Google Product Helping Blog

More than a billion people have a disability. And regardless of the country or community they live in, the gaps in opportunity for people with disabilities are striking: One in three people with a disability lives in poverty. In places like the United States, 50 to 70 percent of people with disabilities are unemployed; in developing countries that number increases to 80 to 90 percent. And only 10 percent of people with disabilities in developing countries have access to the assistive devices they need. Last spring, Google.org kicked off the Google Impact Challenge: Disabilities , an open call to global nonprofits who are building transformative technologies for the billion people around the world with disabilities. We�ve been amazed by the ideas we�ve received, coming from 1,000+ organizations spanning 88 countries. We�ve shared a handful of the organizations we�re supporting already�and today we�re excited to share the full list of 30 winners . The organizations we�re supporting all ...

Nearly 20 percent of the U.S. population will have a disability during their lifetime, which can make it hard for them to access and interact with technology, and limits the opportunity that technology can bring. That�s why it�s so important to build tools to make technology accessible to everyone�from people with visual impairments who need screen readers or larger text, to people with motor restrictions that prevent them from interacting with a touch screen, to people with hearing impairments who cannot hear their device�s sounds. Here are some updates we�ve made recently to make our technology more accessible: A tool to help develop accessible apps Accessibility Scanner is a new tool for Android that lets developers test their own apps and receive suggestions on ways to enhance accessibility. For example, the tool might recommend enlarging small buttons, increasing the contrast between text and its background and more. Improvements for the visually impaired in Android N A few weeks...

We believe in a world built for everyone, which is why we launched the global Google Impact Challenge: Disabilities earlier this year. The Impact Challenge is a Google.org initiative to invest $20 million in nonprofits who are using technology to make the world more accessible for the 1 billion people living with disabilities. Today, as part of the program, we�re proud to celebrate the U.N. International Day of Persons with Disabilities with three new grants, totalling $2.95 million. Through our grants, the Royal London Society for Blind People will develop the Wayfindr project, helping visually impaired people navigate the London underground; Israeli NGO Issie Shapiro will distribute Sesame, an app that allows people with mobility impairments to control a smartphone using only head movements; and, finally, German grantee Wheelmap will expand its accessibility mapping efforts worldwide. This week, many Googlers around the world will also join Wheelmap�s Map My Day campaign to help...