Google is adding accessibility features to Gmail and Meet

The Google team announced new accessibility features that are being implemented in their services. And one of them is coming to Gmail to make life easier for screen readers.

And on the other hand, a new dynamic is also being added to Google Meet, which will make it easier for deaf people to see the sign interpreter on the screen. We tell you the news.

Google adds new accessibility features to Gmail and Meet

Google announced that the alt text feature will be implemented in Gmail. That is, we can add alternative text to the images that we share through Gmail.

This will make it easier for screen readers and help people with some type of visual impairment, as it will allow them to have an audio description of the image that accompanies the email.

The ability to add alt text, which is a short description of an image that is read aloud by screen readers, directly to images sent through Gmail begins rolling out today. With this update, people who use screen readers will know what’s being sent to them, whether it’s a GIF celebrating the weekend or a screenshot of an important graphic.

And this isn’t the only accessibility feature being integrated into Google services. They also announced a new feature for Google Meet that will allow deaf people to pin multiple video screens simultaneously.

This will make it easier for them to follow the presenter’s talk on Meet and see their sign language interpreter’s screen. Of course, this dynamic that the “Multi-pin” function of Meet allows can also be used for other situations where it is necessary to pin two video screens to follow them simultaneously.

On the other hand, the Google team also shared an update on Project Euphonia. Let’s remember that this is a research project that wants to make voice recognition accessible to all people with speech disabilities.

This research project started in English, but is now expanding to other languages: Japanese, Hindi, French and Spanish.