News from Google Helps People with Disabilities

It is widely acknowledged that smart phones and tablet computers are playing a significant part in improving the lives of people with disabilities.

New technology to make things easier for those with cognitive and physical disabilities is being introduced by Google™.

An app, Action Blocks™, designed for Android™ devices will make smartphone tasks more manageable.  A block (shortcut) can be created for any action that the Google Assistant can perform.  Calling family, turning off lights, or listening to music will be less cumbersome.

For people who have cognitive disabilities a one-touch button, “block”, can be created on their home screen to complete actions that typically require several steps.  Making phone calls, sending texts, playing videos and controlling in home devices are all able to have an Action Block on Android devices. 

An image from the phones camera or photo gallery can be created for the Action Block to customize it. Further customization can be made by creating a “nickname” for the Action Block.

Separately, Google announced it is also launching a new feature in Google Maps™.  Accessible Places when enabled will be identified by a wheelchair icon.  This will show if a location does or does not have an accessible entrance.  In addition, Accessible Places will offer information on accessible seating, restrooms, or parking. Google has accessibility information for more than 15 million places around the world. This update to the Google Maps app is available now on Android and iOS. Once installed or updated, you must turn on “Accessible Places” in your device’s settings.

Action Blocks is available for Android only, for devices running 5.0 and above. Google Maps is available for both Android and iOS.