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What’s changing
Earlier this year, we informed users that Gmail Basic HTML view for desktop web and mobile web would be disabled starting in early 2024. We know that many users in the accessibility community use Basic HTML view, so today we’re sharing a guide to help screen reader users make the switch from HTML to Standard view. This new guide, along with an existing resource to ensure the best Gmail experience when using a desktop screen reader, should help users get up to speed on Gmail Standard view. 

If you haven’t used Standard view recently, you’ll notice we’ve made numerous usability improvements, including enhancements for people that prefer or require the precision of navigating the user interface by keyboard or screen reader. Accessibility of Standard view has significantly improved over the last few years and we’re committed to continuing to improve the accessibility experience and making new features accessible going forward. 

Getting started 
  • Admins: There is no admin control for this feature. You can use Gmail on your browser in Basic HTML view through February 2024. After this, Gmail automatically changes to Standard view. 
  • End users: Once Basic HTML view is disabled, users will automatically be redirected to the Standard Gmail view which provides the latest in Gmail security and features. Users on old browsers may need to update their browser to use the Standard view. On mobile, users can also download the official Gmail app. Visit the Help Center to learn more about using Gmail with a screen reader. 
Rollout pace 
Availability 
  • This impacts all Google Workspace customers and users with personal Google Accounts 
Resources 
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1 New update
Unless otherwise indicated, the features below are fully launched or in the process of rolling out (rollouts should take no more than 15 business days to complete), launching to both Rapid and Scheduled Release at the same time (if not, each stage of rollout should take no more than 15 business days to complete), and available to all Google Workspace and G Suite customers.



Find apps and app commands in Chat with a new Integration Menu 
We’re making it easier to discover and use Chat apps with a new Integration Menu. Simply click the (+) button next to the compose bar in a Chat message to see installed apps. You can also browse the slash commands that the apps support and execute them. On the web, the Integration Menu includes a search functionality that allows you to browse new apps. | Available to Google Workspace Essentials, Business Starter, Business Standard, Business Plus, Enterprise Essentials, Enterprise Standard, Enterprise Plus, Education Fundamentals, Education Plus, Education Standard, the Teaching and Learning Upgrade, Frontline, and legacy G Suite Basic and Business customers only. 


Previous announcements

The announcements below were published on the Workspace Updates blog earlier this week. Please refer to the original blog posts for complete details.



New option to view non-printing characters in Google Docs 
You can now choose to display non-printing characters in order to see how a document is laid out. | Learn more. 

Improvements to voice features in Google Docs and Slides 
We’ve improved the features that enable you to type and edit by speaking in Google Docs or in Google Slides speaker notes, and present slides with automatic captions to display a speaker's words in real time. | Learn more. 

Manage all Google Workspace API activity from a single location 
Within the Google Cloud Console, you can now view and manage all Google Workspace API activity. Here, you’ll find a centralized view of which APIs are currently running and their associated requests. | Learn more. 

Increasing efficiency through better meeting room management with room release 
Room release, an existing feature that releases booked meeting rooms when all but one attendee declines the invitation will now be ON by default. There will be a transition period, from January 11 - March 6, 2023, where admins can opt out structured meeting rooms or user groups from this room release setting. | Available to Google Workspace Business Plus, Enterprise Standard, Enterprise Plus, Education Fundamentals, Education Plus, Education Standard, and the Teaching and Learning Upgrade, and legacy G Suite Business customers only. | Learn more. 

New in-meeting reactions for Google Meet 
You can now use emojis to share in-meeting reactions in Google Meet on Web, Meet Hardware devices, and iOS, with Android coming soon. | Learn more. 

Introducing simpler conversation creation in Google Chat 
The process to create conversations in Chat will be much simpler by combining the flow for creating one-on-one conversations and group conversations. | Learn more. 

