iOS 26 Brings More Braille Access with…. Braille Access

By Scott Davert

Introduction

Apple releases major updates each fall. Whether you are a user of the mainstream functions only, or whether you use accessibility options, every update typically brings some kind of enhancements. One of the significant upgrades in iOS 26 is a new suite of features for braille display users called Braille Access. Braille Access attempts to recreate the feel of a traditional braille notetaker across iOS, iPadOS, macOS, and visionOS, offering a custom interface for the features braille note taker users rely on most. With Braille Access, you can take notes in a braille user friendly way, can perform calculations using Nemeth code or Unified English Braille, can open Braille Ready Format (BRF) files directly and can watch the time in seconds on demand. Though Live Captions have been around on iOS since 2022, they have not been fully accessible to braille display users. How is this feature working out? This article looks at Braille Access on iOS 26.1 and will cover my findings after using the public release of iOS 26 and after using the 2.6.1 public release since it became available to beta testers on October 28. If your braille display is supported on iOS 26, it includes these features. At present, Braille Access does not work with Braille Screen Input.

Settings

Whether I’m working with a new device or a new series of features on a device, I often find it handy to explore the settings to get things working as close to what I’d like as possible. Braille Access is no different in this regard. The available options can be found under settings>Accessibility>VoiceOver>braille>Braille Access. It’s possible to configure which features appear in the Braille Access menu, whether or not to show the back button, to control whether menu items are spoken, whether to speak list items, whether to show a visual representation of the Braille Access content with its print equivalents, whether Braille Access should remember your last position in Braille Access on re-launch, whether there is typing speech feedback spoken by VoiceOver, and individual settings for each feature. Note that in order to get typing speech feedback, typing feedback for hardware keyboards needs to be enabled in VoiceOver’s Typing settings, which can be configured by going to Settings>Accessibility>VoiceOver>typing>Typing feedback>Hardware Keyboard>Characters. For example, the braille notes feature settings permit the user to define how created notes should be sorted when displayed. BRF files currently only have the option of whether the user wishes to fit their specific device. The Calculator allows the user to select either Nemeth or Unified English Braille Math. The setting under Live Captions allows the user to control whether the audio from the iOS device’s microphone or audio output is being captioned.

Commands to know

Here are commands you will need to know for use with Braille Access. To launch or exit braille access on a braille display with a Perkins-style keyboard, press dots 7 and 8 together. If you have a braille display with a QWERTY keyboard, you can activate, or deactivate, Braille Access by pressing VoiceOver Modifier Shift and Y. If you are using a QWERTY keyboard, it is also worth noting that you will need to type using Braille Keyboard input. This can be toggled by pressing VO Modifier with Y. For those unaware, when this feature is enabled, it turns the home row of your QWERTY keyboard into braille input keys. Letters f, s, and D correspond to dots 1, 2, and 3 respectively. To type dots 4, 5, or 6, press J, K, or L respectively. A represents dot 7, and the semicolon emulates dot 8.

To activate items in Braille Access, press dot 8. When context menus are available, they can be accessed by pressing dot 7. To move back a menu option, press space with b. Pressing space with H will also exit Braille Access.

After launching Braille Access, assuming you have not removed any of the menu items in Settings, there will be several options available. Use your favorite navigation methods with a braille keyboard to move through the menu. The available features include Launch App, Choose Item, Braille Notes, BRF Files, Calculator, Live Captions, and a running display of the time in seconds. Each of these features will be discussed below.

Launch App

The first option “launch app” appears with a cursor at the end of the feature name. Begin typing thename of the app desired, and press enter to pull up a list of matches, or to automatically launch the app if only 1 match is found. Though this feature has existed since iOS 17, it now can be activated from anywhere within the operating system. Before iOS 26, this feature only worked when you were on the Home Screen. While pressing dot 8 from the Home Screen is something I have to train my muscle memory to re-do, the good news is that it takes more to accidentally bump and activate the feature. Pressing dot 8 alone is something I sometimes have done accidentally when not disconnecting my braille display from my phone, one less thing to worry about with the upgrade

Item Chooser

The second item under Braille Access is Item Chooser. The Item Chooser allows a VoiceOver user another way to navigate. Instead of exploring by touch or swiping repeatedly, you can use the Item Chooser to jump directly to what you want. It’s also possible to filter by typing the name of the item you’re looking for and the list narrows down in real time, making it much faster to locate things. Once you select an item from the list, VoiceOver takes you directly to it on the screen, ready for interaction. In terms of Braille Access specifically, like the Launch App feature, Item Chooser has a cursor located at the end of the menu option. A user can type what they are looking for followed by dot 8 and VoiceOver will jump directly to that element on screen. I personally tend to use the VoiceOver Find function, but having another way to effectively navigate is always a good thing.

