Use a screen reader with Google Play

You can read books, magazines, and news articles or listen to music in Google Play using a screen reader.

You can read books, magazines, and news articles or listen to music in Google Play using the TalkBack screen reader. Learn how to turn on TalkBack.

Note: TalkBack is not available for all formats. 

Find and listen to books, news & music

Find and read books

Find your book

1. If you haven’t already, turn on TalkBack.
2. Open Play Books .
3. Explore the app to find a book:
   • Tabs: At the bottom, you’ll find tabs like "Home," "Shop," and "Library" or "My Library." Some of these might take you out of the app.
   • Navigation drawer: At the top left, you’ll find the navigation drawer. Open to explore Shop, Help & Feedback, and Settings.
   • "Home": Search for a book you don’t have and download it.

Read a book

1. If you haven’t already, turn on TalkBack.
2. Open Play Books .
   1. If you already have the book, find it in the "Library" or "Home" screens.
   2. If you don’t have the book, search for it at the top of the "Home" screen, then pick a result and download the book.
3. Open the book.
4. Tap the screen, then double-tap to enter skim mode.
5. Select More Read aloud.
   • To move through the text on a page, swipe.
   • To flip pages, two-finger swipe left or right.

Find and play movies

Navigate movies

1. If you haven’t already, turn on TalkBack.
2. Open Play Movies .
3. On the home screen, swipe or touch to explore the screen.
   • As you swipe, you will navigate through the list of movies/buttons.
   • To get the details of the movies, double tap on the buttons.
   • Long press to open additional actions (thumbs up/down, add/remove from wishlist).

Play a movie

1. If you haven’t already, turn on TalkBack.
2. Open Play Movies .
3. You can play a movie that you purchased, or play a trailer of the movie that is recommended for you.
   • Play a movie: Double tap on the movie button to get to details page. Then double tap on the Play button.
   • Find other options: From the Play Movies home page, tap and hold to show other options.

Read the news

Navigate news articles

1. If you haven’t already, turn on TalkBack.
2. Open Play Newsstand .
3. You’ll be on the Home screen. Tabs at the bottom let you navigate to different places inside the app, such as "For You," "Library," "Explore," and "Read Later."
   • Navigation drawer: At the top left.
   • For You: At the bottom left. This tab has suggested news articles.
   • Library: At the bottom. This tab has your sources and topics of interest.
   • Explore: At the bottom. This tab has a list of topics you can add to your Library.
   • Read Later: At the bottom right. This tab contains articles you’ve saved to read later.

Read an article

1. If you haven’t already, turn on TalkBack.
2. Open Play Newsstand .
3. Swipe or explore by touch to find an article, then double-tap it to start reading
4. Optional: To save the article for later, go to the top right and select Read later .

Tips and tricks

• The Navigation drawer and tabs are on most screens, so you can use them as landmarks.
• If you can’t find the Navigation drawer, open it with a two-finger swipe right.