Collaborating with others is easier too: in Docs, Sheets, Slides or Drawings, screen readers announce when people enter or leave the document, and you’ll now also hear when others are editing alongside you.
Refreshable Braille display support
If you use a Braille display, you can now use it to read and enter text in Docs, Slides and Drawings. Even if you don't use a Braille display, with Braille support, your screen reader’s settings for character echoing are automatically followed. Enabling Braille also dramatically reduces the lag between when you press a key and when it’s announced by your screen reader, and improves the announcements
of punctuation and whitespace. Learn how to enable Braille support in our Help Center.
Get up and going faster
The first time you use a screen reader or a Braille display, getting up to speed can be a daunting task. But it’s simpler with new step-by-step guides for Drive, Docs, Sheets, Slides, Forms and Drawings.
You can also access the in-product “Help” menu at any time without interrupting your work, or use the updated shortcut help dialog to easily search through keyboard shortcuts if you don’t remember them.
Finally, we’re offering phone support for Google Drive accessibility questions. If you get stuck, visit support.google.com/drive to request a phone call and someone from our team will reach out to you.
What’s next
Referring to recent updates to Google Drive, Dr. Marc Maurer, President of the National Federation of the Blind, said at this year’s National Convention: “The progress...during the last few months has just been positively extraordinary.” We’re pleased the community has welcomed these improvements, and will continue to work with organizations like the NFB to make even more progress.
Everyone, regardless of ability, should be able to experience all that the web has to offer. To find out more about our commitment to a fully accessible web, visit the new Google Accessibility site at www.google.com/accessibility.
Posted by: Alan Warren, Vice President, Engineering
For mobile
If you use the Drive app for Android or iOS, you’ll notice everything is now a bit speedier and easier to navigate. Thanks to faster background syncing, the new mobile app makes it easy to find and quickly open files. Plus, you get a host of new features that let you see who has access, view recent changes, or grab a link to share with more people. You can even enable offline access or print a file directly from the app.
For the web
You’ll be offered access to the new Drive for the web over the coming weeks. When you agree to give it a try, you’ll experience a new look and better performance. It's also easier to take some of the most common actions — simply click once on a file to see recent activity, share with friends, or enable offline access. For you organizational fiends, you now have three easy ways to take group actions on multiple files: right click on the selected files, use the menu above the file area, or simply drag the group to a new location in Drive.
For everyone
We are committed to making Drive useful for everyone. This includes having it localized in over 70 languages and, with this latest update, making Drive much more accessible for our blind and visually impaired users. The new Drive includes improved keyboard accessibility, support for zooming and high contrast mode, and better compatibility with screen readers.
For now
That’s it. Get the mobile apps on Google Play and in the App Store, and then visit drive.google.com on your computer to use Drive on the web. Should you run into trouble with any of these new features, check out the Help Center or reach out to our support team.
