Google just launched a whole slew of new accessibility and AI-driven features for Android and Chrome, and they’re a big deal. If you use screen readers, require captions that mimic how people actually speak, or just want to zoom in on a webpage without making the layout go haywire, there’s something here that makes interacting with your devices feel much more seamless.
Here’s a closer look at what’s new and why it matters.
TalkBack and Gemini: Smarter Screen Reading for All
Android’s TalkBack screen reader is about to get a major boost through tighter integration with Google’s Gemini AI. This isn’t merely about reading images anymore—it’s about actual interaction. Now, blind or low vision users can go ahead and ask follow-up questions about what they see on their screen.
As TechCrunch puts it, TalkBack now allows you to query Gemini regarding images or content directly on your device. So if a friend sends you a photo of their new guitar, you won’t be limited to a simple description. You can ask for the brand, color, or even what else is in the photo. It works anywhere on your phone—browsers, messaging services, shopping sites—wherever you are.
And it doesn’t end with images. You can pose Gemini questions about anything on your screen, from UI elements that are hard to read to whether something in your shopping cart is discounted. Android Police mentions that TalkBack can now provide descriptive insights into what’s on screen, such as discounts or application-specific information.
Expressive Captions: Capturing How People Speak
Captions are also becoming smarter. Google’s Expressive Captions, included in its Live Captions feature, now incorporates AI to convey how something is expressed, not the words themselves. And so when a person draws out “nooooo” or yells out “amaaaazing shot,” the captions will mirror that emotion.
TechCrunch points out that this feature focuses on capturing the rhythm and tone of how people speak. You’ll also see new labels for sounds like a whistle or someone clearing their throat, which helps make conversations more complete for people who are hard of hearing.
Right now, this feature is rolling out in English in the US, UK, Canada, and Australia for devices running Android 15 and above.
Chrome Becomes More Accessible: PDF OCR and Improved Zoom on Android
If you’ve ever attempted to use a screen reader with a scanned PDF in Chrome, you know how infuriating it’s been. That’s about to change. Chrome on desktop is adding Optical Character Recognition (OCR), which allows it to read and identify text in scanned PDFs. You’ll be able to highlight, copy, search, and have your screen reader read the content aloud just like a normal webpage.
Vocal Media summarizes: it is a giant leap for those who depend on screen readers. OCR brings prior unreadable PDFs to full interaction and accessibility.
On the mobile front, Chrome on Android is finally receiving a proper Page Zoom feature. You can now zoom in on text on any web page without destroying the layout. Better still, you can choose a default zoom level for all web pages or apply it to specific ones. As Android Police describes, the text enlarges without shattering the page’s layout, at last.
Project Euphonia: Enabling More Inclusive Speech Recognition
Google isn’t merely concentrating on the user-end experience—it’s working in the background too. Project Euphonia, which focuses on enhancing speech recognition for individuals with non-standard speech, is being taken open source. Developers can now take advantage of tools to build proprietary audio apps or train models to recognize varied speech patterns better.
Google maintains that all this is on Project Euphonia’s GitHub page. It’s a major step in the direction of making speech technology more inclusive, particularly for communities and dialects that have not been well served by mainstream voice tools.
They’re also making bets on African research, with collaboration between University College London and Google.org. They aim to create open-source datasets in 10 African languages and construct speech recognition models that capture the continent’s diversity.
Global Rollout and Real-World Impact
These new features are already rolling out to users in English-speaking regions, with additional features still to come. Expressive Captions and the integration of TalkBack-Gemini are live on Android 15 and higher. Chrome’s OCR for PDFs and Page Zoom on Android are rolling out slowly across platforms.
With all of this, Google’s demonstrating a genuine commitment to getting tech more accessible, useful, and considerate. As Vocal Media says, these changes are a big step in employing AI in creating a more accessible digital world.
The future of accessibility has arrived—and it’s a whole lot more human.
