Blackbe;rry Accessibility User manual

Accessibility
Version: 10.3.0
User Guide

Published: 2014-12-16
SWD-20141216151948966

Contents
Accessibility...................................................................................................................................................4
What's new in Accessibility.............................................................................................................................4
BlackBerry Screen Reader ............................................................................................................................ 5
Customise your accessibility settings............................................................................................................14
Turn on Magnify mode................................................................................................................................. 14
Turn on the Closed Captions setting............................................................................................................. 16
Turn on Hearing Aid mode........................................................................................................................... 17
Turn on TTY support.................................................................................................................................... 17

Accessibility
Your BlackBerry 10 device uses several well-established accessibility aids for people with disabilities. These aids include
magnify mode, hearing aid mode, TTY support, closed captions, text size adjustment and the BlackBerry Screen Reader.
What's new in Accessibility
Your BlackBerry device is designed to help you stay productive with assistive technology for people with disabilities and
special needs. BlackBerry continues to improve the accessibility features on your BlackBerry device with updates to
existing features and expanded gestures to use with the BlackBerry Screen Reader.
Gestures
• To turn off Magnify mode temporarily, triple-tap anywhere on the screen.
• To turn on or turn off the BlackBerry Screen Reader, triple-tap the Power/Lock Key.
• To announce where you are on a screen, tap once with two fingers as a "Where am I" locator.
• To start or stop text navigation, double-tap with two fingers. This gesture is available when the point of regard allows you
to navigate by text chunk.
• To instruct the BlackBerry Screen Reader to read from the top of the page, swipe down with three fingers.
• To instruct the BlackBerry Screen Reader to read from the current position, swipe down and hold with three fingers.
• Scroll gestures have been reversed. Swipe up with two fingers to scroll towards the top. Swipe down with two fingers to
scroll towards the bottom. This action sets a new point of regard.
Application support for BlackBerry Screen Reader
The BlackBerry Screen Reader now supports the following applications:
• Twitter
• Facebook
• LinkedIn
• Adobe Reader
• Documents To Go
• BlackBerry ID
• BlackBerry World
• Visual Voicemail
• BBM Video
• BBM Voice
• Instant Actions in the BlackBerry Hub
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Settings
• Set the punctuation verbosity for the BlackBerry Screen Reader.
• Turn on BlackBerry Screen Reader sounds to provide audio cues for the events happening on your screen.
• Configure the settings for closed captions.
• Gestures to select an item, turn on or turn off a feature, select an item from a list or change text verbosity are no longer
available from Quick Tasks mode in the BlackBerry Screen Reader.
BlackBerry Screen Reader
• The BlackBerry Screen Reader automatically reads email, SMS messages, webpages and dialog boxes.
• The BlackBerry Screen Reader voice has a higher pitch for inserted or auto-corrected text, and a lower pitch for deleted
text.
• Text-to-speech (TTS) pronunciation has been improved.
• If you stop the BlackBerry Screen Reader while it is reading (for example, to answer a call), the BlackBerry Screen
Reader starts reading from the location where it stopped, rather than starting again at the top of the page.
BlackBerry Screen Reader
The BlackBerry Screen Reader is an assistive technology that lets users with vision impairment interact with their
BlackBerry 10 device using speech output. The BlackBerry Screen Reader uses text-to-speech (TTS) to read screen
content, such as documents, email messages, text messages (SMS), titles and properties of media files and other text-
based information. The BlackBerry Screen Reader also provides navigation cues by reading screen layout information,
such as menu titles, page numbers and links.
Turn on the BlackBerry Screen Reader
The BlackBerry Screen Reader is a text-to-speech (TTS) feature on your BlackBerry device. The first time you turn on the
BlackBerry Screen Reader, the Help will open automatically for you to learn about the gestures you can use.
1. To turn on the BlackBerry Screen Reader, triple-press the Power/Lock key.
2. To turn off the BlackBerry Screen Reader, triple-press the Power/Lock key again.
Tip: You can set your device to turn on only from the device settings. Turn off the Enable using triple tap option in the
BlackBerry Screen Reader section of the device settings after you complete the initial device setup.
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Turn on the BlackBerry Screen Reader using device settings
The first time you turn on the BlackBerry Screen Reader, the Help will open automatically for you to learn about the
gestures you can use.
