Watches for the Blind: Talking, Braille and Tactile

Watches for the blind come in four main kinds: talking watches that say the time when you press a button, braille watches whose crystal flips open so you can feel the hands and the raised dots at each hour, tactile watches like the Eone Bradley that show the time with two ball bearings, and smartwatches (Apple Watch, Samsung Galaxy Watch, Google Pixel Watch) that can speak the time or tap it on your wrist. Despite the name, a braille watch has no braille letters, so you can read one without knowing braille. At US specialty stores, talking watches cost about $11 to $78 and braille watches about $40 to $260.

Below: how each kind is read, which one fits whom, the smartwatch settings that matter, what happened to the braille smartwatch, and where to buy in the US, the UK, Canada and Australia. Prices and product pages were checked on October 28, 2026.

Key points

• Talking watches say the time at the press of a button. Many also announce the date, have an alarm and can call out every hour. Atomic (radio-controlled) models set themselves.
• Braille watches are analog watches with a hinged crystal. On common US models, the hours are marked with three dots at 12, two at 3, 6 and 9, and one at every other hour. Because the lid opens, they are not water resistant.
• Instead of hands you touch, the Eone Bradley uses two ball bearings: one on the face marks the minutes and one on the side marks the hours. If one gets nudged, a gentle shake puts it back.
• Apple Watch can tap the time on your wrist with Taptic Time. Samsung's Galaxy Watch and Google's Pixel Watch have a Vibration Watch setting. Both work without sound, which matters if you're deafblind.
• The Dot Watch, which Dot Inc. calls the world's first braille smartwatch, is no longer among Dot's products, and we found no store selling it new.

Watches for the blind at a glance

Talking watches

A talking watch looks like an ordinary watch with one or more buttons. Press one and a voice says the time. On the One-Button Two-Tone Talking Watch sold by the National Federation of the Blind (NFB), one press gives the time, two presses give the full date, and holding the button switches between a female and a male voice. Its analog hands stay in sync with what it says. It costs $44.

What to look for:

• Date and alarm. Many models also announce the date, and some add an alarm and an optional announcement every hour.
• Atomic or radio-controlled. These set themselves from a radio signal. NFB's Atomic Talking Watch lets you pick one of the four continental US time zones and updates on its own; with no signal, you set it by hand. MaxiAids notes that its radio-controlled model's signal works in the US (except Alaska and Hawaii), the UK, Germany and Japan.
• Touch to talk. On the Ladies Touch Talking Watch at MaxiAids, you touch the crystal to hear the time ($69.95).
• Water. Check before you swim or shower. Vision Australia's talking watches are rated 3 ATM: fine in splashes and rain, not for showering, bathing or swimming.

The catch is obvious: everyone near you hears it too. In a class, a meeting or a theater, a watch you read by touch or by vibration is more discreet.

Braille watches: the flip-up crystal

A braille watch is a regular analog watch whose crystal, the glass cover, opens. On the Everyday Gold Braille Watch at Independent Living Aids, the crystal is hinged at 12 and lifts from the 6 o'clock side. NFB's braille quartz watch is sold as "6 o'clock opening" too, and some models open with a push button.

To read it, open the lid, feel where the two hands point, and find their positions from the hour marks. A common layout, used on the NFB and Independent Living Aids watches:

• three dots at 12
• two dots at 3, 6 and 9
• one dot at every other hour

Not every brand does it this way. The Seiko braille watch at MaxiAids uses larger markers at 12, 3, 6 and 9, and MaxiAids says the dot patterns vary from watch to watch. If you're buying for someone, check the product description.

Before you buy:

• They aren't water resistant. Vision Australia warns that, because the lid opens, water, humidity and dust can get into its Swiss Braille Watch, and recommends reading the time with dry, clean hands.
• Face size matters. NFB's braille quartz watch has a 3/4-inch face. Independent Living Aids sells a 1-inch men's face and a 0.75-inch women's face. Vision Australia's Swiss Braille Watch comes in 27 mm and 34 mm. A bigger face gives your fingertip more room.
• Batteries. Vision Australia recommends having the battery changed by a jeweler or watch specialist so the watch isn't damaged.
• Some talk too. MaxiAids sells braille talking watches for $69.95, and the Braille Talking Watch at Independent Living Aids ($39.95) has side buttons that speak the time, the date and the alarm.