Braille Notes

Braille Notes is a feature that allows you to take notes in a native braille environment on your iOS device. This feature allows the user to compose notes in whatever format they prefer, since translation does not occur. As long as you don’t want it to be translated on another device, you can mix and match codes as you wish. Note that, like the files in the BRF Files feature, these files cannot be accessed through speech.

Upon first launch, which can be done by pressing dot 8 on the Braille Notes option in the Braille Access menu, will present the user with 2 options. “new….” Which will allow you to create new files or folders and “back” which will take you back to the previous menu. Once notes have been created, they will also show up here. Let’s create our first note by activating “new..” followed by “new note”.

After creating a new note, users will find a uniquely shaped cursor. It is dots 1-2-3-4-7-8 to show the beginning of the cursor and 1-4-5-6-7-8 to represent the end of the cursor. Moving around a typed note works as it normally does in iOS. Pressing space with dots 1-2-3, for example, will move the user to the top of the note. Selection commands also work, including the newly introduced double and triple pressing of a cursor routing button which will select the word or line respectively. Other selection commands such as space with 2-3-5-6 to select all also work. What this means, for example, is that you can type a note within the Braille Notes feature and then copy and paste the contents into any text field. This is when translation does come into play, since the file will need to be translated so that it is in a useable form for iOS. When pasting, the translation will follow the user’s braille table settings at the time. What this means is that if you have a set of notes you have taken in Grade III, for example, is that you cannot translate these notes into iOS since there is no braille table which works with Grade III braille. However, if I mix contracted and uncontracted braille with the same code, such as UEB, the uncontracted braille I have typed would automatically be converted, since it doesn’t require any different context.

To close the note and save changes, press space with B. The next time Braille Notes is launched, you will have a note to play with. Notes are supposed to be saved on iCloud, but my experience is that they only seem to show up locally and that storage on iCloud is a work in progress.

This is one place where the dot 7 command to launch a context menu is helpful. If, for example, you find the note you just created and press dot 7, you will be presented with some options. The first is to move the note. Pressing space with dot 4 will allow you to delete the note, pressing it again will allow you to pin the note, and there is also a “back” button, unless that was disabled in settings. One of the neat things about this set of features is that the user can also use VoiceOver while, for example, taking notes. This requires that the user can hear, but it allows a user to do research on their iOS Device while also taking notes.

One change that rolled out with iOS 26.1 is that once folders are created, instead of only having a numbered list of notes, you will also find a letter “f” before the folder name to differentiate it from files. By default, folders also show up above the files you have created that are not in folders.

BRF Files

BRF, or Braille Ready Format, is a specific file type for braille device users. This is the default format for braille specific content through many libraries for the blind and there are many other services which use BRF files to also help avoid copyright violations. When a user gets a BRF file and would like to read it on a mainstream device such as an iPhone, it requires workarounds. Either the user must convert the file to a more usable format on iOS, or use an app which requires other settings to be changed. iOS 26 brings the readability and writability of BRF content to iOS as part of Braille Access.

Launching BRF Files for the first time will look quite similar to what happens when Braille Notes is launched. You will encounter the “new….” Option which can be used to create a new file or a new folder. The only other option is the “Back” button. Creating a new file is a little different than Braille Notes, since pressing dot 8 on “new….” Will present the user with “file name” and the next option will be “folder name”. There is also a cursor located at the end of either option. Type in a file or folder name in the appropriate place followed by dot 8. For “new file” the creation of the file happens and you will notice the same cursor representation found in Braille Notes is also present in BRF Files. Press space with B to exit and save the file.

Files created in BRF Notes will be stored in the iCloud account of the user signed in. These files will be stored in a folder called “BRF Files”. What’s nice about this is that it is a 2-way street. Not only will files created on your iOS device be saved there for access by other devices, but you can also move files downloaded or created on other devices to this folder and then access them on iOS.

After the creation of a file, it will be then found in the initial BRF Files menu. Pressing dot 7 will launch a menu which contains options to edit, move, delete, or rename the file. Unlike in Braile Notes, pressing dot 8 on a file opens it in a read only mode.

Speaking of reading BRF files, this is also enjoyable on iOS 26. Using the Files app supplied with iOS, I moved an encyclopedia into the BRF files folder from my Dropbox and was able to load it on my iPhone in approximately 3 seconds. This is quite impressive, as the book is 3.3 megabytes in size. When I left Braille Access and returned an hour later, it had retained my position in the content. Space with f for find works well and is able to search through large amounts of content quite quickly. While a file is open, dot 7 launches a menu. Options are available to find again and also to create a bookmark. Note that it is also possible to create multiple bookmarks in the same file.

Calculator

You may notice when encountering this option that it also has a cursor at the end of this option. This is because you can use the Calculator by simply starting to type without having to press dot 8 to launch the app. This works the same way as Launch App and the Item Chooser. Nemeth Calculator is a name which can be a bit misleading, in my opinion, since the code can be changed to UEB math. When it is changed, the user will see “UEB Calculator” instead of “Nemeth Calculator”. However, a user unaware of this setting may also then not be aware that both codes are supported.

