It’s not hard to accidentally trigger the Accessibility shortcut on Android phones. This button combo has been part of the core OS since Android 8.0 Oreo and can activate some unwanted features. What this shortcut does by default depends on the model of phone a user has. However, the most common feature the Accessibility shortcut triggers is the TalkBack function, which narrates onscreen activity.
Fortunately, turning off the Accessibility shortcut on Android is extremely easy. However, depending on what flavor of Android a user’s phone has, the setting may be hard to find.
How to turn off the Accessibility shortcut on Android
By default, the Android Accessibility shortcut is Volume Up+Volume Down for three seconds. This can be easy to trigger when turning the sound up or down on a device. Typically, a tooltip will appear when the shortcut is pressed, allowing users to disable the shortcut. However, if users don’t see this notification, it can be confusing to turn off TalkBack or figure out how to turn off the Accessibility shortcut entirely.
If repeating the shortcut by pressing Volume Up+Volume Down for three seconds doesn’t work; users will have to open their device’s Settings menu to find the Accessibility options. Some Android devices will have these options in the root of the Settings menu, but on others, Accessibility is found elsewhere.
On Oxygen OS 11 (which is found on OnePlus phones), for example, Accessibility is accessed by:
- Opening Settings
- Tapping System
- Opening Accessibility
The shortcut can then be turned off and on by accessing the TalkBack settings in the Accessibility menu. Again, because there are almost as many flavors of Android as there are smartphone manufacturers, the option to turn off the Accessibility shortcut on other devices could be located anywhere. However, the setting will always be somewhere in the device’s main Settings menu since it’s a core Android feature.