View speaker notes while presenting Google Slides in Google Meet
In October of 2022, we introduced the ability to present Google Slides directly in Google Meet. To build upon this, you can now view your speaker notes within Google Meet. | Available to Google Workspace Business Standard, Business Plus, Enterprise Essentials, Enterprise Standard, Education Standard, Enterprise Plus, Education Plus, the Teaching and Learning Upgrade, and Nonprofits customers only. | Learn more. 



Completed rollouts

The features below completed their rollouts to Rapid Release domains, Scheduled Release domains, or both. Please refer to the original blog post for additional details.


Scheduled Release Domains:

Rapid and Scheduled Release Domains:

For a recap of announcements in the past six months, check out What’s new in Google Workspace (recent releases).

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Update

[February 2, 2023] We have paused rollout for this feature while we evaluate performance and quality. We will provide an update once rollout resumes.


What’s changing

We’re improving the features that enable you to: 
These enhancements will help reduce transcription errors and minimize lost audio during transcription. The improvements also include expanded availability to most major browsers. Additionally, captions in Slides will now contain automatically generated punctuation.


Who’s impacted 
End users 


Why it’s important 
We hope this launch leads to more inclusive and accessible user interactions within Docs and Slides. 


Getting started 
Rollout pace 
Availability 
  • Available to all Google Workspace customers, as well as legacy G Suite Basic and Business customers 
  • Available to users with personal Google Accounts 
Resources 
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New updates 


There are no new updates to share this week. Please see below for a recap of published announcements. 


Previous announcements


The announcements below were published on the Workspace Updates blog earlier this week. Please refer to the original blog posts for complete details.



New Google Calendar shortcuts improve glanceability for screen reader users 
Users of screen readers can now type a keyboard shortcut that verbalizes the content of an event, such as the title, date and time, guest list, and much more. | Learn more. 



For a recap of announcements in the past six months, check out What’s new in Google Workspace (recent releases).

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What’s changing 
In addition to the improved announcements for braille comments and highlights available in Google Docs on Web, and the recent launch of more control over accessibility preferences, we’re introducing Announce Shortcuts for Calendar event details. 

Users of screen readers can now type a keyboard shortcut (ALT + number,  1 - 7) that verbalizes the content of an event, such as the title, date and time, guest list, and much more. These shortcuts greatly improve glanceability because they enable Calendar details to be heard on demand instead of time consuming navigation through information. 


Getting started 
  • Admins: There is no admin control for this feature. 
  • End users: 
    • To view keyboard shortcuts in Calendar, type: 
      • Ctrl+/ on Windows and ChromeOS 
      • Cmd+/ on Mac 
    • Use the following keyboard combinations to access Announce Shortcuts: 
      • Alt+ for Windows 
      • Alt+Shift+ for ChromeOS 
      • Option+ for Mac 
    • Visit the Help Center to learn more about using a screen reader with Google Calendar. 
Rollout pace 


Availability 
  • Available to all Google Workspace customers, as well as legacy G Suite Basic and Business customers 
  • Available to users with personal Google Accounts 

Resources 

Roadmap 
  • This feature was listed as an upcoming release.
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Quick summary
Over the years, we’ve launched features to support our ongoing accessibility efforts to ensure our products work well for everyone. For users of screen readers, braille devices, screen magnifiers, and more, we're improving the ability to adjust your accessibility preferences for Docs, Sheets, Slides, and Drawings separately. 

Rather than having the same accessibility settings apply across these products, you’re now able to set preferences for each product individually. We expect this change to make it easier to ensure accessibility settings are personalized to best meet each user’s needs. 

