iFeelit: an introduction to using braille displays on iOS (the 2021 edition)

In this update to his previous podcast episodes on braille, Scott Davert gives us some general information about braille displays as they relate to their use with iOS devices. He then talks about connecting a braille display using USB and then Bluetooth. Further, the braille menu under VoiceOver Settings, navigational commands, text input, how to set up auto scroll, and how to get additional help are all covered.Links mentioned in the episode include:Apple's support page covering Common braille commands for VoiceOver on your iPhone, iPad, and iPodApple's support article listing Bluetooth keyboard commands for iOS and iPadOSLightning to USB 3 Camera AdapterA roughly edited transcript of the episode follows.[music]Opening announcement: You're listening to the AppleVis Podcast.Scott Davert: Hey, everybody, Scott Davert here. I'm going to record this podcast on using Braille displays with iOS devices. Now if you've been around AppleVis and the AppleVis Podcast for many years, you may recall that I already did this podcast. However, I did that podcast back in January of 2016. Now that we're five iOS releases later, and five years later in terms of the technology, of course, many things have changed, even some of the most basic level.What are we covering in this podcast? That's always a good question to ask yourself before, and hopefully the person recording it gives you an idea. What we're going to be covering in this podcast is, first of all, general information about Braille displays and what connects and what doesn't. Then we'll talk about connecting both through Bluetooth and USB. We'll go through the Braille Display menu on iOS. We'll talk about navigation in terms of getting around your various home screens, activating apps, and so on and so forth. From there, we'll go into text editing very briefly. We'll talk about how to get help because we all need that once in a while, and setting up auto scroll.The first topic, general information, well, pretty much any Braille display made within the last 10 years. I say pretty much because there may be one out there somewhere that I'm not aware of that doesn't support iOS. To my knowledge, all of the Braille displays on the market do support iOS and voice-over. What you will have to make sure is that you're running a compatible version of iOS.For example, if you are running one of the new Humanware displays, they recommend that you run iOS 13.6 or later. The new Orbit 40, Orbit Reader 40, I should say, emulates a VarioUltra, which means the Orbit Reader 40 supports iOS devices, going back to, I want to say, 8.3, it may have been 8.4, or something like that. Anyway, whatever it is, it goes back many iOS versions. The focus fifth-generation supported iOS, I want to say, with maybe iOS nine. I don't remember exactly on that one.Anyway, point being is, check with your user…