Do you need to know braille?

No. The dots on a braille watch mark positions, like the numbers on a clock face. They aren't letters. Written braille is a different thing: in Unified English Braille, the time 10:30 is ⠼⠁⠚⠒⠼⠉⠚: a number sign, the cells for 1 and 0 (the same as the letters a and j), a colon, then a new number sign and the cells for 3 and 0. None of that is on a braille watch. If you're curious, our guide to braille numbers explains how it works.

Tactile watches without braille: the Eone Bradley

The Bradley, made by Eone, has no lid to open. NFB's listing says it was designed with both sighted and blind people in mind. Two ball bearings tell the time: the one on the face marks the minutes, and the one on the side of the case marks the hours. They're held by magnets, and if one gets knocked out of place, a gentle shake of the wrist sends it back to the right time. The face is 1 1/2 inches across, with raised markers every five minutes.

Vision Australia describes reading it like this: run a finger over the raised hour markers and feel where the ball bearings sit. You set the time with the winder on the side, as on any analog watch.

Price: Vision Australia lists Bradley models at A$275. NFB's catalog lists the Bradley without a price, and Eone's own store didn't load when we checked, so we can't give a US price. In the US, Independent Living Aids sells a Magnetic Tactile Watch for $115.95, which it describes as a tactile, non-braille way to tell the time quietly.

Smartwatches: speech and vibration

A smartwatch gives you the time in two ways: a screen reader that speaks what's on the screen, and vibration patterns that tap the time on your wrist. Unlike a quartz watch, it has to be charged.

Apple Watch

• VoiceOver, Apple's screen reader: on the watch, go to Settings > Accessibility > VoiceOver. You can also ask Siri to "Turn on VoiceOver," or use the Apple Watch app on your iPhone (My Watch > Accessibility > VoiceOver). During setup, triple-click the Digital Crown. VoiceOver on the watch also has braille display options (Settings > Accessibility > VoiceOver > Braille). For the iPhone side, see braille on iPhone.

• Speak Time: Settings > Clock > Speak Time. Then hold two fingers on the watch face to hear the time.

• Taptic Time: Settings > Clock > Taptic Time. Hold two fingers on the face and the watch taps the time on your wrist, in one of three styles:

  • Digits: long taps for tens and short taps for ones, hours first, then minutes. Apple's example: 2 long and 3 short taps, then 3 long and 4 short, is 23:34 (11:34 p.m.).
  • Terse: accurate to 15 minutes. Each long tap is five hours since midnight, short taps add the remaining hours, then long taps count the quarter hours.
  • Morse code: each digit in Morse.

  Taptic Time doesn't work if the watch is set to always speak the time; Apple says to turn on Control With Silent Mode under Speak Time first. With VoiceOver on, you double-tap the face while the display is inactive.

• Chimes: Settings > Clock > Chimes plays a sound (Bells or Birds) on the hour. In the accessibility settings you can set them every hour, every 30 minutes or every 15 minutes.

Samsung Galaxy Watch

• TalkBack (called Screen reader on older models) describes the screen out loud. Turn it on in Settings > Accessibility > TalkBack on the watch, or from the Galaxy Wearable app on your phone.
• Vibration watch: Samsung's US support page says the Galaxy Watch5 series can give you the current time as vibrations, under Advanced settings > Vibration watch. The American Foundation for the Blind (AFB) describes two modes: digits, with a long vibration for every 10 and a short one for every 1, and a terse mode based on quarter hours. Samsung notes that settings vary by watch series.

Google Pixel Watch

• TalkBack: Settings > Accessibility > TalkBack. Google says it works with compatible braille displays through BrailleBack.
• Vibration Watch: Settings > Accessibility > Vibration Watch tells the time with vibration patterns. Google's help page doesn't spell out the pattern, so try it on the watch before you rely on it.

Braille smartwatches: what happened to the Dot Watch

The Dot Watch was the braille smartwatch that made headlines in 2017. Dezeen reported then that it showed the time and date in braille, plus notifications sent from a phone app. Dot Inc. still calls it the world's first braille smartwatch in its company history.