Tip:
If you don't want to see a verification message each time you turn on the BlackBerry Screen Reader from the device
settings, turn off the Confirmation Message option in the BlackBerry Screen Reader section of the device settings.
1. On the home screen, swipe down from the top of the screen.
2. Tap Settings > Accessibility > Screen Reader.
3. Turn on the Screen Reader switch.
4. Do one of the following:
• Double-tap with two fingers to continue.
• Tap Cancel to close the dialogue box without turning on the BlackBerry Screen Reader
5. Close the BlackBerry Screen Readerr settings in one of the following ways:
• Swipe up from the bottom of the screen to minimise the screen. Tap to close the app.
• Tap to return to the Accessibility screen. Tap again to return to the System Settings screen. Swipe up
from the bottom of the screen to minimise the screen. Tap to close the app.
Turn on Dark Screen mode
If you use the BlackBerry Screen Reader, you can increase privacy and conserve battery life by turning off the screen
backlight by using Dark Screen mode.
1. On the home screen, swipe down from the top of the screen.
2. Tap Settings > Accessibility.
3. Tap Screen Reader.
4. Turn on the Dark Screen Mode switch.
5. Close the BlackBerry Screen Reader settings in one of the following ways:
• Swipe up from the bottom of the screen to minimise the screen. Tap to close the app.
• Tap to return to the Accessibility screen. Tap again to return to the System Settings screen. Swipe up
from the bottom of the screen to minimise the screen. Tap to close the app.
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Adjust the volume, speed and pitch
You may wish to increase the speed of the BlackBerry Screen Reader when you surf the Internet or slow it down when you
get instructions. Increase the volume when you're outside or decrease it when you're at home or in a quieter space. You
may also wish to adjust the pitch to make the reader easier to understand. The BlackBerry Screen Reader lets you adjust
the volume, speed and pitch of the reader to provide a personalised experience for any situation.
1. On the home screen, swipe down from the top of the screen.
2. Tap Settings > Accessibility.
3. Tap Screen Reader.
4. Move the Volume, Speed and Pitch sliders.
5. Close the BlackBerry Screen Reader settings in one of the following ways:
• Swipe up from the bottom of the screen to minimise the screen. Tap to close the app.
• Tap to return to the Accessibility screen. Tap again to return to the System Settings screen. Swipe up
from the bottom of the screen to minimise the screen. Tap to close the app.
Adjust the text or punctuation verbosity
When you are learning how to use the BlackBerry Screen Reader, you can set the verbosity to a higher setting. Once you
are more familiar with your BlackBerry device, you can change the verbosity to include less information. For example,
when the BlackBerry Screen Reader pauses at the end of a sentence, it may not be necessary for the reader to indicate
that there is a full stop or exclamation mark.
You can adjust two types of verbosity in the BlackBerry Screen Reader. Text verbosity includes non-content words such as
labels, the current list item of the total list items and navigation tips. Punctuation verbosity includes the amount of
punctuation that is read.
1. On the home screen, swipe down from the top of the screen.
2. Tap Settings > Accessibility.
3. Tap Screen Reader.
4. To adjust the text verbosity, tap Verbosity.
5. In the drop-down list, tap High or Low.
6. To adjust the amount of punctuation, tap Punctuation Verbosity.
7. In the drop-down list, tap one of the following options:
• If you don't want any punctuation replaced with a spoken equivalent, tap None.
• If you want the following symbols to be replaced with a spoken equivalent, tap Some: # (number), $ (dollar), %
(percent sign), & (ampersand), * (asterisk), + (plus), / (slash), = (equal), @ (at sign), and ^ (caret).
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• If you want to include the previous list, plus the following symbols, tap Most: "(quotation mark), ( (left
parentheses), ) (right parentheses), - (hyphen), _ (underscore), : (colon), ; (semi-colon), < (left angle bracket), >
(right angle bracket), [ (left bracket), ] (right bracket), \ (backslash), | (pipe symbol), ` (grave accent or
apostrophe), ~ (tilde), { (left brace), and } (right brace).
• If you want to include all the previous levels, plus the following symbols, tap All: ? (question mark) and !
(exclamation point).
8. Close the BlackBerry Screen Reader settings in one of the following ways:
• Swipe up from the bottom of the screen to minimise the screen. Tap to close the app.
• Tap to return to the Accessibility screen. Tap again to return to the System Settings screen. Swipe up
from the bottom of the screen to minimise the screen. Tap to close the app.
