The ability to provide free access of information to everyone is very important to our society. As a result, most software development companies are striving to make technology accessible to disabled persons. They have made great strides in addressing various types of disabilities and creating solutions that allow for these individuals to freely access the information they desire.
The Vista Ease of Access Center presents features that broaden accessibility for numerous types of disabilities. The Vista Ease Of Access Center is a centralized location where a user can modify accessibility settings and manage accessibility programs by asking the user various questions related to daily tasks (like the difficulties encountered when hearing voices on TV or using a pencil). Based on the responses, a user profile is created, and some basic settings are recommended, which a user has an option to modify at a later time.
The login screen is also affected by accessibility settings, the end user should have no trouble logging in.
The Speech Recognition feature enables a person to interact with the computer using only their voice. This lessens dependence on the mouse and keyboard while maintaining overall productivity. Speech Recognition allows a user to dictate documents and e-mail, browse the internet, and command programs by verbalizing what is seen. The interactive training leads the user through a simple setup process and familiarizes the person with the voice commands.
The Captions feature turns on text captioning for animations and video.
The magnifier allows the user to increase the screen by levels from 2 to 16 times the original size. The user can choose to scroll with the mouse, keyboard, or text editor. However, the visual changes do not seem to be effective for users with Macular Degeneration, as hoped. It seems the pixels don’t allow for smooth reading, and the pixels can and sometimes do cause eye strain. Some websites force the viewing the website in color. (The traditional Screen Reader still seems to be the best option for persons experiencing Macular Degeneration). A person can enlarge a portion of the screen to make things easier to see with the magnifier.
The High Contrast feature increases the contrast for text and images that were meant to be distinct and easily recognizable. This feature reduces eye strain and is effective for persons that suffer with color blindness.
The Narrator is a text-to-speech program. It reads the on-screen text to the user and describes some events (such as error messages) that happen while the computer is in use. It also reads Narrator menus without leaving the active window and has a natural sounding voice.
The Mouse can be switched to accommodate people who are left handed or missing an arm or hand.
An on-screen keyboard is available, making the physical keyboard unnecessary. This aids individuals with poor fine motor skills, which are necessary in order to type well. The on-screen keyboard has all the standard keys that are on the physical keyboard. The On-Screen Keyboard also allows a user to type utilizing an alternative input device.
Visual Notifications is a feature geared toward the hearing impaired. The end user has the ability to replace the system sounds with visual cues, such as a flash on the screen. The system alerts are announced with visual notifications instead of sounds.
All of the above mentioned features are accessible in two ways. A user either chooses to turn them on for one session or to have the features turned on every time they log on.
All of the options in Vista Ease of Access work very well for the use for which they were intended. It has provided many users freedom to access information without dependence on other individuals, allowing a tremendous amount of self reliance, which is extremely important.
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Darletta Rodriguez |