The best ChromeOS tablets are actually quite accessible. If you have trouble navigating with touchscreen gestures on any of the best Chromebooks when in tablet mode, you can use buttons to navigate the operating system. More specifically, you can add navigation buttons to ChromeOS at the bottom of your screen so that when you switch your device to tablet mode, they appear automatically. These buttons will work similarly to what you see in Android. Here's how you can get started.
How to turn on button navigation on a Chromebook
Like many accessibility settings, to turn on button navigation on a Chromebook, you'll need to head into the ChromeOS settings app. There's a dedicated section for the touchpad and gestures that you'll need to tweak.
- Click the time at the bottom right of your Chromebook, then choose the settings gear.
- Click Accessibility in the sidebar.
- Choose Cursor and touchpad.
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Choose the option for Show navigation buttons in tablet mode
- Make sure the toggle is switched on.
That's it! Now when you flip the screen on your Chromebook convertible over, or detach the keyboard from your ChromeOS tablet, you'll see two new buttons at the bottom left of your Chromebook shelf. There's a back button to go back in webpages or apps, and a circular home button, which can be used to take you back to your home screen and the list of all your apps.
This is one of the many accessibility features you'll find on ChromeOS. There are lots of others. You can also use ChromeVox, which is the built-in screen reader in ChromeOS, use dictation to turn your speech into words, and even use features like a screen magnifier and high contrast mode. Whatever your accessibility needs might be, Google has you covered with ChromeOS, regardless of whether you're switching to a Chromebook from a great Windows laptop for the first time, or are already a Chromebook pro.