left fingers for 1.5 seconds and then do the same with your three right fingers to calibrate the keyboard.
* Type with your usual Braille fingers.
* Make use of gestures for example swipe dot 1 left / right to move back and forward by character respectively, swipe dot 4 right for space and dot 4 left for backspace.
* Once you are done press and hold the volume up /down keys simultaneously to re-enable Talkback, or just lock and unlock your device.
Soft Braille Keyboard has many more features. For details or troubleshooting
Please see https://goo.gl/O2UHN9 for the full user guide.
This project is also open source if you can contribute please get in touch with the developer. See: https://github.com/danieldalton10/Soft-Braille-Keyboard
Two keyboard layouts are supported. A conventional horizontal layout for large screens like tablets and a vertical layout suitable for smaller displays like phones. In both modes you can type using the standard Braille fingers and use convenient gestures to manipulate and read the text input. Both keyboard styles support additional configuration so that you can configure your perfect layout.
Both six dot literary and eight dot computer Braille are supported.
App translation is currently in progress, but currently Chinese, Czech, English, Italian, Polish, Portuguese (European / Brazil), Russian, Slovak, Spanish and Vietnamese languages are fully supported.
Several Braille tables are supported by the app and more are constantly being added. These include English, Chinese, Czech, Dutch, Italian, Polish, Portuguese, Russian, Slovak, Spanish, Swedish and Vietnamese. Many more tables are present, but have not been fully tested yet. Please contact the developer directly if you want your language included.
Contracted Braille is supported for English UEB and US.
The keyboard has many more features including spell checking, voice dictation, text manipulation features, word count, auto-capitalisation and more.
Basic usage instructions:
* Open the Soft Braille Keyboard app and click the first button "Enable Soft Braille Keyboard", and enable this keyboard.
* Tap the second button "Set Soft Braille Keyboard as the default keyboard" and choose Soft Braille Keyboard.
* Tap on the edit field in the Soft Braille Keyboard application.
* Disable Talkback temporarily by pressing and holding the volume up and down keys simultaneously.
* If you are using a phone use the vertical layout by cradling the phone in your hands with the screen facing away from you and the device in landscape mode. Arrange your fingers in two vertical lines, so your two pointer fingers are closest to the top edge of the phone, middle fingers in the centre and ring fingers closest to the bottom edge. Leave a small gap between your two hands. Press and hold your three left fingers for 1.5 seconds and then do the same with your three right fingers to calibrate the keyboard.
* If you are using a tablet use the horizontal layout by placing the device flat on a table and arrange your six fingers in a straight line from left to right leaving a small gap between your two hands like a Perkins Brailler layout. Press and hold your three left fingers for 1.5 seconds and then do the same with your three right fingers to calibrate the keyboard.
* Type with your usual Braille fingers.
* Make use of gestures for example swipe dot 1 left / right to move back and forward by character respectively, swipe dot 4 right for space and dot 4 left for backspace.
* Once you are done press and hold the volume up /down keys simultaneously to re-enable Talkback, or just lock and unlock your device.
Soft Braille Keyboard has many more features. For details or troubleshooting
Please see https://goo.gl/O2UHN9 for the full user guide.
This project is also open source if you can contribute please get in touch with the developer. See: https://github.com/danieldalton10/Soft-Braille-Keyboard
All Application Badges
Free
downl.
downl.
Android
4.0+
4.0+
Bug
buster
buster
Android app
App History & Updates
What's Changed
* Spell check support.
* Voice dictation support.
* Two new keyboard styles - choose from normal, slate and stylus mode or swap dots 1 and 4 with 3 and 6.
* Support for several new languages
* Literary Braille improvements
* Word count.
* Auto-capitalisation
* Double-space inserts a period followed by a space.
* Select prefered TTS engine.
* Audio ducking while music is playing in the background.
* Many bug fixes.
Please see https://goo.gl/Vn3V3B for full details.
* Spell check support.
* Voice dictation support.
* Two new keyboard styles - choose from normal, slate and stylus mode or swap dots 1 and 4 with 3 and 6.
* Support for several new languages
* Literary Braille improvements
* Word count.
* Auto-capitalisation
* Double-space inserts a period followed by a space.
* Select prefered TTS engine.
* Audio ducking while music is playing in the background.
* Many bug fixes.
Please see https://goo.gl/Vn3V3B for full details.
Version update Soft Braille Keyboard was updated to version 3.0-2
More downloads Soft Braille Keyboard reached 1 000 - 5 000 downloads
What are users saying about Soft Braille Keyboard
F
by F####:
by F####:
I'm practically blind without glasses (I wear -14 lenses right now). This input method actually allows me to write a wall of text in the comments section of websites without putting my glasses on. Two thumbs up for the app!
Z
by Z####:
by Z####:
Great and useful app! Right now I'm using it to write this review. Much faster than with the Google Keyboard.
Z
by Z####:
by Z####:
I've been using SBK since its beta testing began, and it's been my primary keyboard ever since. It has an intuitive user interface and has generally improved with every update. I wouldn't be nearly as productive without this keyboard. It gets my highest recommendation.
Z
by Z####:
by Z####:
Awesome app! Still the best on-screen Braille option available for Android. No need for a Bluetooth keyboard any longer. Love this app!
M
by M####:
by M####:
I've been enjoying my transition from the Apple - verse to Planet Android overall, but the ability to braille to my device Is exactly what I needed to make it complete. The ability to use this app in context, rather than a remote keyboard in the style of MBraille make this the best keyboarding app of its kind on this platform.
K
by K####:
by K####:
I've been using it for a while now since it was in beta. I use it exclusively. I have been able to use this for all data entry on my phones except certain odd situations where I was glad to have an easy way to switch temporarily to google keyboard. While I can't type as fast with this on my phone as with a real perkins brailler, there is no comparison to my speed with this as compared to google keyboard. Also, given how much I use it, I am happy to pay this much for it.
K
by K####:
by K####:
Great app. Very cool how you can disable talkback whilst using the app.
C
by C####:
by C####:
this app has improved my typing speed on Android phone to a significant level. I'm hopeful that the hardworking developer would add Hindi table very soon. I reserve the fif star for that moment.
V
by V####:
by V####:
Awesome app! Increasing to a 5 rating when auto capitalising and individual TTS options are added. Great work Daniel, keep it up!
by R####:
Initially demands some time and practice to settle but then it works great. The compulsion to suspend Talkback is a bother really, but is worth it if one has to input large amount of text. The developer is responsive, and one hopes subsequent updates would address persisting issues and bugs.