Tag Archives: Diversity

Start making your business more accessible using Primer

Over one billion people in the world have some form of disability.

That’s why we make accessibility a core consideration when we develop new products—from concept to launch and beyond. It’s good for users and good for business: building products that don’t consider a diverse range of needs could mean missing a substantial group of potential users and customers.

But impairments and disabilities are as varied as people themselves. For designers, developers, marketers or small business owners, making your products and designs more accessible might seem like a daunting task. How can you make sure you’re being more inclusive? Where do you start?

Today, Global Accessibility Awareness Day, we’re launching a new suite of resources to help creators, marketers, and designers answer those questions and build more inclusive products and designs.

The first step is learning about accessibility. Simply start by downloading the Google Primer app and search “accessibility.” You’ll find five-minute lessons that help you better understand accessibility, and learn practical tips to start making your own business, products and designs more accessible - like key design principles for building a more accessible website. You may even discover that addressing accessibility issues can improve the user experience for everyone. For instance, closed captions can make your videos accessible to more people whether they have a hearing impairment or are sitting in a crowded room.

Primer app

Next, visit the Google Accessibility page and discover free tools that can help you make your site or app more accessible for more people. The Android Developers site also contains a wide range of suggestions to help you improve the accessibility of your app.


We hope these resources will help you join us in designing and building for a more inclusive future. After all, an accessible web and world is a better one—both for people and for business.

Meet Sara Blevins: mom, Tennessean, and developer

Last October as part of Grow with Google, we announced the Google Developer Scholarship Challenge—a joint effort with Udacity to help people across the U.S. unlock new jobs, new businesses, and new possibilities. The program provided scholarships to tens of thousands of learners across the U.S. to help them strengthen their mobile and web developer skills through curriculum designed with experts from Google and Udacity. This April, 5,000 of the top performers from the initial program also received scholarships toward a six-month Nanodegree program hosted on Udacity.

Sara Blevins is one of these talented individuals, who will complete the Front-End Web Developer Nanodegree program later this year. Last week, we invited Sara and some of her fellow scholars to attend Google I/O as special guests. We caught up with her to find out what I/O was like and what advice she has for other individuals looking to start a new career as a developer.

1. You went to I/O this past week! Tell us about that.

The joy and awe I experienced was overwhelming, it welled up to the point where I couldn’t control it. Google to me isn’t a company, it’s the door in the back of the wardrobe that leads to Narnia. It’s the embodiment of the idea that an open, free, diverse, progressive, inclusive world isn’t too lofty a goal, it’s a reality we can all create together.

2. Raising kids, working a job, and further improving your web development skills as part of this developer scholarship all take a lot of hard work and time. Where do you find your motivation to keep going?

For me, it isn’t that I need to stay motivated, it’s that I’m finally free and the question is, how do I remember that I need to sleep, eat, and relax. For most of my life, I’ve felt like a stallion that couldn’t run, an eagle that couldn’t fly, or a dolphin that couldn’t swim. Now, my cage door has been opened and I’m going to move forward as fast as life will permit me. I see wonder all around me, in even the simplest of things. I now have the ability to meaningfully contribute to that wonder.

3. You’ve talked about being told by others in the past that “it isn’t feminine” to be in science, technology, or math. What would you tell those same people today if they saw what you’re doing now?

In the words of the monk who changed my life, “I open the door of my heart to you.” I understand the social conditioning that implanted that perspective in your mind. I also reject that conditioning, entirely. Now, watch me.

4. What’s one habit that makes you successful?

Anyone who knows me and has for any length of time knows that I play the long game. I’ve been called obsessed and I embrace that—I wear it as a badge of honor.


