Google has updated its popular web browser Chrome to version 11. The latest stable release, which sports a new “flattened” version of the program icon, has one major headline feature: support for text-to-speech in supported web pages.
This new feature – designed for those who have difficulty using keyboards – is based on HTML5 technology, and works on web pages where a microphone icon has been embedded into a text or form field. It currently only supports English as a language.
The feature works by the user clicking the microphone icon before speaking into their mic. Chrome then converts this into text and pastes it into the field. Supported websites are currently thin on the ground, but it can be tested at HTML Rocks or by selecting English as the “From” language at Google Translate.
Other changes in Google Chrome 11 include hardware acceleration for 3D CSS, bug fixes for the cloud print function and a security update for the integrated Adobe Flash plug-in. There are also 25 new security fixes introduced between the jump from beta to stable.
Google Chrome 11 Stable is a free download for Windows, Mac and Linux.
This article originally appeared at softwarecrew.co.uk
