Keyboarding for the Visually Impaired:

Last Updated December 9th, 2025. Included in this website page are the following sections. Keyboarding Accessibility for the Visually Impaired. Keyboarding Accessibility for the Visually Impaired Resources. Learn the Standard QWERTY Keyboard. Learn the Keyboard with a Keyboard Paired with a Smartphone or Tablet. Learn Your Keyboard with Narrator Windows Screen Reader. End of list.

Keyboarding Accessibility for the Visually Impaired:

Visually impaired people can use a laptop or desktop computer by adapting the keyboard with labels such as large print keyboard stickers, large print and braille keyboard stickers, bump dots, and braille keyboard stickers. Visually impaired people may also benefit from additional lighting shined on to the keyboard.

There are also keyboards available with large print, braille, and large print and braille which can be connected to a laptop or desktop computer with a cord or with Bluetooth. In addition, there are refreshable braille displays which can be used instead of a typical keyboard.

Visually impaired people may read the large print, rely on where each key is located by feel, rely on tactile labels, rely on braille, or rely on screen readers to use a keyboard, or rely on a combination of these.

Keyboard Accessibility for the Visually Impaired Resources:

Learn the Standard QWERTY Keyboard:

QWERTY keyboards can have some keys in different places, but there are standard positions for most of the keys.
There are six rows on a standard QWERTY keyboard. You can think of each row as row 1 to row 6 going from the bottom to the top.
Start by finding the Space key. It is located in the middle of the bottom row of keys. This is the largest key on the keyboard.
Some keys can be used to type more than one character. For example, the Slash or Question Mark key can be used to type a Slash or a Question Mark. The second character listed can be typed by first pressing and holding the shift key then typing the desired key.

The Bottom row or row 1:

To the left of the Space key is the left Alt key. Alt is short for alternative.
The next key to the left is the Windows Key.
The next key to the left is the CTRL key. CTRL is short for Control.
The next key or keys to the left can be different depending on the keyboard.
The key to the right of the Space key is the right Alt key.
The key or keys to the right of the right Alt key can be different depending on the keyboard.

The Second row from the Bottom or row 2:

The first key on the left is the left Shift key. This key is bigger than most of the keys, but smaller than the Space key.
The next key to the right is the letter Z key.
The next key to the right is the letter X key.
The next key to the right is the letter C key.
The next key to the right is the letter V key.
The next key to the right is the letter B key.
The next key to the right is the letter N key.
The next key to the right is the letter M key.
The next key to the right is the Comma (,) or Less Than Sign (<) key. To type a Less Than Sign, first press and hold the Shift key then type the Comma or Less Than Sign key.
The next key to the right is the Period (.) or Greater Than Sign (>) key. To type a Greater Than Sign, first press and hold the Shift key then type the Period or Greater Than Sign.
The next key to the right is the Slash (/) or Question Mark (?) key. To type a Question Mark, first press and hold the Shift key then type the Slash or Question Mark key.
The next key to the right and the last key in the row is the right Shift key. This key is bigger than most of the keys, but smaller than the Space key.

The Third row from the Bottom or row 3:

The first key on the left is the Caps Lock key. This key is bigger than most of the keys, but smaller than the Space key.
The next key to the right is the letter A key.
The next key to the right is the letter S key.
The next key to the right is the letter D key.
The next key to the right is the letter F key.
The next key to the right is the letter G key.
The next key to the right is the letter H key.
The next key to the right is the letter J key.
The next key to the right is the letter K key.
The next key to the right is the letter L key.
The next key to the right is the Semicolon (;) or Colon (:) key. To type a Colon, first press and hold the Shift key then type the Semicolon or Colon key.
The next key to the right is the Single Quote (‘) or Double Quotes (“) key. To type a Double Quotes, first press and hold the Shift key then type the Single Quote or Double Quotes key.
The next key to the right and the last key in the row is the Enter key. This key is bigger than most of the keys, but smaller than the Space key.
The keys letter A, letter S, letter D, and letter F are the home keys for the left hand when touch-typing.
The keys letter J, letter K, and letter L are the home keys for the right hand when touch-typing.
Adding a tactile label such as a small size bump dot to the letter F and the letter J keys can help with proper touch-typing hand placement.

The Fourth row from the Bottom or row 4:

The first key on the left is the Tab key. This key is bigger than most of the keys, but smaller than the Space key.
The next key to the right is the letter Q key.
The next key to the right is the letter W key.
The next key to the right is the letter E key.
The next key to the right is the letter R key.
The next key to the right is the letter T key.
The next key to the right is the letter Y key.
The next key to the right is the letter U key.
The next key to the right is the letter I key.
The next key to the right is the letter O key.
The next key to the right is the letter P key.
The next key to the right is the Opening Bracket ([) or Opening Brace ({) key. To type an Opening Brace, first press and hold the Shift key then type the Opening Bracket or Opening Brace key.
The next key to the right is the Closing Bracket (]) or Closing Brace (}) key. To type a Closing Brace, first press and hold the Shift key then type the Closing Bracket or Closing Brace key.
The next key to the right and the last key in the row is the Back Slash (\) or Vertical Bar (|) key. This key is bigger than most of the keys, but smaller than the Space key.

