What happened in web accessibility news this month?
Each month, the Lumar team rounds up some of the top headlines for website managers and web accessibility professionals.
For our May 2025 a11y news roundup, top headlines include:
- A slew of new digital accessibility updates have been announced by major tech companies on Global Accessibility Awareness Day (GAAD) this May — including new a11y features from Google, Apple, and Meta
- Minor updates to WCAG 2.1 documentation on the WC3 site
- You can now catch our May website accessibility webinar on-demand – learn how to prepare your website for the June 2025 European Accessibility Act (EAA) with our expert speakers.
- Call for speakers is now open (closing May 26) for the WordPress Accessibility Day event taking place in October 2025.
- … and more!
Read on for the top digital accessibility news stories this month…
Google adds new accessibility features to Chrome and Android
On Global Accessibility Awareness Day (GAAD) this month, Google unveiled a series of accessibility enhancements across its Android and Chrome platforms.
Key a11y updates from Google include:
- Deeper integration of Gemini AI with Android’s TalkBack screen reader enables users to receive detailed image descriptions and engage in follow-up questions about visual content.
- The introduction of Expressive Captions offers real-time transcription that captures the tone and vocal nuances of speech, enhancing comprehension for users with hearing impairments.
- Chrome’s Optical Character Recognition (OCR) now allows screen readers to access text within scanned PDFs
- A new Page Zoom feature on Chrome for Android lets users adjust text size without disrupting page layouts
(Source: Google’s The Keyword, May 15, 2025)
Apple is launching new accessibility features for people with vision or hearing impairments
Apple also introduced new a11y updates this month ahead of Global Accessibility Awareness Day, including personal voice replication and accessibility “nutrition labels” in the App Store.
Apple announced a comprehensive suite of new accessibility features aimed at enhancing support for users with vision or hearing impairments. These Apple accessibility updates, set to launch later this year, include live captions, improved braille tools, personal voice replication, enhanced reading tools, and magnifier app enhancements.
Notably, the personal voice feature has been revamped to synthesize a user’s voice from just 10 recorded phrases, a significant improvement over the previous model, which required 150 training phrases.
Additionally, Apple is introducing “accessibility nutrition labels” in the App Store, requiring developers to disclose their apps’ accessibility features, such as voiceover or large text options, to encourage broader adoption of digital accessibility best practices.
(Source: The Guardian, May 18, 2025)
Meta adds new accessibility features to its smart glasses
Meta was also among the tech giants unveiling new digital accessibility enhancements this month, with two new features designed to assist low-vision users launching for its Ray-Ban Meta smart glasses.
The smart glasses can now describe what you’re seeing in more detail. This optional feature will roll out to users in the US and Canada in the coming weeks.
Additionally, Meta is rolling out its Call a Volunteer feature for blind or low vision individuals in all 18 countries where Meta AI is supported later this month. (Previously, this feature was only available in the US, Canada, UK, Ireland, and Australia.) The Call a Volunteer feature was created in partnership with Be My Eyes and connects blind users with sighted volunteers in real time to help them complete everyday tasks.
(Source: The Verge, May 15, 2025, and Meta Newsroom, May 15, 2025)
Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.1 Have Been Updated
The W3C has updated its WCAG 2.1 documentation to incorporate the changes made since the December 12, 2024, Recommendation. The May 6, 202, updated publication also addresses minor technical issues from the previous version.
(Source: W3C, May 6, 2025)
Lumar Webinar Replay: Prepare Your Website for the June 2025 European Accessibility Act
The European Accessibility Act (EAA) will go into effect next month, on June 28, 2025. If you missed Lumar’s webinar session on how to prepare your website for the new EU A11y Act, you can now view it on-demand here:
(Source: Lumar Webinar Series, “Prepare Your Website for the June 2025 EU Accessibility Act”)
WordPress Accessibility Day: Call for Speakers for October 2025 Event
Ready to share your web accessibility insights with the world? WordPress event organizers have now opened applications for speaking slots at their global WP accessibility conference, which will take place online on October 15-16, 2025.
The deadline for speaker applications is May 26, 2025.
(Source: WPAccessibility.Day)
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