Action Block App Will Make Google Assistant More Accessible
Google is expanding its Assistant platform and adding new features that will make it easily accessible to those with cognitive disabilities.
Making use of some of the functions of Google Assistant which sometimes require multiple steps can be somewhat of a hassle for people struggling with cognitive disorders.
But the search company is vying to make them simple by allowing the creation of a customizable pre-written set of commands placed on the home screen of Android devices for easy accessibility.
Using a newly developed Action Block App, Google is letting users assign their regularly used actions a name, add a spoken command for Google’s voice assistant, and then assign it to an image that is then placed on the home screen of your device.
Assigning it an image– which is the final step of creating a personalized interface with the app– is to give users with disabilities a means to easily distinguished what commands they want to perform with a single tap.
During this year’s I/O, Google announced the DIVA program — of which this new feature is an extension of — as part the company’s growing Accessibility initiative that aims to make some of its platforms and hardware more accessible to people with vocal and mobility disabilities.
It allows them to have preset and pre-configured settings bonded with the physical controls of the device as a way to simplify using them.
With the new Action Block App, the search titan is hoping simple Android tasks like listening to music, initiating a search or even calling friends isn’t difficult for those suffering from either mobility or cognitive disabilities.
However, according to the company, the feature is currently going through the testing phase with official global rollout not confirmed. But should it see the light of day, Action Block App will be a step in the right direction in making sure nobody, no matter their limitation, is left out from the expansive Android Universe.
