Accessibility

Android tablet accessibility settings

Your Android tablet’s accessibility settings can make your tablet easier and more comfortable to use. You can use them to make the text on the screen larger and to use your tablet’s flash to alert you to missed calls and messages. They can also let you use your tablet as a magnifying glass to read small text, and to set up your tablet to convert what you say into text.

What you will need

Before you begin, check that your tablet is fully charged and showing the Home screen. Your operating system software should also be fully up to date.

Remember, there are lots of different brands of Android tablet, and they all do things slightly differently. Some of the screens on your tablet might look a little different to the ones on this guide, but you should still be able to follow along.

First steps

Your tablet’s accessibility features are controlled from the Settings app. Here’s how to access them.

1. Swipe up from the bottom of the Home to display the Apps screen. You will see a grid of icons.
2. Find the icon that looks like a cog wheel. This is the Settings app. Tap it!
3. From the Settings menu, a list of options will appear on the left of the screen. Scroll down the list until you find Accessibility and tap it.

A long list of options will appear in the right of the screen. It’s worth exploring the list to see which accessibility options could make your life easier. For this demonstration, we’ll just focus on a few of the main settings.

Setting the font and screen zoom

Changing the size of text on your tablet’s screen can make everything easier to read, including menus, emails, text messages, and web pages too.

1. Find the Vision category and tap it. It should be at the top of the Accessibility screen.
2. On the Vision screen, find and tap Font and screen zoom. A window will pop up showing some controls.
3. Drag the Font size slider to the right to make the text larger. The text in the example section will get bigger as you drag the blue dot on the slider to the right. You can use this to find a text size that’s most comfortable for you.
4. If you find the text size is still too small when the blue dot is all the way to the right, tap Larger font sizes at the top of the screen.
5. The Font size slider will now let you increase the text size even more.
6. When you have the font size the way you like, tap OK at the bottom of the window to set the font size. The window will close so you can see the Vision menu again.

Using the camera flash for notifications

You can use your tablet’s camera flash to help you keep on top of missed calls and other notifications. When this feature is enabled, your tablet will make the camera’s LED flash blink, to let you know when a notification is waiting.

To get started, first tap the Back button to return to the Accessibility menu.

1. Now tap Hearing on the menu.
2. ap on Flash notifications. Here, you can choose to make your tablet’s screen flash, or your camera’s LED light blink when a notification is received.
3. Tap the first switch to make your tablet’s camera flash, then tap Turn on in the box that appears, to confirm you want to use Flash notifications.
4. If you decide you don’t like Flash notifications, repeat the above steps. When you tap the switch, it will turn back to grey, and Flash notifications will be switched off.

Other accessibility settings

Tap the Back button to return to the Accessibility menu.

If you explore the menu you will find lots of different accessibility features.

Most of them can be switched on or off by tapping the switch next to each one.

Using the camera as a magnifying glass

Another useful feature of your Android tablet is the ability to use your tablet’s camera to magnify text in the real world. It can help you read the fine print on bills, or to get a closer look at small objects. You can use this feature via the Camera app.

1. Head back to the Home screen by pressing the Home button.
2. Swipe up from the bottom of the Home screen to display the Apps screen, like you did earlier in this guide./li>
3. Look for the Camera app and tap its icon to open it./li>
4. The screen will change to show camera controls and what’s called a live view of what the camera is seeing./li>
5. Place two fingertips on the part of the screen that shows the live view and slide them apart. You will see the camera zoom in. We call this a pinch to zoom, even though you are moving your fingers apart, like a reverse pinch!

6. Now, point the camera at some small text or object you want to magnify. If you hold the camera too close, it won’t focus, so just move it away from the object enough so the view is clear.
7. You can zoom back out by pinching your fingers together on the screen.
8. When you’ve finished with the magnifying feature, tap the Home button to return to the Home screen.

Dictating a note to your tablet

To finish up, we’ll show you how to dictate a note to your tablet just using your voice. This is a really handy feature that lets you create messages and notes without typing on the keyboard.

1. Swipe up from the bottom of the screen to show all your apps. Tap the Notes icon to open the app.
2. Tap the New note icon in the bottom right of the screen to start a new message.
3. A blank note screen appears, along with the keyboard at the bottom of the screen. You could start typing now, but we’re going to use voice dictation.
4. Android’s Speech-to-text feature works in any app where you can see a microphone button on the keyboard.
5. Select the Microphone by tapping on it. The keyboard will disappear, and you’ll see a grey area with a large microphone instead.
6. Let’s dictate a note about some family history research. Speak clearly and not too quickly and watch what happens when you say Check if Uncle Frank worked on the Snowy Hydro in the 1950s.
7. To save the note, tap Save in the top right corner.

Dictating a note to your tablet

There are lots of apps that can use speech-to-text. You can use it to write emails, notes, create reminders and calendar appointments, and even search the internet!

Congratulations!

You’ve now learned how to use some of the accessibility features on your Android tablet, but it’s worth taking some time to explore more of the accessibility features that can make life easier for you.

Next up, we'll learn the Android tablet: System settings activity.