Using audio cues with BlackBerry Screen Reader
Your BlackBerry Screen Reader can emit audio cues for events on your BlackBerry device. By default, this setting is on and
you hear audio cues for the following:
• A task error
• A task is starting or finishing
• A page or screen is refreshed or changed
• You changed a switch, tickbox or option
• A menu is opened or closed
•
Turn on sounds for the BlackBerry Screen Reader
1. On the home screen, swipe down from the top of the screen.
2. Tap Settings > Accessibility.
3. Tap Screen Reader.
4. Turn on the Screen Reader sounds switch.
5. Close the settings in one of the following ways:
• Swipe up from the bottom of the screen to minimise the screen. Tap to close the app.
• Tap to return to the Accessibility screen. Tap again to return to the System Settings screen. Swipe up
from the bottom of the screen to minimise the screen. Tap to close the app.
Turn on the Silent on Calls setting
The Silent on Calls setting prevents the BlackBerry Screen Reader from reading screen information while you're on a call.
1. On the home screen, swipe down from the top of the screen.
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2. Tap Settings > Accessibility.
3. Tap Screen Reader.
4. Turn on the Silent on Calls switch.
5. Close the settings in one of the following ways:
• Swipe up from the bottom of the screen to minimise the screen. Tap to close the app.
• Tap to return to the Accessibility screen. Tap again to return to the System Settings screen. Swipe up
from the bottom of the screen to minimise the screen. Tap to close the app.
Turn on the Keyboard Echo setting
Make sure you're saying what you think you're saying. The Keyboard Echo feature reads screen information when you type
in a text field.
1. On the home screen, swipe down from the top of the screen.
2. Tap Settings > Accessibility.
3. Tap Screen Reader > Keyboard Echo.
4. In the Keyboard Echo drop-down list, tap None, Characters, Words, or Characters and Words.
5. Close the BlackBerry Screen Reader settings in one of the following ways:
• Swipe up from the bottom of the screen to minimise the screen. Tap to close the app.
• Tap to return to the Accessibility screen. Tap again to return to the System Settings screen. Swipe up
from the bottom of the screen to minimise the screen. Tap to close the app.
Change the language that the BlackBerry Screen
Reader uses
If you speak more than one language, your BlackBerry Screen Reader can, too. You can quickly change the text-to-speech
(TTS) language if you're reading web content or email in a different language than the preferred language that you set for
your BlackBerry device.
1. On the home screen, swipe down from the top of the screen.
2. Tap Settings > Accessibility.
3. Tap Screen Reader.
4. In the Screen Reader Language drop-down list, tap a language.
5. Close the BlackBerry Screen Reader settings in one of the following ways:
• Swipe up from the bottom of the screen to minimise the screen. Tap to close the app.
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• Tap to return to the Accessibility screen. Tap again to return to the System Settings screen. Swipe up
from the bottom of the screen to minimise the screen. Tap to close the app.
Stop the BlackBerry Screen Reader from reading
dialogue boxes, tips and notifications
When a dialogue box, tip or notification appears on your BlackBerry device screen, the BlackBerry Screen Reader moves
from your point of regard to the message on the screen. The BlackBerry Screen Reader reads the message from the top. If
you do not wish to hear the contents of the dialogue box, tip or notification, you can stop the BlackBerry Screen Reader
from reading it.
Tap on the screen to stop reading the message.
Gestures for the BlackBerry Screen Reader
Gestures that start at the edges of the screen (such as swiping down from the top to access Settings or swiping up from the
bottom to minimise an app) are the same in the BlackBerry Screen Reader as they are in all other apps. However, when the
BlackBerry Screen Reader is turned on, you can use additional gestures to help you navigate
Task Gesture
Set and read the point of regard
A point of regard is a field, button, selection area, link,
application, paragraph, sentence, word, title, picture or any
other screen element.
Tap the point of regard with one finger.
Access Discovery mode
Discovery mode enables you to find and interact with points
of regard, such as letters, words, buttons, links, menu items
and pictures. These points of regard are highlighted.
Tap and hold the point of regard with one finger, then move
your finger. The point of regard is set to the object under
your finger.
Announce where you are on the screen. Tap the screen with two fingers.
You can use this gesture as a "Where am I" locator if you
get lost on the screen. The BlackBerry Screen Reader reads
the description, the location of the point of regard and the
application name.