On October 28, 2026, though, Dot's product list showed the Dot Pad, the Dot Cell and other devices, but no watch. Its old product page returned an error, and we found no store selling it new. If you want the time in braille today, the realistic route is a smartwatch whose screen reader supports a braille display: Apple's VoiceOver and Google's TalkBack both list that support. Our guide to refreshable braille displays explains what those are.

How to choose

• You learned to tell time on a clock face. If you lost your sight after years of reading analog clocks, a braille watch or a Bradley works the way you already think: hands and positions.
• Clock positions don't mean much to you. If you never used a clock face, a talking watch or a smartwatch (spoken, or tapped in Digits mode) gives you the time as plain numbers. A braille watch still works; it just means learning the positions first. Vision Australia calls telling the time by touch a skill worth learning, because you don't have to rely on anyone else.
• You're deafblind or hard of hearing. Skip talking watches. A braille watch, a Bradley or a smartwatch with Taptic Time or Vibration Watch all work without sound. More on this in deafblind communication.
• You need it to be quiet. Classes, meetings, worship, concerts: pick touch or vibration.
• Water. A braille watch's lid lets water in, and the talking watches we checked handle rain, not swimming. Read the rating on the product page.
• Budget. Under $50 buys a talking watch or a basic braille watch. From $55 to $260 you'll find more braille models, such as the Seiko at $199.95. Smartwatch prices weren't compared here.
• Setting the time. Atomic talking watches set themselves. Independent Living Aids offers to set a watch for you for $4.95.

Where to buy watches for the blind

Outside the US:

• UK: RNIB sells its small tactile watch for £36 (on sale from £48) and talking watches from £19.20 (Verbalise, digital) to £72 (Lifemax atomic, with a British male voice). Those prices include VAT; RNIB shows the ex-VAT price alongside.
• Canada: CNIB SmartLife lists talking watches from CA$45.95 (on sale from CA$59.95) to CA$94.95. A search there for "braille watch" showed only talking watches on the first page.
• Australia: Vision Australia sells the Swiss Braille Watch (A$380 for the silver 34 mm, on back order that day; A$391 for the gold 27 mm), Eone Bradley watches (A$275) and its own talking watches (A$145).

Prices change; check the store before you order.

If the watch makes you curious about braille

A braille watch only needs a few dots, and reading one doesn't require knowing braille. If you'd like to read labels, signs or books too, start with the braille alphabet and our guide to learning braille as an adult.

Braillito, our app, teaches the braille cells in lessons with exercises you play, with lives, levels and a daily streak: 59 lessons in 8 worlds in English. It also has a translator, a dictionary and a cell builder. Braillito is a subscription with no free version; depending on the plan, it starts with a free trial or a discounted first period, if it's your first subscription (is Braillito free?). Get Braillito.

Frequently asked questions

What watches do blind people use?

Mostly four kinds: talking watches, braille watches with a flip-up crystal, tactile watches like the Eone Bradley, and smartwatches that speak the time or tap it as vibrations. The right one depends on whether you can hear it, where you'll use it and your budget.

How does a braille watch work?

It's an analog watch whose crystal opens, usually from the 6 o'clock side. You lift it and feel the hands and the raised dots at each hour. On many US models there are three dots at 12, two at 3, 6 and 9, and one at every other hour, but patterns vary by brand.

Do you need to know braille to use a braille watch?

No. The dots mark the hour positions; they aren't braille letters or numbers. Anyone who can picture a clock face can read one by touch.

Can an Apple Watch tell the time without sound?

Yes. With Taptic Time (Settings > Clock > Taptic Time), you hold two fingers on the face and the watch taps the hours and minutes on your wrist. Samsung's Galaxy Watch and Google's Pixel Watch have a similar Vibration Watch setting.

Where can I buy a talking watch?

In the US, the NFB Independence Market, MaxiAids and Independent Living Aids all sell them, from $10.95 to $77.83 on October 28, 2026. In the UK, RNIB; in Canada, CNIB SmartLife; in Australia, Vision Australia.

Is there a braille smartwatch?

The Dot Watch, which made headlines in 2017, showed the time in braille, but Dot no longer lists it among its products and we found no store selling it new. Today, the way to get the time in braille is a smartwatch screen reader connected to a braille display.