Accessibility settings can now be personalized for Docs, Sheets, Slides, and Drawings

Getting started 
  • Admins: There is no admin control for this feature. 
  • End users: In your document, spreadsheet, slide deck, or drawing, navigate to Tools > Accessibility > select your preferred settings. Visit the Help Center to learn more about Accessibility. 
Rollout pace 
 Availability 
  • Available to all Google Workspace customers, as well as legacy G Suite Basic and Business customers 
  • Available to users with personal Google Accounts 
 Resources 
Roadmap 
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Quick summary 

We've improved how comments and highlighted text are announced with braille support enabled in Google Docs. This change makes it easier for users of assistive technology, including screen readers and refreshable braille displays, to interact with comments in documents and identify text with background colors. 

When reading the document, you’ll now hear start and end indications for comments and highlights alongside the rest of the text. These announcements will respect the comment and marked text settings that screen readers provide. We hope this additional information serves as useful context and makes it easier to collaborate when working in Google Docs. 

Getting started 

  • Admins: There is no admin control for this feature. 
  • End users: This feature will be OFF by default and can be enabled by the user going to Tools > Accessibility settings > Turn on braille support. Visit the Help Center to learn more about how to Use a braille display with Docs editors. 

Additional details 

Users should update to the latest versions of their assistive technologies and browsers to fully benefit from these improvements. 

Rollout pace 

Availability 

Available to all Google Workspace customers, as well as legacy G Suite Basic and Business customers

Resources 

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Quick launch summary 

You can now make more efficient use of your screen space in Google Docs. Currently, comments in Docs are 35 characters wide in the sidebar, regardless of how much space is available. Now, we've increased the comment width to a maximum of 50 characters, a +43% increase in width. Comment width will intelligently scale based on your browser window to maximize the use of available screen space. While screen time may increase in remote and hybrid work environments, this update makes more efficient use of the space by fitting more content on a single line and enhancing readability. 


Getting started

  • Admins: There is no admin control for this feature. 
  • End users: This feature will be ON by default and will expand automatically on a larger monitor. Visit the Help Center to learn more about using comments & action items 

Rollout pace 

Availability 

  • Available to all Google Workspace customers, as well as G Suite Basic and Business customers 

Resources 

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What's changing
Live translated captions help video call participants communicate better by translating a spoken language to captions in another language. Live translated captions will initially be available in beta and will support English meetings translated to Spanish, French, Portuguese and German. It’s available in meetings organized by Google Workspace Business Plus, Enterprise Standard, Enterprise Plus, Education Plus, and Teaching & Learning Upgrade users. 


Learn more and express interest in the beta here. 

Turning on Translated Captions


Who's impacted

Admins and end users

Why it’s important
Translated captions helps Google Meet video calls to be more global, inclusive and effective by removing language ability as a barrier to collaboration. By helping users consume the content in a preferred language, you can help equalize information sharing, learning, and collaboration, and make sure your meetings are as effective as possible. 
This could be particularly useful for all-hands meetings and training programs with globally distributed teams, ensuring every employee understands and is not disadvantaged due to language skills. 
Live translated captions can also be impactful for educators by enhancing communication with students who speak a different language than the instructor. This can also enable students to connect with other students across the globe who speak a different language. Translation can increase inclusivity with parents and community stakeholders by bridging people with diverse backgrounds. 


Getting started

Rollout pace 

  • The beta is available now. Learn more and express interest in the beta here. When your domain has been approved for the beta and the feature is ready to use, you’ll receive more information via email. 

Availability 

  • Available to meetings organized by Google Workspace Business Plus, Enterprise Standard, Enterprise Plus, Education Plus, and Teaching & Learning Upgrade customers. 
  • Not available to meetings organized by Google Workspace Essentials, Business Starter, Business Standard, Enterprise Essentials, Education Fundamentals, Frontline, and Nonprofits, as well as G Suite Basic and Business customers 

Resources 

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New updates

Unless otherwise indicated, the features below are fully launched or in the process of rolling out (rollouts should take no more than 15 business days to complete), launching to both Rapid and Scheduled Release at the same time (if not, each stage of rollout should take no more than 15 business days to complete), and available to all Google Workspace and G Suite customers.


