TalkBack is an accessibility feature that helps people who are blind or have low vision to interact with their Android devices using touch and spoken feedback.
When TalkBack is on, items on the screen are outlined with a focus box, and the device gives audio cues about what is on the screen. Instead of typical touch interactions, you can navigate the device through TalkBack gestures. To learn TalkBack basics, watch a video.
Tip: To turn on TalkBack, options vary based on the device manufacturer, Android version, and TalkBack version. The information below applies to most devices, but you might experience some differences.
When you set up your phone
During phone setup, hold down both volume buttons for a few seconds to turn on TalkBack. You can continue using the volume keys as a shortcut to turn TalkBack on or off once you’re done setting up.
Tip: To permanently turn off the volume key shortcut after setup, go to Einstellungen 
After you set up your phone
Option 1: Use device settings
- On your device, open Settings
.
- Tippen Sie auf Zugänglichkeit
TalkBack.
- Select Use TalkBack.
.After you turn on TalkBack, control your device with TalkBack gestures.
Option 2: Use accessibility shortcuts
With the accessibility shortcut turned on, you can use it to turn TalkBack on or off with an on-screen button or physical keys.
- On your device, open Settings
- Tippen Sie auf Zugänglichkeit
- Turn on TalkBack shortcut.
- To set up shortcut preference for your device model, follow the on-screen instructions. You can also learn more ways to configure the accessibility shortcut.
Option 3: Use Google Assistant
- If you have set up Google Assistant, say “Hey Google.”
- Say “Turn on TalkBack” or “Turn off TalkBack.”
Navigate with TalkBack turned on
- To select an item, set the focus on that item by touching it with one finger and then double-tap with one finger to activate that item. You can also move the focus by swiping to the right to focus on the next item.
- To scroll up or down on the screen, place two fingers on the screen and drag up or down.
- When "System navigation" is set to "Gesture navigation," for gestures like home, back, or recent apps, use 2 fingers instead of one. Learn more about TalkBack gestures.
Tip: By default, TalkBack speaks password characters to you. To make sure that your phone doesn’t speak characters in secure fields, you can change the setting.
Turn on image descriptions
You can get better image descriptions in TalkBack when you enable descriptions powered by generative AI. To use "Detailed image descriptions:"
- On your screen, move the focus to an image.
- Open the TalkBack menu.
- Select Describe image.
- The first time you do this, you’ll get a popup to enable this feature.
You can turn this feature on or off any time in TalkBack settings:
- On your device, open Settings
- Tippen Sie auf Zugänglichkeit
- Tap Image & icon descriptions.
- Turn on or off Detailed image descriptions.
Tip:
- For even quicker access to "Detailed image descriptions," you can set a gesture, like swipe up then down, to activate "Describe image." To assign a gesture, go to "Customize gestures" under TalkBack settings.
On Pixel 9 and later phones, you can also enable Automatic image descriptions. These image descriptions are generated automatically using on-device generative AI whenever TalkBack detects that your focus is on any image or only unlabeled images.
To turn Automatic image description on or off:
- On your device, open Settings
- Tippen Sie auf Zugänglichkeit
- Tippen Sie auf Image & icon descriptions
- To turn it on, select All images or Unlabelled images only.
- To turn it off, select Don't describe images.
- Tap OK.
Get more help
If you turned it on accidentally, learn how to turn off TalkBack.
For more help with TalkBack, contact the Google Disability Support team.