The Fifth row from the Bottom or row 5:

The first key on the left is the Grave Accent or Tilde. The Tilde is also used as an approximate symbol. To type a Tilde, first press and hold the Shift key then type the Grave Accent or Tilde key.
The next key to the right is the number 1 or Exclamation Point (!) key. To type an Exclamation Point, first press and hold the Shift key then type the number 1 or Exclamation Point key.
The next key to the right is the number 2 or At Sign (@) key. To type an At Sign, first press and hold the Shift key then type the number 2 or At Sign key.
The next key to the right is the number 3 or Number Sign (#) key. To type a Number Sign, first press and hold the Shift key then type the number 3 or Number Sign key.
The next key to the right is the number 4 or Dollar Sign ($) key. To type a Dollar Sign, first press and hold the Shift key then type the number 4 or Dollar Sign key.
The next key to the right is the number 5 or Percent Sign (%) key. To type a Percent Sign, first press and hold the Shift key then type the number 5 or Percent Sign key.
The next key to the right is the number 6 or Caret Symbol (^) key. To type a Caret Symbol, first press and hold the Shift key then type the number 6 or Caret Symbol key.
The next key to the right is the number 7 or Ampersand Symbol (&) key. To type an Ampersand Symbol, first press and hold the Shift key then type the number 7 or Ampersand Symbol key.
The next key to the right is the number 8 or Asterisk (*) key. To type an Asterisk, first press and hold the Shift key then type the number 8 or Asterisk key.
The next key to the right is the number 9 or Left Parentheses (() key. To type a Left Parentheses, first press and hold the Shift key then type the number 9 or Left Parentheses key.
The next key to the right is the number 0 or Right Parentheses ()) key. To type a Right Parentheses, first press and hold the Shift key then type the number 0 or Right Parentheses key.
The next key to the right is the Hyphen (-) or Underscore (_) key. The Hyphen can also be used as a Minus. To type a Underscore, first press and hold the Shift key then type the Hyphen or Underscore key.
The next key to the right is the Equals Sign (=) or Plus Sign (+) key. To type a Plus Sign, first press and hold the Shift key then type the Equals Sign or Plus Sign key.
The next key to the right and the last key in the row is the Backspace key. This key is bigger than most of the keys, but smaller than the Space key.

The Sixth row from the Bottom or row 6:

The first key on the left is the ESC key. ESC is short for Escape.
The next key to the right is the F1 key.
The next key to the right is the F2 key.
The next key to the right is the F3 key.
The next key to the right is the F4 key.
The next key to the right is the F5 key.
The next key to the right is the F6 key.
The next key to the right is the F7 key.
The next key to the right is the F8 key.
The next key to the right is the F9 key.
The next key to the right is the F10 key.
The next key to the right is the F11 key.
The next key to the right is the F12 key.
The keys in this row are sometimes smaller than the keys in the other rows.
The letter F is short for Function.
The Function Keys are special keys at the top of a keyboard that act as shortcuts for common commands.

The Arrows Keys:

There are 4 arrow keys on a standard QWERTY keyboard. They can be found at the bottom of the keyboard to the right of row 1.
There are three keys on the bottom and one on top.
The left key is the left arrow key. The middle key is the down arrow key. The right key is the right arrow key. The top key is the up arrow key.
These keys are used to move around.
Adding a tactile label such as a small size bump dot to the down arrow key can be helpful in using the arrow keys by feel.

Learn the Keyboard with a Keyboard Paired with a Smartphone or Tablet:

A keyboard can be connected to a smartphone or a tablet to learn and practice using that keyboard. For example, the user can open the Notes app and use the keyboard to type in the Notes app. The user can also turn on the screen reader, VoiceOver for Apple or TalkBack for Android, to listen to what is typed. A wireless keyboard can be connected with Bluetooth or a wired keyboard can be connected with the appropriate USB cord.

Learn Your Keyboard with Narrator Windows Screen Reader:

Narrator Screen Reader for Windows can be used to hear each key as it’s typed. Narrator is free and can be turned off when it’s not needed.

For more information about Narrator Screen Reader, go to Narrator Screen Reader website page link.

How to Setup Narrator on Windows 11 for Learning the Keyboard:

Go to Settings. Or type Windows then Control then N for a keyboard shortcut to Narrator settings.
Go to the Accessibility Section.
Go to the Narrator Section.
Then go to the Verbosity section and open the dropdown menu called Have Narrator announce when I type. Select each checkbox.
Turn on Narrator in Settings or press and hold the Windows Key then press the Control key, and press the Enter key.
Once Narrator starts talking, you can turn on Input Learning Mode by pressing and holding the CapsLock key then pressing the number 1 key.
Now you can press a key and Narrator will say what it is. This may not work for all keys such as the Function key. To hear the Function Keys located on the top row, you can press and hold the Function Key then press a Function Key such as F1 to hear it announced.
When finished, turn off Narrator in Settings or you can press and hold the Windows Key then press the Control key, and press the Enter key.