Delegate Information is now available in Gmail Log Search
Email log search now indicates when an email was sent on behalf of the user by a delegate. In cases where a delegate sent the email, the delegate will be listed, along with the sender, in message details in email log search. Delegate information will only be available on emails sent after this change rolls out. | Available to all Google Workspace with Gmail enabled. | Learn more.


New font in Workspace improves accessibility for vision impaired
Now there's a new font in Workspace optimized for vision impaired users.  When you create or want to read a document, set the font to Atkinson Hyperlegible for improved legibility.


Previous announcements 
The announcements below were published on the Workspace Updates blog earlier this week. Please refer to the original blog posts for complete details.


Improvements for braille mode in Google Docs provide a richer, more interactive experience
We've improved how suggestions are announced in braille mode in Google Docs. You’ll now hear detailed suggestion information inline with the rest of the text — this includes whether the suggestion is an insertion or deletion, and the author of the suggestion. | Learn more.



Disabling File Transfer in Google Chat
Admins can now disable or limit file sharing for their users in Chat. Specifically, admins
will be able to specify controls within and outside their organization, and will be able to choose between restricting all files, allowing images only, or allowing all files. | Available to Google Workspace Business Plus, Enterprise Standard, Enterprise Plus, Education Plus, Enterprise Essentials | Learn more.



Alert Center enrichment with VirusTotal threat context now generally available
Earlier this year, we pre-announced an integration between the Alert Center and VirusTotal. Currently, the Google Workspace Alert Center provides admins with actionable, real-time alerts and insights regarding security-related activity in their domain. With the VirusTotal (now part of Google Cloud) integration, admins have the ability to dig into their alerts at a deeper level. | Available to Google Workspace Business Plus, Enterprise Standard, Enterprise Plus, Education Fundamentals and Education Plus customers. | Learn More.



Use dynamic security groups for group based policies
Google Workspace admins can now use dynamic groups to manage policies for their users in the Admin console. Previously, it was only possible to apply these policies to static groups and OUs. | Available to Google Workspace Enterprise Plus, Education Plus, and Cloud Identity Premium customers. | Learn more.



Workspace for Education Plus now syncs Google Classroom courses and rosters with Student Information Systems
U.S. school districts with Google Workspace for Education Plus will be able to automatically set up Google Classroom courses and keep rosters in sync with their Student Information System (SIS). IT admins will do the setup via Clever, meaning teachers will no longer need to manually create classes and invite students to join them. | Learn More.



Enhancements to Google Voice
We’ve made several enhancements to Google Voice, including information and troubleshooting tips for missed calls, the ability to easily redial dropped calls, the ability to delete SMS messages in bulk, and an option to show your Google Voice number as the caller ID when forwarding calls. | Learn more.



Search within a folder in Google Drive on iOS
You can now search for content inside a specific folder in Google Drive on iOS. Simply navigate to the folder you want to search within and select the search bar — you’ll see a list of suggested folders, documents, and users to refine your search results. Select the folder chip before typing your search query. | Learn more.



Assign SSO profile to organizational units or groups with the new SAML Partial SSO beta
Currently, you can configure to authenticate your users using a third-party identity provider — this configuration applies to all users within your domain. Now, you have the option to specify groups or organizational units (OUs) to authenticate a subset of your users using Google. This feature is available as an open beta. | Learn more.



New enrollment privilege and naming updates for Google Meet hardware in the Admin console
We are making two improvements to the admin controls for Google Meet hardware: a new enrollment privilege admins and updates for hardware management in the Admin console. | Learn more.



Use the new Google Meet web app for better meetings on desktop devices
We’ve launched a new Google Meet standalone web app. This Progressive Web Application (PWA) has all the same features as Google Meet on the web, but as a standalone app it’s easier to find and use, and it streamlines your workflow by eliminating the need to switch between tabs. | Learn more.


For a recap of announcements in the past six months, check out What’s new in Google Workspace (recent releases).

