I recently bought an iPad Mini A17 Pro and love it mostly. I also purchased Judy Dixon's masterful book on Braille Screen Input and watched as data from that book changed my life for the better. As an ardent BSI fan, I'm writing with a question that confuses me.
I have been told that proper orientation for the iPad Mini and BSI is to operate the device with the charge port on the left. That worked brilliantly until May 21, 2026. For reasons I can't fathom, that orientation is reversed, and I now have to flip the device so that the charge port is on the right. I can get used to that if I must. It's like a sighted American learning to drive in the UK--achievable but not easy at first, I suspect. Question is, any thoughts on how that happened? Apple Accessibility went away stumped--told me to reset my VoiceOver settings and good luck. I did that, still no love on the orientation moving back to charge port on the left. I've checked BSI settings, and the reverse dots switch is set to off. In the control center, I've locked the orientation to portrait where I want it when I'm not using BSI. I've tried unlocking the orientation while in BSI flipping it back, so the charge port is again on the left, then locking the orientation. No joy.
If you're frustrated with me after reading this, I don't blame you. It's no big deal to flip the device so the charge port is on the right and type away. I just wondered what I'd done and whether there's any way to get back to some form of stasis.
Comments
This is how I do it on an iPhone
This is how I do it on an iPhone.
I don’t have an iPad, so I can’t really test it properly there, but hopefully the idea is the same.
The way the dots are laid out in Braille Screen Input depends on how you rotate the device, and also where you want the charging port to be when you’re in tabletop mode. For example, on my iPhone, I like the charging port to be on the right. That’s just what feels right to me.
What I’ve found works best is to unlock the orientation first. That way, when you flip the phone around, it will change depending on how you’re holding it.
To get tabletop mode working properly, start with the screen facing away from you. Then rotate the phone towards you, as if you’re rolling it over. If you’ve used an old Perkins Brailler, think of it like rolling the paper into the machine by turning the knobs towards you. It’s that same kind of movement.
Keep rotating the phone towards you until the screen is facing the ceiling. That should put you into tabletop mode with the dots the right way round.
This seems to be different from how it used to work. Before, I’m pretty sure you had to start with the screen facing towards you and then rotate it away from you. Now it seems to be the other way around: screen facing away from you, then rotate it towards you.
Once you’ve got tabletop mode how you want it, you can swipe down and lock the orientation for Braille Screen Input.
The best thing really is to play around with it and see what works for you, especially depending on where you want the charging port and how you like the dot layout. This is just what I’ve found works for me on iPhone.
If you want screen away mode instead, it’s similar, except from tabletop mode you rotate the phone away from you.
Hopefully I didn't confuse anyone with this.
I wrote a similar response to this on another thread, but back then it was done the other way round.
That thread is also a few years old.