5. What do you want to get better at?

Right now my next goal is to find someone who’s good with Github and beg them to help me understand how to use it correctly. Aside from that, my primary objective for now is to put in the hours it takes to become an expert at web development. It may sound lofty, but I’d like to be so good at it, and combine it with my natural creative abilities to the point where clients come to me or where when you think web development, you think of my name. I don’t dream small…

6. What advice do you have for others who are starting their journeys to becoming developers?

Embrace fear, self-doubt, discomfort, frustration, and failures. Not just embrace, but hold them close to your heart, nurture them and allow them to be yours. Because they are gifts, the most precious gifts life has to give; in those places are where we grow, push beyond what we are, and learn what we are capable of. This is hard—be harder.

7. Out of everything that happened this week, what new stories, knowledge, or perspectives do you think you’ll carry home with you?

The open sharing of ideas, thoughts, perspectives, and gifts is the height of what we humans can aspire to in my opinion; at I/O, that’s what I witnessed in marvelous abundance. I was especially struck by the diversity and the drive to improve the human experience that seemed to the common threads running through the event. That spirit is now forever locked inside me, I feel renewed toward my overall goal of being a voice for women in tech.

8. And what are you looking forward to most about being back home?

The arms of my babies… I can’t wait to show them the pictures, videos, and answer questions. I tell them as much as possible that if they are brave enough to be people who bring value to the world through their talents, actions, and thoughts, that they can literally create their own reality. I will push myself to my very limits to be the kind of person my babies can look up to. Also, I’m legit going to curl into the fetal position and sob uncontrollably if I don’t get to play my Xbox immediately.

Celebrating women’s voices around the world on International Women’s Day

As a woman, a mother to an amazing daughter, a sister, a wife, a leader and a passionate women's rights advocate, it’s been incredible to bear witness to the groundswell of support for gender equality this past year. We’ve watched women find their voices, and seen the world begin to listen more actively.

In fact, over the last year, the world has searched for "gender equality" more than ever before. People are not just asking questions; they are looking for ways to understand inequality, seek inspiration, speak out, and take action. This International Women’s Day, we’re recognizing what the world is searching for, and celebrating the strong, courageous women who are pushing us toward a more equal future.

On our homepage today, we’re commemorating women whose stories are not often heard. Through an interactive Doodle, we’re highlighting the voices of 12 artists from all around the world, each sharing a personal story of a moment or event that impacted her life. Each artist featured in the Doodle tells a unique story, yet the themes are universal, reminding us how much we have in common.

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To make it easier to find women-led businesses on Google Maps and Search, we launched a new attribute that highlights local businesses that are owned, led, or founded by women. Now you can find more businesses like Reaching Out Teahouse in communities across the world.

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Here are more ways you can get involved and celebrate International Women’s Day:

  • Tune in on YouTube at 11:45 a.m. ET tomorrow, March 8 to hear from Oprah Winfrey, Storm Reid, Gugu Mbatha-Raw and director Ava DuVernay of Disney’s “A Wrinkle in Time” for a special International Women’s Day Talks at Google event. The cast will be joined by 40 teen girls from Girls Inc as a part of a Made with Code event. 
  • Explore top-searched trends around women at g.co/womensday.
  • Celebrate with your Google Assistant by asking, "Hey Google, tell me quotes from inspiring women.” 
  • Support the women behind great apps and games as well as strong female protagonists in games, movies, TV and books on theGoogle Play store
  • Follow the conversation at @WomenTechmakers as over 20,000 women in tech connect and inspire one another during our annual Women Techmakers International Women's Day events in 52 countries. 
  • Watch the Merrell Twins’ new YouTube series “Project Upgrade,” premiering Saturday, March 10. Follow two YouTubers as they build and code their own product, all the while showing girls the unlimited possibilities of CS and STEM.

Here’s to supporting women everywhere in the search for a more equal future.

Source: Search


Celebrating Black history in our lives today

Growing up, Black history lessons in school were limited to Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., George Washington Carver and Harriet Tubman. It wasn’t until I found my local public library—and with guidance from friendly librarians—that I began to understand the full breadth and depth of the impact of Africans in America. As a little Black girl growing up in white suburban Maryland, these lessons at the library, reinforced by conversations with my parents, were necessary to shaping a healthy identity as a Black woman.

