|
BOOT CAMP 305 (16/12/03)
ACCESSIBILITY part 2
Last week we uncovered
the hidden Accessibility features included in Windows 98, SE and ME, designed to
assist those that have difficulty using a computer due to impaired mobility,
vision or hearing. This week it’s the turn of Windows XP and to round off we’ll
be looking at some third-party accessibility programs and
resources.
XP gets off to a good
start with all of the standard Accessibility features of earlier versions of
Windows (see last week’s Boot Camp). These are meant to make the keyboard and
mouse easier to use, help the hard of hearing with flashing warnings instead of
normal PC sounds and high-contrast display schemes, to improve screen
legibility. XP has a couple of extra features under Accessibility Options in
Control Panel. The Display tab has slider adjustments for cursor blink rate and
width, and the facility to assign Accessibility options to a User Profile has
been moved to the General tab.
Microsoft has added
another useful mousing feature but for some reason it is under the Mouse icon in
Control Panel, on the Buttons tab. ClickLock helps if you have trouble holding
down the mouse button whilst dragging or highlighting objects. When enabled all
you have to do is click the mouse button once to start dragging or highlighting
and click it again to drop or disengage.
Most of the rest of XP’s
features are found by going to Start > Programs > Accessories >
Accessibility. At the top of the list is
the Accessibility Wizard that helps users determine which features best suits
their individual needs. Below that is the Screen Magnifier and this is almost
identical to the one in Windows 98/SE/ME. The extra options are Narrator, which
is a text to speech converter, On-Screen Keyboard and Utility Manager, which is
used to control the Accessibility options from a pop-up menu using a keyboard
shortcut (Winkey + U)
Narrator is an aid for
the blind or partially sighted, it’s a speech synthesiser that converts the
wording in menus, dialogue boxes, icons and text in any standard Windows
application into speech. You can change the speed of the voice from the Speech
icon in Control Panel (enormous fun…) and there’s also a window into which you
can paste chunks of text for Narrator to read. A rather mechanical male voice
(‘Sam’) comes as standard, or you can download alternative voices and languages,
there’s more information at: http://www.microsoft.com/speech/
evaluation/thirdparty/engines.asp
The On Screen Keyboard
does exactly what it says and displays a standard QWERTY keyboard on your PC
screen; keys are ‘pressed’ using the mouse pointer. It’s fairly crude but it
does the job and although slow and laborious to use, it can prove useful for
those unable to use a conventional mechanical keyboard.
Microsoft has another
option for those who find it hard to use normal keyboards. Alternative layouts
or ‘maps’ are available that move the most frequently used characters into a
more convenient position, making it easier for those who can only type with one
or two fingers. Details and downloads for three ‘Dvorak’ layouts can be found
at: http://www.microsoft.com/
enable/products/altkeyboard.aspx
Now for those
third-party accessibility programs. It is entirely possible to use a PC without
touching a mouse or keyboard. There are a number of voice-operated systems that
turn speech into text and allow the PC to be controlled by spoken commands. One
of the best-known and most advanced products is Dragon Naturally Speaking
(www.dragontalk.com/)
but there is a growing number of freeware and shareware utilities, which you can
try before you buy at: www.speechtechnology.com/free/links.html
and www.winappslist.com/utilities/voice.htm.
The Windows Screen
Magnifier is rather basic but there are lots of more sophisticated alternatives,
many of which you will find on the Magnifier home page (http://www.magnifiers.org/).
Here too you will also find scores of downloads for screen readers and text to
speech converters plus a great deal of help and information for those with
disabilities.
Blind and visually
impaired PC users should also visit the RNID website (www.rnib.org.uk/)
and for an
interesting and unusual selection of software try also: www.blindsoftware.com/,
www.gamesfortheblind.com/
and www.toledo-bend.com/colorblind/shareware.html
Needless to say there’s
also a great deal of information and resources for the deaf and hard of hearing
on the web and a good place to start would be the RNID site (www.rnid.org.uk/),
also worth
investigating are: http://home.earthlink.net/~dcastle7/ccs/links/links.html
and
www.fsdb.k12.fl.us/rmc/multimedia/software.html.
Next week – About Time
JARGON FILTER
DVORAK KEYBOARD
Simplified keyboard layout designed by August Dvorak and
William Dealey in the 1930s, as an easy to learn alternative to the traditional
QWERTY layout
KEYBOARD MAP
Software that controls the layout and assignment of
character and function keys on a PC keyboard
SCREEN READER
Program that reads text displayed on a computer screen and
converts it into synthesised speech
TIP OF THE WEEK
The Internet is a fantastic resource for anyone with any kind
of physical impairment and there are tens of thousands of websites devoted to
making computers easier to use. Many web sites are devoted to specific
disabilities but there are also plenty of general accessibility sites for PC
users; here are a few that are worth a visit:
www.abilityhub.com
www.ataccess.org/
www.cftd.co.uk/
www.disabilitynet.co.uk/
www.dlf.org.uk/
www.dpa.org.sg/DPA/pcknowhow.htm
www.rehabtool.com/
|