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Quick launch summary
We've improved how suggestions are announced in braille mode in Google Docs. This change makes it easier for users of assistive technology, including screen readers and refreshable braille displays, to interact with suggestions in documents.

You’ll now hear detailed suggestion information inline with the rest of the text — this includes whether the suggestion is an insertion or deletion, and the author of the suggestion.


Getting started
  • Admins: There is no admin control for this feature.
  • End users: This feature will be OFF by default and can be enabled by the user by going to Tools > Accessibility settings > Turn on braille support. Visit the Help Center to learn more about how to Use a braille display with Docs editors.

Additional details
  • Users should make sure to update to the latest versions of their assistive technologies and browsers to fully benefit from these improvements.

Rollout pace

Availability
  • Essentials, Business Starter, Business Standard, Business Plus, Frontline, Enterprise Standard, Enterprise Plus, Education Fundamentals, Education Plus, Nonprofits, Cloud Identity Free, Cloud Identity Premium

Resources
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Quick launch summary
We’re expanding live captions in Google Meet to French, German, Portuguese and Spanish (Spain and Latin America) speakers. They were previously only available in English. Live captions allow deaf and hard of hearing users, users with different primary languages, and users in noisy environments to participate more fully in meetings.

During a Meet call, each video call participant will be able to select the meeting’s spoken language when enabling captions.

Choose your captions language in Google Meet.


Captions setting will also be “sticky.” This means that if you turn them on or off during a meeting, they will be saved, along with the chosen language, for future meetings.

Non-English captions are currently available on the web to APAC and EMEA countries only, with rollout to North America and Latin America coming in early 2021. Additionally we’ll also expand support to iOS and Android mobile apps in early 2021.

Getting started
  • Admins: There is no admin control for this feature.
  • End users: This feature will be available by default in APAC and EMEA countries. Visit the Help Center to learn more about using captions in Meet.

Rollout pace

Availability
  • Available to Google Workspace Essentials, Business Starter, Business Standard, Business Plus, Enterprise Essentials, Enterprise Standard, and Enterprise Plus, as well as G Suite Basic, Business, Education, Enterprise for Education, and Nonprofits customers. Also available to users with personal Google Accounts.

Resources
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Quick launch summary 
We’re making several improvements to braille support in Google Docs to make it easier for users of assistive technologies, including refreshable braille displays, to work on documents. These changes will enhance the experience of reading documents with new keyboard shortcuts, improved navigation, and more reliable verbalizations. We encourage assistive technology users to enable braille support when working in Docs.

Improvements you may notice include: 
  • You can use the new Ctrl+Alt+H (CMD+Option+H on Mac) shortcut to toggle braille support in Docs, Sheets, and Slides. 
  • When you use shortcuts to navigate, we now announce where your cursor moves to, including comments, headings, misspellings, and suggestions. 
  • We improved the reliability of navigating through lengthy documents and lists. 
  • Images, misspellings, and grammar errors are now verbalized directly by assistive technology. 
  • We’ve improved navigation and selection verbalizations when moving through tables and when selecting content, including announcing the entire cell’s contents. 

Please make sure to update to the latest versions of your assistive technologies and browsers to fully benefit from these improvements. 


Getting started 
  • Admins: There is no admin control for this feature. 
  • End users: This feature will be ON by default for users with braille support turned on. Visit the Help Center to learn more about how to use a braille display with Docs editors, and make sure to update to the latest versions of your browser and screen reader to use all features. 
Rollout pace 
Availability 
  • Available to all G Suite customers and users with personal Google Accounts 
Resources 
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Quick launch summary We’re making several improvements to accessibility features in Google Docs. Some enhancements you’ll notice are:

  • Improvements in how screen readers verbalize content, including for non-text information like comments and suggestions. 
  • Improvements in how Braille displays render content, including symbols, emojis, and other glyphs. 
  • Improved support for navigating through elements such as tables, headers, and footers.
  • Improved caret tracking. 
We hope these improvements make it easier for users of assistive technologies to work in Google Docs.

