Last Thursday, Google released a new version of Google Maps developed by and for People with Visual Impairment. This new version includes detailed audible walking directions for people with visual impairment.

Google Maps tells people the distance to their next turn, the current direction, and the street people are on. It gives alerts when they are crossing a large road. It also indicates that they are being re-routed when they have accidentally left their route. These types of instructions are useful for everybody, especially when people are walking in places they are not familiar with.

In the following video, Wakana Sugiyama, a legally blind Business Analyst at Google Japan, explains how Google’s detailed voice guidance works.

According to Wakana, "this feature is the first in Google Maps to be built from the ground up by, and for, people with vision impairments." It makes a significant difference when people with disabilities take an active part in new developments. The result is a technology that works for everybody.

Source: Sugiyama, Wakana. "Voice guidance in Maps, built for people with impaired vision." Google,  Oct 10, 2019, https://www.blog.google/products/maps/better-maps-for-people-with-vision-impairments/