Activate a point of regard
When you activate a point of regard, you indicate that you
want to interact with that part of the display.
Double-tap the point of regard with one finger.
Select an item Triple-tap the item with one finger.
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Task Gesture
Press and hold Double-tap and hold.
Move to the previous or next point of regard Swipe right with one finger to go to the next point. Swipe left
with one finger to go to the previous point.
Pan or scroll a list Swipe up with two fingers to scroll towards the top. Swipe
down with two fingers to scroll towards the bottom. This
action sets a new point of regard.
An audio cue indicates that the scrolling action is complete
and the BlackBerry Screen Reader updates the point of
regard so that you can continue reading from the new
location.
Go to the top or bottom of a display area Swipe up and hold with two fingers to go to the top. Swipe
down and hold with two fingers to go to the bottom. This
action sets a new point of regard.
Change a slider value Flick up with one finger to increase the slider value. Flick
down with one finger to decrease the slider value.
Move to the previous or next section of text or web content.
A section of text can be a character, word, line, sentence or
paragraph. A section of web content can be a heading or
link.
Swipe left with one finger to go to the previous section of
text or web content. Swipe right with one finger to go to the
next section of text or web content.
Set the Change size of a text chunk.
A text chunk can be a character, word, line, sentence, or
paragraph, or a heading or link on a web page. The size of a
text chunk is used to identify how far to skip ahead or go
back in a document, web content or other text.
Swipe up with one finger while in the content to increase
the size. Swipe down with one finger while in the content to
decrease the size.
Move left, right, up or down Swipe left, right, up or down with three fingers.
Stop the BlackBerry Screen Reader from reading that point
of regard
Swipe down and to the left with one finger.
In some cases, the BlackBerry Screen Reader may be
interrupted by a phone call, alert message or dialogue box.
This gesture ensures that the BlackBerry Screen Reader
updates the point of regard so that you can resume reading
from the location where you stopped.
Perform the default action of the application
Examples of default actions are taking a picture with the
Camera app or starting and stopping a video with the Video
app.
Double-tap with two fingers.
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Task Gesture
Read the time and date
Note: The status bar containing the time and date
information is very close to the top edge of the screen. This
gesture may cause the settings menu to appear.
Quickly swipe down and then slide up with one finger.
Read the status bar information (including battery and
network connectivity)
Note: The status bar containing the time and date
information is very close to the top edge of the screen. This
gesture may cause the settings menu to appear.
Quickly swipe up and then slide down with one finger.
Gestures for the Quick Tasks mode
In Quick Tasks mode, you can change settings and access BlackBerry Screen Reader features. When you access Quick
Tasks mode, a list of available tasks appears and you have 3 seconds to complete a task. If you don't complete a task, the
BlackBerrydevice closes the mode and vibrates briefly to notify you.
Task Gesture
Access Quick Tasks mode Swipe down and to the right with one finger
Open the BlackBerry Screen Reader settings Tap with one finger.
Change the speech volume Swipe up with one finger to increase the volume. Swipe
down with one finger to decrease the volume.
Change the speech speed Swipe left with one finger to decrease the speech rate.
Swipe right with one finger to increase the speech rate.
Replay the last item Swipe up with two fingers.
Spell the last item letter by letter Swipe down with two fingers.
Spell the last item using the phonetic alphabet (for
example, Alpha, Bravo and so on)
Swipe down and hold with two fingers to spell the last item
phonetically.
Turn on or turn off Dark Screen Mode Tap with two fingers.
Gestures for the BlackBerry Calendar
Task Gesture
Move to the next day, week or month Swipe to the right with three fingers.
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Task Gesture
Move to the previous day, week or month Swipe to the left with three fingers.
Gestures for the home screen
Task Gesture
Switch between your work space and personal space Swipe down from the top of the screen using three fingers.
Tap once with one finger to set the point of regard on the
work space, then double-tap with one finger to select the
work space.
Minimise the application and show your minimised apps Swipe up from the bottom. This gesture is the same as the
one used in other applications.
Close a minimised app With the point of regard on the Active Frame, double-tap
with two fingers.
Delete an app Tap and hold with one finger, then move your finger to the
app. The point of regard is set under your finger. Then
double-tap with two fingers to delete the app.
Gestures for the BlackBerry Keyboard
When you select text to cut, copy or delete, the size of the text block depends on the size of text chunk you have set. A text
chunk can be a character, word, line, sentence, or paragraph, or a heading or link on a web page.
