As part of its plans to improve Braille support in Google Docs, the search giant is rolling out several new changes that it says will make it easier for users of assistive technologies like refreshable braille displays. “These changes will enhance the experience of reading documents with new keyboard shortcuts, improved navigation, and more reliable verbalizations”, said Google in an official blog post.
To start off, the update will bring the new Ctrl+Alt+H (CMD+Option+H on Mac) shortcut to toggle braille support in Docs, Sheets and Slides. While using shortcuts to navigate, Google will announce where the cursor moves to, including comments, headings, misspellings and suggestions. Navigating through lengthy documents and lists will now also be more reliable, the company said.
Other changes include improved navigation and selection verbalizations when moving through tables and when selecting content, including announcing the entire cell’s contents. In addition, Google also says that the update will improve the reliability of navigating through lengthy documents and lists. Do note that you need to update to the latest versions of your assistive technologies and browsers to fully benefit from these improvements.
The update started rolling out August 31st on all Rapid Release domains, but a full rollout on all Scheduled Release domains will only start September 17th. It will be available to all G Suite customers and users with personal Google Accounts. Google further says that the features will be ‘On’ by default for all users with braille support enabled. You can learn more details about the upcoming features on the official G Suite blog.
