How to access accessibility shortcuts in Android 7 Nougat

TalkBack provides spoken feedback as you navigate around the screen, by describing your actions and informing you of any notifications.  

To enable the Accessibility shortcut:

1. Open the ‘Accessibility Settings’: Settings > Accessibility. (See the article Open Accessibility Preferences on this website for more information.)
2. Scroll down and tap on ‘Accessibility shortcut’. Fig 1.
   
   Fig 1
3. Tap the toggle switch to turn on the Accessibility Shortcut. Fig 2.
   
   Fig 2
4. Press the ‘home button’ to return to the home screen.

To activate TalkBack using the accessibility shortcut:

1. Press and hold your device’s power button until you hear a sound or feel a vibration. (Note: A ‘Power off’ notification will likely appear on the screen.)
2. Release the power button then touch and hold two fingers on the screen until you hear a spoken confirmation that ‘TalkBack’ has been enabled (this will take about 5 seconds).

Note: These instructions apply to the standard version of Android 7 (Nougat).  Please be aware that many device manufacturers add their own customisations to the Android operating systems so you may find minor differences from the steps shown.

More information:

For more information about ‘TalkBack’ see the article: Android 7 Nougat – TalkBack on this website.