Spotify has announced three new accessibility updates heading to iOS and Android over the coming weeks. The most interesting may be a new auto transcription feature for podcasts so users can read their shows.
Spotify announced the accessibility news in a blog post today:
We’re continuously making accessibility improvements to the experience to help many of our users enjoy the songs and podcasts they love more easily. So today, we’re introducing three updates to Spotify on iOS and Android: buttons with increased readability features, options for text resizing, and a beta for podcast transcripts.
First up, the auto podcast transcription feature. Spotify is rolling this out as a limited beta “for select Spotify Original and Exclusive podcasts across iOS and Android.” Here’s how it will work:
The new feature will automatically generate transcripts for these shows, allowing users to read the text of the specific podcasts on their phones either with or without sound. Users will also be able to quickly scroll and navigate through specific episodes and click on any written paragraph to start playing from that point.
Spotify notes that its long-term goal is to bring auto transcripts to all podcasts on the platform. But to start, the limited beta will arrive “in the coming weeks.”
The iOS and Android apps are also getting updated buttons. Spotify says they’re designed to be better for low-vision and visually impaired users:
Today, you may notice some changes to these buttons in terms of color, text formatting, and size. Our aim is to make it easier for low-vision and visually impaired users to spot and engage with these actions when using Spotify on their phones. The update can also aid users in situations where there’s low lighting or high screen reflections. Plus, changing the text formatting from all caps creates more space for translation or localization for the more than 60 languages Spotify currently supports.
Finally, the iOS app will get even more control over the text size when heading to Settings > Accessibility > Display & Text Size.
The Spotify app already reflects system-wide text size changes, known as Dynamic Type, to a certain extent. With the latest accessibility updates, we’re enabling users to increase the text even more, improving overall navigation on the app and giving listeners greater control to personalize their experience. Users can adjust their text size under Settings via iOS to meet their specific visual needs and preferences.
Spotify is asking for user feedback on the changes and reiterated its commitment to users with disabilities.
We care deeply about creating an inclusive experience, which is why we’re working with people with disabilities to conduct user research and plan to evaluate and assess our ideas on an ongoing basis. We want to make Spotify available to everyone, and with these new updates, we’re taking steps to progress toward that goal.
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