Google, Inc. has announced the beta launch of Voice Access, a new app that allows people to use speech recognition to control their Android device.

The app, while it can be used by anyone, has been designed to allow people with disabilities such as paralysis, tremor, or temporary injury, to be able to access various core Android functions hands-free.

Once installed, the app allows users to open apps, scroll with voice commands, and select items onscreen, for example, you can say ‘open Chrome’ or ‘go home’ to navigate around the phone, or interact with the screen by saying ”click next’ or ‘scroll down.'”

While voice is supported with literal commands, the app also incorporates a numbering system that sees every app, drop down menu and option labelled a number that can be said instead of the literal command, in case the app itself has trouble understanding.

“Nearly 20 percent of the U.S. population will have a disability during their lifetime, which can make it hard for them to access and interact with technology, and limits the opportunity that technology can bring,” Google’s Manager of Accessibility Engineering Eve Andersson said in a blog post. “That’s why it’s so important to build tools to make technology accessible to everyone—from people with visual impairments who need screen readers or larger text, to people with motor restrictions that prevent them from interacting with a touch screen, to people with hearing impairments who cannot hear their device’s sounds.

Clunky

While it’s important to note that Voice Access is currently in beta so it’s entitled to have some bugs, hands on it’s somewhat clunky.

The ability to understand commands was somewhat limited, although it had far less problems with the number system, but on top of that when you use the app the touch screen itself is disabled; now that might mean nothing to someone with a severe disability who might not be able to use the screen to begin with, but if you’re mildly disabled, or not disabled at all, it’s completely annoying given that for some functions it’s simply easier to switch to the screen.

To grab a copy of Google Voice Access you can register for the testing program here.

Image credit: Google