Google has just announced several product updates for us to check out, and they speak volumes. You’ll get that reference in a minute. Those updates are related to Android, Speech Recognition, Chrome, and Chromebooks as well. So, let’s take it one step at a time.
Let’s talk about Android first. Google is bringing Expressive Captions v2 to the table. They’re now available in English in the US, the UK, Canada, and Australia with Android 15. Google also said that it will include “additional non-speech sounds and elongation of words for emphasis”. The example the company gave is “Nooooooooo”.
TalkBack has received a major update thanks to Gemini connection
Furthermore, TalkBack, Android’s screen reader, now allows you to ask Gemini about what’s in images and what’s on your screen. That’s a major boost for people who want or are forced to use TalkBack.
In regards to Speech Recognition, Google said it will “continue to support more accessible speech recognition across the world”, as it did with the University College London. The company assisted the university in their creation of the Centre for Digital Language Inclusion (CDLI). The company emphasizes that the CDLI is working to improve speech recognition tech for non-English speakers in Africa.
Google wants to improve the ecosystem of speech recognition tools
In a big move towards improving the ecosystem of speech recognition tools globally, the company has provided developers with resources via the Project Euphonia GitHub page.
When it comes to Google’s Chrome browser, the company talked about OCR in PDFs. When you open a scanned PDF on Chrome, you can now highlight, copy, and search text. These are all very useful features, needless to say.
Speaking of Chrome, the Page Zoom on mobile now lets you enlarge the text you see in Chrome on Android “without disrupting the layout or your browsing experience.”
The last announcement is all about students and their Chromebooks
The Chromebook-related announcement is all about students. Google mentioned ‘College Board’ in relation to Chromebooks. Now, when you use your Chromebook with College Board’s Bluetbook testing app, you’ll get access to all of Google’s built-in accessibility features.
For those of you who are unaware, the Bluebook testing app is where students can take the SAT and most Advanced Placement exams.