Not only can basic arithmetic be used, but it’s also possible to type a math expression in Nemeth or UEB and see the computed result. For example, the user can use parentheses, fractions, radicals, exponents, constants like e and pi, and functions such as sin, log, etc. Like with Braille Notes and BRF Files, it’s possible to copy the result. The visual interface should will render the math expression you typed in Nemeth or UEB as a visual math formula.

Live Captions

Live captions have been around since the release of iOS 16 in 2022. However, their role out has been challenging for braille users specifically. When accessing Live Captions, each time new text arrives and the individual is still reading previous captioning, the new text would force the braille display to jump back to the beginning of what they were reading. For example, if the reader was accessing the 3rd sentence of what someone had said, and then a 4th sentence was added, the user would be sent back to the top of the text. They would then need to pan all the way back to the sentence they were reading. Meanwhile, if more captions arrive, they would again be sent back to the beginning of the text.

The implementation of Live Captions as part of Braille Access does not suffer this challenge. When captions are present, they work extremely well for a braille user.

After Launching Live Captions from the Braille Access menu, the user will encounter captions already in progress or “listening”. When captions begin arriving, pan forward or backwards as normal to read captioning. If more captions have arrived after what the user is reading, an 8 dot full cell will be located at each end of the braille display. pressing a Cursor Routing button when the 8-dot cell indicators are present will move focus to the end of the captions. Pressing dot 7 here will also launch a menu giving the user several options. These include pausing/resume, the toggle of listening to the microphone or device’s internal audio, the option to copy what has been picked up by Live Captions starting with iOS 26,1, and for those on iPhone 15 or later, the ability to summarize the captions received. Pressing dot 8 will give the user the option to make use of the Live Speech function.

When using the iOS device’s internal microphone, I’m able to have captioning available for quite some time. When captioning the audio of the internal system, though, captions don’t often last for more than 5 minutes. This seems to be the case whether the internal speaker on my iPhone is selected, or whether I’m paired with my hearing aids. iOS 26.1 has brought this feature to making phone calls and Face Time calls, and this has been very helpful for me. Sadly, as of now, these captions do not appear to be supported for Zoom or Teams. It would be wonderful if those who need it could use audio apps as effectively as our counterparts without having to use other applications ore multiple devices to achieve access.

It’s Time

The time has come to cover the final item in Braille Access. At the bottom of the menu, you will encounter the time on your braille display which shows in the form of the hour, minute, and second. Pressing dot 8 on this will show the date, followed by the time. The only challenge I found with this is that it doesn’t appear to change time zones automatically until rebooting. For example, I put my phone in Airplane Mode and went from the Eastern to Central time zone. The time was accurately displayed once I reconnected to the grid, but I was given the time in Eastern, instead of in Central where I was located. Rebooting my iPhone solved the issue, and I experienced the same issue when returning to Eastern Time.

One final note before concluding is that you can set up braille display commands to jump to any of the Braille Access features directly. For example, I have dots 2-3-4-5-8 set up to display the time. I also have one set up for Live Captions. Here is how to set up a keyboard shortcut on a Perkins-style keyboard to tell the time. Note that this is only possible with the QWERTY keyboard when Braille Keyboard Input is enabled. TO set up a command to tell the date and time, follow the below steps.

1. Go to settings>Accessibility>VoiceOver>braille>your model of braille display and then press space with dot 3 or 6 to move to “more info”.
2. Activate this option.
3. Activate Braille Commands.
4. Activate Braille.
5. Navigate to “Open Braille Access to Time”.
6. Activate this button and then pick a command before moving to the next step.
7. Navigate to “assign New Braille Keys” and activate this.
8. Press the keyboard combination immediately after activating “Assign New Braille Keys”. If the command does not have something already associated with it, this will assign the new command.

Conclusion

Braille Access in iOS 26 represents a meaningful leap forward for braille display users who want more independence and efficiency in their daily tasks. By integrating note-taking, BRF file support, math functionality, improved captioning, and quick navigation tools directly into the operating system, Apple has created something that feels much closer to the dedicated braille notetakers many have relied on for years. While there are still areas needing improvement, such as cloud syncing reliability and broader Live Captions support, the overall package is both powerful and practical. TO me, Braille Access is a sign that mainstream devices are continuing to evolve with the needs of braille users in mind. IN some ways, these features are steps forward beyond the note taker, as they are connected directly to your iPhone or iPad and Live Captions have also never been reliable through any of the note taker options I have found. This function is still a work in progress, with support added for phone calls and Face Time in 26.1. It is my hope that progress will continue and that Live Captions will one day be available wherever audio happens is present on your Apple device.