Learn how to set up Typing Feedback on iPhone or iPad so the characters and words you type are spoken aloud, which is ideal for people with visual impairments.
Accessibility features on iPhone and iPad can be extremely helpful to those with hearing or vision impairments. Whether you need extra help for a short time or permanently, Apple gives you easy ways to enable and disable these features.
So if you or a family member is currently having an issue with vision, you can get extra help when typing. With the Typing Feedback feature on iPhone and iPad, you can hear characters, words, and even the text predictions spoken to you as you type. If this feature is new to you and you want to try it out or set it up for a loved one to use, here’s how.
Set up Typing Feedback on iPhone and iPad
- Open the Settings app and go to Accessibility > Keyboards & Typing > Typing Feedback.
- You can then enable the specific features for Typing Feedback that you want to use. You likely won’t want to enable them all because you’ll hear everything at once, which can be more confusing than helpful.
Here’s how each feature works.
Characters: Hear each character as you type it. This includes uppercase letters.
Character Hints: Hear phonetics for the letters as you type them. For example, instead of hearing “A” and “B,” you’ll hear “Alpha” and “Bravo.”
If you enable either or both of the above Character features, you can set a delay for how quickly to hear the spoken characters or hints after you type them. Use the plus and minus buttons to set the number of seconds for the delay.
Speak Words: Hear an entire word spoken after you type it. You’ll hear the word after you hit the Space key or add punctuation.
Speak Auto-text: Hear the auto-corrections and automatic capitalizations as you enter your characters and words.
Hold to Speak Predictions: Hear the text predictions if you have them enabled. Tap and hold a prediction to hear it, and then tap as you normally would to use one.
Adjust the speaking rate
If you use other spoken Accessibility features on iPhone or iPad, you’ve probably already checked out the Speaking Rate setting. But if not, it’s just a simple slider that changes how fast or slow the rate of speech is and affects the Typing Feedback, too.
- Return to iPhone Settings > Accessibility > Read & Speak.
- Under Speaking Rate, move the slider right (toward the hare) for faster or left (toward the tortoise) for slower.
You may want to give it a try after you change the speaking rate to see if it fits your needs better.
In addition to using Typing Feedback for vision impairment, the feature is also useful if you have children who are still learning to read and write. So keep it in mind for yourself, a family member who requires it, or your kids!
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