As I studied my history, I learned that Harriet Tubman overcame her small stature and birth into slavery as, not only a brilliant conductor on the Underground Railroad, but a strategist who led the first military maneuver executed by an American woman. I learned that Jesse Owensovercame his childhood as a sickly sharecropper’s son to become an Olympic gold medalist. I learned that Black Americans in the South left what was familiar to migrate by the millions toward opportunity in the North, Midwest and West Coast. And I fell in love with the poems of Langston Hughes, who articulated the pain and the beauty of the Black experience in words that perfectly expressed what I had—until then—only felt.

Today there are more resources than ever to understand and feel empowered by the lessons of the past. To make these resources available to everyone, Google Arts and Culture is adding to its extensiveonline collection of Black History and Culture. We’ve worked with cultural institutions across America to preserve and showcase artifacts, art, documents and stories honoring the legacy of Black Americans. And as a part of the collection, influencers pay homage to the historical icons and moments that inspire them today. Check out what Nas has to say about how his father and jazz music impacted his life:

Beyond the Arts and Culture collection, here are a few other ways our products are honoring Black history:

  • In a special video series, YouTube creators talk about the individuals creating Black history today. 
  • Learn from your Google Assistant. Just say, “Hey Google, share a story about Black history.” 
  • Take a journey in VR with Black history lessons in Google Expeditions.
  • Listen a YouTube playlist oficonic Motown artists curated by influencers like Lebron James, Bethann Hardison, Morgan DeBaun, Mellody Hobson, Veronica Webb and Van Jones.
  • Search “Black History Month” on Google and see posts by verified organizations like the NAACP.

We’ll share more about Black history on Google Arts and Culture throughout the month. If you’re a cultural organization that features Black history collections, reach out to Google Arts and Culture via this form—we’re always looking to expand the range of works of art, archives and stories available on our platform.

Bringing rare artifacts to life in 3D at the NMAAHC

Editor’s note: Google’s 2018 Black History Month celebration began this morning with a Doodle for Carter Woodson. We’re also unveiling a new 3D installation at the National Museum of African-American History and Culture. Stay tuned throughout the month for more on a variety of Black cultural content across many of our products and services.

Most of us have probably wondered once or twice how our lives fit into the scope of human history. Museums have taken on this question for centuries, using artifacts to offer windows into other people’s experience of the world. But there’s always been a limit to what galleries can display—because of the sheer volume of objects, and because some of those items are too fragile to sit in the open or be handled by streams of patrons.

When the National Museum of African-American History and Culture (NMAAHC) opened in 2016, their mission was to redefine how people experience art and artifacts in the modern age. And starting today, visitors to the museum can interact with rare items from Black history in a new 3D installation.

The items in this installation have historical and personal significance. For example, I’ve always loved 70s fashion and style. Seeing scans of actual boots from “The Wiz” takes me back to my childhood delight in seeing the movie and play. I’m also a jazz musician, like my father before me, and seeing a cast of composer and pianist Eubie Blake’s hand reminds me why I still can’t (and probably will never) do his solos justice. My hope is visitors will experience these artifacts and establish deeper connections with their personal stories as well.

Following a $1 million Google.org grant to the museum in 2016, I worked with a mulitracial volunteer team of engineers from the Black Googler Network and other internal organizations to build the exhibit. We were excited to apply the technical skill we’ve honed in our day jobs to create a hands-on exploration of our nation’s history.

When I first met the NMAAHC’s founding director, Dr. Lonnie Bunch, and heard his vision for the museum, I felt a keen responsibility to help bring it to fruition. The stories contained within its walls aren’t only Black stories. They’re American stories. It’s humbling to be one of the people entrusted with the telling. I hope patrons can feel some of the same joy.

Howard West program expands, opening up opportunity for future engineers

My first name is Howard. That’s where the coincidence ends. As a Black man from a lower socioeconomic background, attending Howard University was critical to developing a more optimistic sense of personal and cultural identity. The result was a stronger vision of my future.


