Facebook and Twitter take new steps to make their applications more accessible to people with visual impairments. But what does Google do?
Facebook has announced to use artificial intelligence to facilitate access to the app for the visually impaired. Photos are in fact an important part of the social network, but these images are not visible to everyone. Although there are now a lot of ways to read text on a computer, pictures are a different story. The accessibility team at Facebook has now developed a way to read even pictures.
The technology is called ‘automatic alt text’ and is already available for iOS and later Android and Web browsers. Automatic alt text can recognize the objects in a picture and displays from there a description. However, the technology is still at an early stage and the descriptions are still very limited. So it remains to naming the individual objects and other elements in the picture. The composition and color of the photo are not included for example.
Twitter is taking steps to create images for the visually impaired accessible. In this case, do not put an artificial intelligence at work, but users may add their own description. This ensures that there are many fewer photos get a description, but that description does indicate more clearly what can be seen in the photo. Users get up to 420 characters to add these descriptions.
Accessibility
The opening up of modern technology for the visually impaired is a challenge, but now there are more and more resources here devise innovative solutions. For example, Google is also working on ways to provide access to Android.
In your device’s settings menu namely a cup Accessibility. Here you will find a lot elements that make it easier to use the device for the blind. “Color Correction” for example, change the colors, so that people with color blindness can see everything well. A larger mouse pointer can be turned, like the option to read passwords and convert to text with high contrast. Of course there are options to adjust the text size.
Two other major additions are TalkBack and BrailleBack. TalkBack is a standard part of Android and can read the text on your screen and give feedback on the actions you take. BrailleBack is meanwhile only offered on a limited number of devices, namely devices operating with a Braille display and Braille keyboard. It is an open source app that works with TalkBack to offer a combination of text and Braille. One way to translate text Google does not have any image.
Android Apps
Our life online and on our Android devices is increasingly visual. Definitely on Facebook and Twitter is much talk over the photos, GIFs and other images. Through this image communications are people who can not see, however, increasingly excluded. That’s why Twitter and Facebook go here finally do something about it. Google also has been working for several years on a similar technology, but as yet nothing has come out practically. We know that Google with Google Photos objects in photos can recognize, so it is time for the next step: visual descriptions.
addition to Google itself, there are also app-makers who work creatively go to Android access to. We choose some interesting apps.
1. BIG Launcher
BIG Launcher is a launcher, which means so adapted the interface of your Android smartphone. In this case, icons and menu items hugely magnified with clearly drawn symbols.
→ Download BIG Launcher in Google Play (free)
2. ClariaZoom
ClariaZoom makes everything on your device a little bigger. Mainly text is magnified and that can help many people. It is also possible to capture text on paper and then as digital text with big letters displayed on the screen.
→ Download ClariaZoom Google Play (free)
3. TapTapSee
TapTapSee you can identify objects. Take a picture of an item and the app will identify the object and tell you what it is. TalkBack must be enabled to regain narration.
→ Download TapTapSee Google Play (free)
4. Hourly Time
The app allows users hourly chime sound a Belgian loud, for example, every hour or every quarter. This is not only useful for keeping an eye on the progress of time, but the app is primarily intended for example to indicate the times for taking medicine.
→ Download Hourly chime in Google Play (free)
5. Magnifier: Smart Magnifier
Use this app with your android device as a magnifying glass, if you can not read small text example. You can even fix the image, so you need to keep your smartphone is not constant for the object.
→ Download Magnifier in Google Play (free)
No comments:
Post a Comment