Chrome For Android ‘Page Zoom’ Now Just Boosts Text As Expressive Captions Expand

For Global Accessibility Awareness Day (GAAD) 2025, Google is announcing updates across Android (Expressive Captions) and Chrome (Page Zoom).

Google introduced Expressive Captions in December and an update lets the real-time captioning capability capture when “people express themselves [by] dragging out the sound of their words.” Examples include “amaaazing shot” and “nooooo” (instead of just “no” in the past).

Additionally, more sounds will now be recognized, including whistling and throat clearing. This update to the AI-powered capability is rolling out in English in the US, UK, Canada, and Australia for Android 15 and above.

Gemini in TalkBack already lets users get image descriptions. Google is now letting you ask questions about photos, as well as the contents of the entire screen.

“That means the next time a friend texts you a photo of their new guitar, you can get a description and ask follow-up questions about the make and color, or even what else is in the image.”
“…if you’re shopping for the latest sales on your favorite shopping app, you can ask Gemini about the material of an item or if a discount is available.”

In Chrome for Android, Page Zoom now lets you increase the size of text “without affecting the webpage layout or your browsing experience.” Matching desktop Chrome, this can apply to all pages or just specific sites. You can find “Zoom” in the three-dot overflow menu.

On the desktop browser, those that use screen readers can now interact with PDFs. Optical Character Recognition (OCR) is leveraged to let you highlight, copy, and search text.

Finally, when using the College Board’s Bluebook testing (SAT and AP exams) app on Chromebooks, the ChromeVox screen reader, Dictation, and other accessibility tools will work.