Joining Google as a software engineer in 2015 became a part of that vision. Not only have I grown professionally, I've drawn on my cultural experience to help make Google’s products, services and culture more inclusive. During my tenure, I’ve served as the global co-chair of the Black Googlers Network (BGN) and have relied on the work ethic I developed as a teenager helping provide for my family to inspire my team to achieve rigorous milestones and launch features on Firebase, Google Analytics and Google Cloud. I also helped Google to better prepare students from diverse backgrounds for careers in tech by serving as a Google faculty member in the Howard West pilot program.


Today is a big moment for Howard West. We’re announcing that in 2018, the program will expand from the original three-month residency to a full academic year—and for students not only at Howard, but also from other esteemed Historically Black Colleges and Universities. The expansion was part of the original program goal, and it’s wonderful to see it blossoming so quickly.

The pilot exceeded our expectations in many ways. Students and faculty noted both the rigor and immersion in life at Google as the program’s most compelling aspects, and the Googlers involved felt there was a true exchange of knowledge, culture and understanding. Almost all of the students were rising juniors, making them eligible to apply for full software engineering internships at Google this coming summer. Notably, when the session concluded, 14 students applied. Four of them received offers, and they all accepted. Go Bison!


One of my favorite experiences from the pilot came from mentoring a group of students as they designed, implemented and launched an Angular web application as apart of their coursework. I tasked them with formal responsibilities, such as Technical Lead (TL), Product Manager (PM), etc. One of the students expressed interest in the responsibilities of a TL, but was nervous about officially taking the role. I encouraged her to just dive in, and she ended up exemplifying the role and becoming a model to other students in the program. This is a great example of how programs like Howard West can help students grow not only academically, but as leaders.

Google's Howard West program

Proximity to resources, inclusive cultures, and fairness in institutional processes play fundamental roles in shaping a person’s experience of the world. I found my way to Silicon Valley during a time when pathways for Black engineers were much less defined. My first days on the job brought a daily dose of culture shock. The result was a hit to my productivity, potential impact and peace of mind. It’s my hope that programs like Howard West enrich a new generation of engineers who land in Silicon Valley, already positioned to thrive.

Digital Coaches help Black and Latino businesses grow online

Editor’s Note: Today’s guest post comes from JinJa Birkenbeuel, the CEO of Birk Creative, a creative marketing and branding agency.

For the last six months, I’ve been one of eight minority small business owners around the U.S. piloting Google’s Digital Coach program, which offers free workshops for small businesses on how to use Google’s tools for digital marketing. We’re focusing this pilot in cities with historically large communities of Black and Latino small business owners: Atlanta, Austin, Chicago, Detroit, Los Angeles, Miami, New York, and Washington, D.C.

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I run a creative agency in Chicago called Birk Creative, which I founded in 1997 as a graphic design and print shop–and a way to promote the country/hip-hop band, Utah Carol, that I formed with my husband, Grant. Over the last 20 years, I’ve grown the business to advise other small businesses–and now large corporate clients—on all forms of digital marketing, from designing web sites and online ads to writing social media posts to IT support. With the help of AdWords and Google Analytics in particular, I've expanded from a local shop to a full-service agency.

I’ve long wanted to share what I’ve learned over the years with other minority and women business owners. As a Digital Coach, I offer free, open-to-the-public digital marketing lessons (including tutorials from Google’s Get Your Business Online program) and share my own experience on how AdWords, Analytics and other Google tools have helped me solve business challenges.  


Data shows that the total number of Black, Latino, and other minority-owned businesses is growing, and that U.S. Latino small businesses are growing at higher rates than any other U.S. small businesses. Yet Black and Latino-owned businesses are less likely to have websites and less likely to be online than other groups. Our goal with these pilot workshops is to help small businesses like mine participate more fully in the digital economy as they grow.


Since Google launched the pilot in late May, we’ve welcomed more than 5,000 business founders and owners to our Digital Coach workshops around the U.S. We host these events at locations that are familiar to our communities, from the Watts Public Library in Los Angeles to beauty salons in Detroit.


