New Google Chrome extension magnifies selected text

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Wednesday, 30 June 2010 14:30pm

People who are vision impaired will now be able to use a new extension that magnifies any selected text in Google Chrome.

 

ChromeViz is a Google extension that allows users to select text on a webpage which is then shown in large font in a box (called a lens) on top of the webpage content; see example below.

 

Instead of the standard zoom feature that increases the size of all the text on a page, ChromeViz displays the selected text in a separate box, leaving the original webpage unaltered.

 

You can select text using your mouse or keyboard, change the colour of the text and the background used for the lens, and set the lens to either lock in place at the top of the browser or float above the selected text. ChromeViz also supports keyboard shortcuts.

Example of ChromeViz showing magnified text

You can download and install ChromeViz by visiting the Google Chrome extension library.

 

This extension, which can assist people who are vision impaired, is a positive step from the Google accessibility team whose browser unfortunately falls short of providing an accessible experience for users with disabilities.

 

The recent Google Chrome Screen Reader Accessibility Petition sparked a response from Google about Google Chrome and screen reader support. Google reported that screen readers System Access to Go and VoiceOver have partial support for Google Chrome, with JAWS, Window-Eyes and NVDA still unable to work with Google Chrome.

For more information about the accessibility of web browsers, and assistive technologies visit the digital technology section of our website.


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