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Google makes Drive and Docs friendlier to visually impaired with Braille, accessibility tools
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Google has made its Drive and Docs apps more accessible to visually impaired users by adding a Braille display and improved accessibility features.
Vice president for engineering Alan Warren said this can potentially help the visually impaired take part in real-time editing or create a table from spreadsheet data.
"Everyone, regardless of ability, should be able to experience all that the web has to offer," Warren said in a blog post.
The improvements to Drive and Docs, Sheets, Slides, Drawings, and Forms editors have blind and low-vision users in mind, he said. These include:
Easier screen reader across Docs, Sheets, Slides, Drawings and Forms, with nicer text-to-voice verbalization and improvements to keyboard navigation.
Support for alt text on images in Docs, so you can tell a screen reader what they should say to describe an image.
Better support for using a keyboard to edit charts and pivot tables in Sheets.
Additional screen reader improvements specifically for Docs, Sheets and Slides, including support for spelling suggestions, comments and revision history.
Ability to quickly search the menus and perform actions in Docs, Slides and Drawings.
Collaborating is easier as screen readers announce when people enter or leave the document. A user can also hear when others are editing alongside him or her.
Braille display support is refreshable, and a user's screen reader’s settings for character echoing are automatically followed.
Google is also offering phone support for Google Drive accessibility questions.
"If you get stuck, visit support.google.com/drive to request a phone call and someone from our team will reach out to you," Warren said. — Joel Locsin/VC, GMA News
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