Task Gesture
Switch the BlackBerry Keyboard layout Swipe down with one finger.
Accept word prediction Swipe up with one finger.
The pitch of the screen reader is higher for word
predictions.
Select text Double-tap and hold with one finger.
This gesture selects a text chunk and includes the cursor
position.
Clear a text selection When you have text selected, double-tap and hold with one
finger.
Extend the text selection When you have text selected, swipe from left to right to
increase the selection by one text chunk.
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Task Gesture
Decrease the text selection When you have text selected, swipe from right to left to
decrease the selection by one text chunk.
If the text selection becomes empty when you swipe to
decrease the selection, the selection extends in the
opposite direction. For example, if you get to the beginning
of the selected text, the new selection is the configured text
chunk extending to the left. If you get to the end of the
selected text, the new selection is beyond the previous end.
Change the size of a text chunk Swipe up with one finger while in the content to increase
the size. Swipe down with one finger while in the content to
decrease the size.
Delete a block of text (for languages that read left to right) Swipe from right to left with two fingers.
Delete a block of text (for languages that read right to left) Swipe from left to right with two fingers.
Paste a block of text After you copy or cut text , swipe down and then up with two
fingers.
When you successfully paste the text, the BlackBerry
Screen Reader reads the content that you inserted.
Customise your accessibility settings
You can customise your BlackBerry device to help suit your needs. For example, you can magnify the screen, use your
hearing aid with your device and change the font size.
1. On the home screen, swipe down from the top of the screen.
2. Tap Settings > Accessibility.
3. Change your settings.
Turn on Magnify mode
You can use Magnify mode to enlarge the information on your BlackBerry device screen. You can zoom in to or zoom out
from the screen, even if you use an application that does not normally support zooming.
1. On the home screen, swipe down from the top of the screen.
2. Tap Settings > Accessibility.
3. Turn on the Magnify Mode switch.
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The information on the screen immediately appears larger.
4. To move around the magnified screen, use two fingers to move the screen in the direction you want to go.
Customise the magnification level
When you use Magnify mode, you can customise the level of magnification on the screen.
To adjust the magnification without leaving your current screen, in magnification mode do one of the following:
• To increase the magnification, zoom in by sliding your fingers apart.
• To decrease the magnification, zoom out by sliding your fingers together.
If you reach the maximum magnification, your BlackBerry device vibrates.
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Temporarily turn off Magnify mode
You may want to temporarily turn off the magnification of your screen to see the whole screen at once and then turn on
Magnify mode again to continue what you were doing.
Using two fingers, triple-tap anywhere on the screen.
To turn on Magnify mode again, triple tap again.
Turn on the Closed Captions setting
Closed Captions displays text on your BlackBerry device screen when you play video files that support closed captioning.
The default settings for Character and Caption Background are specified by the captioned content.
1. On the home screen, swipe down from the top of the screen.
2. Tap Settings > Accessibility.
3. Turn on the Closed Captions switch.
4. Change any of the Character settings for Character Colour, Character Opacity, Character Size, Character Edge
Attributes or Font.
5. Change any of the Caption Background settings for Caption Background Colour or Caption Background Opacity.
After you change any of the Character settings or Caption Background settings, you can see the changes in the Preview
window.
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Turn on Hearing Aid mode
This feature might not be supported depending on your BlackBerry device model. This feature only supports hearing aids
equipped with a telecoil.
Hearing Aid mode is designed to improve the compatibility of your device with your hearing aid. When you have Hearing
Aid mode turned on, appears on the status bar.
1. On the home screen, swipe down from the top of the screen.
2. Tap Settings > Accessibility > Hearing Aid Settings.
3. Turn on the Hearing Aid Mode switch.
Turn on TTY support
The TTY device that you want to connect to your BlackBerry device must operate at 45.45 bps.
TTY support is designed to allow your device to connect with an external TTY device that converts received calls to text.
If your TTY device is designed for use with a 2.5-mm headset jack, you must use an adapter accessory to connect your TTY
device to your device.
1. Connect a TTY device to your device according to the instructions that came with your TTY device.
2. In the Phone app, swipe down from the top of the screen.
3. Tap Settings > TTY.
4. Turn on the TTY switch.
Tip: You can also turn on TTY support from your home screen. Swipe down from the top of the screen. Tap Settings
>Accessibility > TTY.
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