Tag Archives: accessibility

Gaze Link Wins Best Android App in Gemini API Developer Competition

Posted by Thomas Ezan – Sr Developer Relation Engineer (@lethargicpanda)

We're excited to announce Gaze Link as the winner of the Best Android App for our Gemini API Developer Competition!

This innovative app demonstrates the potential of the Gemini API in providing a communication system for individuals with Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) who develop severe motor and verbal disabilities, enabling them to type sentences with only their eyes.

About Gaze Link

Gaze Link uses Google’s Gemini 1.5 Flash model to predict the user’s intended sentence based on a few key words and the context of the conversation.

For example if the context is “Is the room temperature ok?” and the user replies “hot AC two” the app will leverage Gemini to generate the full sentence “I am hot, can you turn the AC down by two degrees?”.

The Gaze Link team took advantage of Gemini 1.5 Flash multilingual capabilities to let the app generate sentences in English, Spanish and Chinese, the three languages currently supported by the app.

We were truly impressed by the Gaze Link app. The team used the Gemini API combined with ML Kit Face Detection to empower individuals with ALS providing them with a powerful communication system that is both accessible and affordable.

With Gemini 1.5 Flash currently supporting 38 languages, it is possible for Gaze Link to add support for more languages in the future. In addition, the model’s multimodal abilities could enable the team to enhance the user experience by integrating image, audio and video to augment the context of the conversation.

Build with the Gemini API

The result of the integration of the Gemini API in Gaze Link is inspiring. If you are working on an Android app today, we encourage you to learn about the Gemini API capabilities to see how you can successfully add generative AI to your app and delight your users.

To get started, go to the Android AI documentation!

New design and accessibility improvements for embedded Google Calendars

What’s changing

Users currently have the ability to add an interactive version of their Google Calendar to their website, and add buttons for their website visitors to save their calendar events.

Starting today, you’ll notice a refreshed look and feel for embedded calendars that is in line with Google Material Design 3 and now includes: 

  • Enhanced accessibility features, such as the ability to use an embedded calendar with a screen reader and keyboard shortcuts to navigate more easily. 
  • Improved spacing to make text easier to read. 
  • A responsive layout that adapts to different screen sizes seamlessly. 
Screenshot of update look and feel for embedded Google Calendars on web


Getting started 

Screenshot of update look and feel for embedded Google Calendars on mobile

Rollout pace

  • Rapid Release domains: Extended rollout (potentially longer than 15 days for feature visibility) starting on September 17, 2024 
  • Scheduled Release domains: Extended rollout (potentially longer than 15 days for feature visibility) starting on October 7, 2024 

Availability 

  • Available to all Google Workspace customers, Workspace Individual Subscribers, and users with personal Google accounts 

Resources 

Expanding voice typing and automatic captions to additional browsers

What’s changing

Currently users can edit their documents in Google Docs or edit speaker notes in Google Slides by using their voice. Users can also turn on automatic captions to display the speakers’ words in real time while presenting in Slides. These features have previously been available using the latest version of Google Chrome only. 

Starting today, we’re expanding support for voice typing and captions features to additional browsers, such as Edge and Safari. When a user turns on voice typing or captions, the web browser controls the speech-to-text service, determines how speech is processed, and then sends text data to Google Docs and Google Slides. 


Who’s impacted 

End users 


Why it’s important 

This launch leads to more inclusive and accessible user interactions within Docs and Slides for more users. 


Additional details 

These features are available only on desktop. 


Getting started 

  • Admins: Admins can control which web browsers are supported in their domain. Certain browsers may offer browser level controls for disabling the Web Speech API. 
  • End users: 
    • When enabling this feature for the first time, you may see the following notice: Expanding voice typing and automatic captions to additional browsers

Rollout pace 

Availability 

  • Available to all Google Workspace customers, Google Workspace Individual subscribers, and users with personal Google accounts 

Resources