Getting started Admins: There is no admin action required for this feature.

End users: These improvements will be automatically available to end users. Visit the Help Center to learn more about accessibility for Docs editors.

Rollout pace 
Availability 

  • Available to all G Suite customers and users with personal Google Accounts 
Resources 

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Quick launch summary It’s now easier for users of assistive technologies, like screen readers and Braille displays, to keep track of real-time updates made by collaborators in a document. With live edits, you can view a periodically updated summary of collaborator changes in a convenient sidebar. In Google Docs we believe that collaboration works best when it works for everyone.

New edits made by collaborators appear in the live edits sidebar.


To see live edits, open the Accessibility settings by going to Tools > Accessibility settings and check “Turn on screen reader support.” Then, select “Show live edits” from the Accessibility menu. To learn more, see this article in our Help Center.
Helpful linksAvailability
Rollout details

G Suite editions
  • Available to all G Suite editions.

On/off by default? 
  • This feature will be available by default and can be enabled in the settings of Google Docs.


Stay up to date with G Suite launches
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Quick launch summaryIt’s now easier to discover accessibility features like screen reader support, braille support, and screen magnifier support in Docs, Sheets, and Slides.

While these accessibility features were previously available, they required additional steps to access the accessibility menu. This change will make these settings more readily available by placing the Accessibility settings in the Tools menu.

Access the Accessibility menu by selecting Tools > Accessibility settings.

The accessibility settings dialog showing screen reader, braille, and screen magnifier support options.
If the screen reader option is selected from the accessibility settings dialog, an Accessibility menu will be displayed at the top of Docs, Sheets, and Slides for easy access.

Availability Rollout details 

G Suite editions 
Available to all G Suite editions.

On/off by default? 
This feature will be ON by default.

Stay up to date with G Suite launches
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We’ve recently made some accessibility enhancements to Google Calendar, Google Docs and Google Sites. Improvements have been made in keyboard shortcuts and support for screen readers among other items.

Google Calendar: Google Calendar now has new keyboard shortcuts and better screen reader support for our blind users. Members of the blind community can now use JAWS, VoiceOver and ChromeVox to manage your calendars, create and edit events or simply browse your events.

Google Docs and Google Sites: New keyboard shortcuts and better screen reader support with support for two screen readers: JAWS and ChromeVox.

Editions included:
Google Apps, Google Apps for Business, Government and Education

For more information:
Google Calendar: http://gmailblog.blogspot.com/2011/09/improved-accessibility-for-google.html
Google Docs and Sites: http://googledocs.blogspot.com/2011/09/improved-accessibility-in-google-docs.html
Accessibility: http://www.google.com/accessibility/

New look on the way for Gmail, Calendar, Docs and Sites! Find out more at whatsnew.googleapps.com/new-look

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Google Apps users can now try out the new look for Google Documents List. If users opt in to the new look, keyboard shortcuts are also now available.

Release track:
Rapid*

Editions included:
Google Apps, Google Apps for Business, Government and Education

Languages included:
All languages supported by Google Documents List

How to access what's new:
- Preview the new look by clicking on ‘Try the new look’ under the gear icon in the upper right. You’ll be able to return to the classic look using the same menu.

Note: If you don’t see the gear icon, then make sure your domain is on the new infrastructure for Google Apps accounts.

For more information:
http://googledocs.blogspot.com/2011/08/try-out-new-look-and-keyboard-shortcuts.html
Keyboard shortcuts: https://docs.google.com/support/bin/answer.py?answer=1295935

*Rapid Release track: Domains with ‘Enable scheduled releases’ checkbox disabled in the administrator control panel. Learn more

New look on the way for Google and Google Apps. Find out more at http://whatsnew.googleapps.com/new-look

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