I’ve coached a variety of business owners, including a nail artist, a life coach, a children’s book author and a photo-booth rental company. And there's one thing they have in common: They’re small, independent businesses or sole proprietorships in Black and Latino communities, all at the point in their growth when they know they can be doing more.


As my Los Angeles Digital Coaches colleague Roberto Martinez says, “Working as a Coach has been transformational. We’re not just presenting or teaching; we are working in tandem with the business owners to better understand how to get ahead of the market.” 

After six months of meeting so many business owners from a variety of backgrounds (beyond Black and Latino) at my Digital Coach workshops, I’m inspired by them. Though they come to the Digital Coaching workshops to learn from us, our communities across the U.S. are benefiting from their contributions and expertise. As a Digital Coach, I’m honored to be playing a small part to help their businesses grow, so that all of our vibrant neighborhoods can grow, too.


If you’re interested in finding a workshop near you and to participate in our ongoing pilot in 2018, please visit https://accelerate.withgoogle.com/coaches


(Photo credit for image at top: Steve Capers Photography)

Celebrating Native American Heritage Month

Shekoli (hello)! My Oneida name is Yakohahi, my English name is Olivia, and I am a proud member of the Oneida Nation of Wisconsin, one of the six tribal nations that make up the Haudenosaunee (Iroquois) Confederacy. In Indigenous communities, we often introduce ourselves in this manner, in both English and our traditional tribal languages, to share our connection to people or places. It’s a way to honor, celebrate, and translate our cultures into our daily lives. As a Googler, I’ve been fortunate to find another community to add to my introduction, as a member of the Google American Indian Network, GAIN.

This Native American Heritage Month, I’m excited to share some of our efforts to bring diverse perspectives to our products, so that technology can serve our Native communities.

This month, we worked with the Indian Community School of Milwaukee to show how easy it is to start a computer science program, take learning beyond the walls of the classroom using Expeditions, and share some online safety tips with students.

Outside the classroom, we’re extending our knowledge panel functionality to surface information about tribes in relevant search results. We also put together a set of YouTube playlists with user-based content on Native foods and endangered languages, and in Google Earth’s storytelling platform Voyager, we shared a Harvard Project on American Indian Economic Development, celebrating tribal government success.

knowledge panels.png

Earlier this year, Google Doodles honored Richard Oakes (Mohawk) for his contributions in social justice and education, as well as Susan LaFlesche Picotte (Omaha) for her influence on public health and social reform. New updates to Google Earth and Maps allow you to see and search for Indigenous lands in North and South America. We also continue to collaborate with tribal language communities to create web-based virtual keyboards for their languages. With Google Input Tools, people can now text, email, and search in mobile apps, or create content for websites or blogs in their Native language, helping tribes to preserve their languages online.

Doodle_NAHM.jpg

As Native American Heritage Month wraps up, we will continue to engage with native communities and provide tools to help everyone tell their stories.

Yaw^ko (thank you)!

Source: Education


Celebrating Native American Heritage Month

Shekoli (hello)! My Oneida name is Yakohahi, my English name is Olivia, and I am a proud member of the Oneida Nation of Wisconsin, one of the six tribal nations that make up the Haudenosaunee (Iroquois) Confederacy. In Indigenous communities, we often introduce ourselves in this manner, in both English and our traditional tribal languages, to share our connection to people or places. It’s a way to honor, celebrate, and translate our cultures into our daily lives. As a Googler, I’ve been fortunate to find another community to add to my introduction, as a member of the Google American Indian Network, GAIN.

This Native American Heritage Month, I’m excited to share some of our efforts to bring diverse perspectives to our products, so that technology can serve our Native communities.

This month, we worked with the Indian Community School of Milwaukee to show how easy it is to start a computer science program, take learning beyond the walls of the classroom using Expeditions, and share some online safety tips with students.

