Google recently announced TalkBack 9.1 for Android.
In a blog post published on Tuesday, Google announced what it described as an “all-new” version (officially, 9.1) of its TalkBack screen reader. Android accessibility product manager Brian Kemler wrote in the post the upgraded software includes “some of the most highly requested features from the Blind and low vision community.”
What was one of the most requested features for talkBack?
The new version of TalkBack is the most ambitious since Google introduced the feature in 2009. One of the most requested features of the new TalkBack is the ability to use multi-touch gestures to control the user interface similar to VoiceOver on iOS. Google says these new gestures “make it easier for you to interact with apps and let you perform common actions, such as selecting and editing text, controlling media and finding help.” Additionally, users can utilize swipe gestures to read through news headlines, for example. Swiping right to left, it’s possible to read full sentences, as well as breaking it down by word(s) or characters. Likewise, a single swipe up or down will enable navigation through a piece of text.