You've probably already heard about (and may have seen) Google's "new look" for Gmail, Google Calendar, Google Sites and other Google Apps services. What you may not have realized is that this is just the surface of a major change to improve Section 508 compliance and make Google Apps a more fully accessible service.
Part of Google's accessibility plan is to move to HTML5, the web's most current page formatting language. HTML5 allows Google to provide a rich user experience on conventional web browsers while also providing a rich user experience for screen readers and other accessibility tools.
This switch to HTML5 may require you upgrade or change your web browser to a version that supports HTML5. The following browsers support HTML5:
- Google Chrome updates automatically to ensure you have the latest version and the fullest support for new web technologies. It's available for Windows, Macintosh and Linux.
- Mozilla Firefox 8 is the latest version of the Firefox browser. Firefox will check for and notify you when updates are available. It's available for Windows, Macintosh and Linux.
- Apple Safari 5 is the latest version of the Safari browser. Safari includes the Apple Software Update tool to notify you when updates are available. It's available for Windows and Macintosh.
- Microsoft Internet Explorer 9 is the latest version of Internet Explorer. Microsoft Update will check for and notify you when updates are available. IE9 is only available for Windows 7. Internet Explorer 8 is the newest version of IE available for Windows XP. If you must use an earlier version of Internet Explorer please install Chrome Frame.
