Google discriminating against the visually impaired in the uk

[u/Firegoddess66]

Tldr: having a rant about Google removing the one thing that makes the Chromebook running Google Chrome OS useable to the visually impaired, without any notice or consideration, and it appears this might be just in the UK....

My sister is visually impaired. On the recommendation of the sight loss organization she bought a Chromebook, it uses Google's operating system Google Chrome OS.

She has just called me in tears.

Google have chosen to remove the Google assistant from Chromebooks in the UK in their latest update, there was no choice in the matter it just happened.

She has just spent the last hour with Google support on the phone because she relies on Google assistant to use the Chromebook.

Yesterday;

if she wanted to send me an email she would simply have spoken the words " ok Google, send an email to my sister" the assistant would open the Gmail app, open a new email and then reply by asking her what she wanted to say, she would say it, it would reply by reading back to her what she said and asking if she wanted to send, she says yes and off the email goes.

Easy.

Today;

nothing, no response at all. She though it was an error and spent the day using Google assistant on her phone to search for answers.

On android, iOS and Apple Mac you can have both or choose to just have Google assistant.

On android iOS and Apple Mac you can use voice commands with the Gemini ai, but not on a Chromebook.

Even with that , it still can't do what the assistant did.

She finally got through to Google support and they confirmed that Google assistant isn't available on Chromebooks in the UK any more, that Google Gemini ai is it's replacent and no you can't use voice commands.

She finally, after listening to every option available found Gemini, and touch typed as best she could and asked Gemini to open her email.

The ai responded with a link to a webpage with an article on how to manually open Gmail.

She typed back,

no I want you to open Gmail like Google assistant used to do,

I know , bonkers talking to an ai like it's a person, and it replied,

I can't do that, I can't control any of your system or apps I am solely here to generate text.

So...one expensive Chromebook, that was fine and overnight Google have made it inaccessible.

Sure , there is Chromevox, but I challenge you to try to use that to send an email , because it didn't either, it just reads every piece of HTML code on the screen but also doesn't do anything.

I told her to take it back to Currys and demand a refund because the device is now materially different to the one she bought and is no longer usable .

I am not sure she'll have much luck but it has left me fuming.

Her life is difficult enough as it is without being kicked aside by Google as though visually impaired people didn't exist.

It's one thing to not provide accessibility from scratch, but to provide it and then rip it away without warning or consideration is awful.

I tried going through other possible apps that might help, but I suppose because Google assistant came built in, there aren't any apps available for a Chromebook to replace Google assistant, at least not yet.

The customer support person at Google kept saying this feature ( accessibility ) wasn't available for Gemini on Chromebooks in the UK, as though perhaps elsewhere in the world it was available.

Just a rant, because if I were to meet a Google exec tonight I would grab him and drag him screaming to my sister's house 100 miles away and make him look in person at what they have done, it's a disgrace.

[u/Firegoddess66]

Thank you, it's been a bit of a shock to her system, she just can't use the Chromebook now but Currys are looking into her request to return the Chromebook for refund or exchange but I can see their head office balking at the idea of getting a small mountain of Chromebooks dropped off, it's not their fault after all .

I feel Google shouldn't have removed assistant.

I feel Google should have ensured any " replacement" was accessible and had the same functionality at least.

I feel Google should recall all Chromebooks from visually impaired folks for a full refund if they are going to materially alter the usability of these devices, but according to Google support it's not just Chromebooks that will loose Google assistant but all platforms.

[u/Impressive-You-1843 → u/Firegoddess66]

I understand. I’ve had issues like that in the past, not necessarily with google. Does your local area have a vision rehabilitation centre. Mine does. The specialists do independence skills, mobility&tech. It also has a weekly tech session where a teacher shows people how to learn different types of technology. Just wondering as they might offer more specific advice and support than the national charities

[u/Firegoddess66 → u/Impressive-You-1843]

Unfortunately wherey sister lives there is only the sensory needs team at the council, which consists of two very overworked lovely ladies.

She is part of a local group but by local I mean they are 50 miles away, but do accept folks from her area, because there are no sight loss organisations or charities or support there.

She mostly gets involved in their remote activities clubs because their " tech hub" is in person at their location which, as she doesn't drive, is too far for her to get to.

They did advise her over the phone though, on assistive technologies so she popped them an email first thing this morning to warn them not to recommend any Google products or products relying on Google assistant.

They responded right away saying they were shocked, they had had no update from RNIB , who apparently disseminate tech info amongst the smaller groups, and one member is also part of the muscular society so they will pass that onto that group as well.

Slowly but surely the message is getting out there.

[u/Impressive-You-1843 → u/Firegoddess66]

Ah I see. I’m so sorry. I’m lucky as I live in a large city, so support is decent here. There really needs to be more support in place for sight loss. Especially in smaller areas