Android gets enhanced accessibility features for users with impaired vision or hard of hearing

As part of Android’s quarterly updates, Google announced new features to existing accessibility apps that enhance and enrich the lives of those who use them. These updates are aimed at, but not limited to, those with hearing loss or who have low or impaired vision.

For the hard of hearing, Sound Amplifier will be able to adjust and improve the quality of nearby sounds using different modes. It has enhanced latency and improved noise reduction from sounds picked up by your phone mic or media. Additionally, the app has a brand new interface that makes it easier to access and control its features.

Designed for and with people with hearing loss, Sound Amplifier uses your phone to amplify and filter important sounds around you. Today’s update brings improved background noise reduction, faster and more accurate sound and a revamped user interface that is easier to see.

Source: The Keyword

Another helpful accessibility app that is getting some new features is Lookout, which is designed with and for people with low vision or blindness. It uses your phone’s camera to scan the area around you and let you know information about the objects it sees. It can also read text and documents back to you, as well as food labels and currency values. The app currently needs an internet connection to function, as it uses Google’s “better image recognition,” which sends the images back to Google.

With this new update, Lookout will have a new Images mode, which uses Google’s latest machine learning model to analyze your image and provide a description. You will be able to do this by sharing an image to Lookout from any app. Additionally, this update adds offline capabilities, so you can use it wherever you are. The Lookout app can be downloaded or updated from the Google Play Store.

Combined with the Android Accessibility Suite, both updates ensure that the Android experience is inclusive to all, not just able-bodied users. These updates should be rolling out to your Android devices very soon via the Google Play Store.