Outside the classroom, we’re extending our knowledge panel functionality to surface information about tribes in relevant search results. We also put together a set of YouTube playlists with user-based content on Native foods and endangered languages, and in Google Earth’s storytelling platform Voyager, we shared a Harvard Project on American Indian Economic Development, celebrating tribal government success.

knowledge panels.png

Earlier this year, Google Doodles honored Richard Oakes (Mohawk) for his contributions in social justice and education, as well as Susan LaFlesche Picotte (Omaha) for her influence on public health and social reform. New updates to Google Earth and Maps allow you to see and search for Indigenous lands in North and South America. We also continue to collaborate with tribal language communities to create web-based virtual keyboards for their languages. With Google Input Tools, people can now text, email, and search in mobile apps, or create content for websites or blogs in their Native language, helping tribes to preserve their languages online.

Doodle_NAHM.jpg

As Native American Heritage Month wraps up, we will continue to engage with native communities and provide tools to help everyone tell their stories.

Yaw^ko (thank you)!

How an X program manager writes her own history and preserves her Ecuadorian legacy

In honor of Hispanic Heritage Month, we’re celebrating the fascinating stories and important contributions of our Hispanic Googlers—their histories, their families, and what keeps them busy inside and outside of work. Today we hear from Gladys Karina Jimenez Opper, an audacious moonshot catalyst and collector of world experiences, whose curiosity rivals Nancy Drew’s.  

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What is the 10-second explanation of your job?

I am a Program Manager at X—I plan and execute internal projects that support the launch of moonshot technologies that we hope will one day make the world a radically better place.

What does Hispanic culture and heritage mean to you?

No matter your ethnicity, country of origin, or language, we all have a cultural heritage—a history written by those who came before us and a standing legacy for those yet to come. Culture represents our innate desire for community; a social framework that connects us to people with whom we share something in common. Heritage is generation-upon-generation of cultural experiences passed on by our parents, forefathers, and their ancestors before them, and traditions are the way we pass that heritage down. Sometimes preserved in song or in dance, food or artifacts, our cultural heritage and traditions keep our past, present and future connected at all times.

What is your favorite cultural tradition?

Dinner is always better when we eat together! Family dinners are a tradition in my household. Growing up, my great-aunt Emilia (“Mami Mila”) would cook the most heavenly dishes and no one was allowed to start dinner until everyone was present at the table. You usually don’t think of food when you think of mindfulness, but a shared meal is an extraordinary way to cultivate connection, allowing us to be present for ourselves and hold space for each other.

When did you (or generations before you) immigrate to the U.S.?

I was born in Ecuador. My parents were born in Ecuador. My grandparents were born in Ecuador. And that history goes back as far as we’ve been able to trace. When I was three years old my parents decided to move to the United States in pursuit of our American dream—it was surely the most difficult decision they ever had to make.

Tell us a bit about how you got to where you are today, and who helped you get there.

Knowing where I come from is a key part of knowing who I am and what I stand for. It helps me stay rooted and centered no matter the circumstance.


As a kid, many people disparaged my dreams of attending college. They would tell me,“Those things don’t happen to people like us,” but my parents encouraged me to persevere, work hard and retain hope. I was valedictorian of my high school class and attended Stanford University, where I graduated with both undergraduate and graduate degrees.


A couple of years later, I decided to pursue my dream of working at Google. My parents and husband continuously reminded me of the power and strength of conviction. Even the most audacious dreams can come true if you believe in yourself and work relentlessly toward your goal. That’s true at X too. What some deem impossible, we see as an opportunity to create impact. Not a bad fit for me at all.


What has been an important moment for you at X?

Important moments arise in everyday interactions; I am continuously humbled by the brilliance, kindness and generosity that surrounds me. And that’s more meaningful than one specific moment. “Meraki” is a Greek word for “doing something with soul, creativity, or love,” and that describes my colleagues, partners and friends at X. Every day is an opportunity to present a different perspective for our projects and products, to exemplify leadership, camaraderie and compassion.