Defining Client Administration and Configuration Standards

Making Systems More Accessible

Few users are affected by their computer's user interface more than people with special needs. One of your planning goals needs to provide equal access to computer software for everyone, including people with vision, hearing, mobility, or cognitive disabilities.

Do not consider all users with cognitive disabilities as the same category; their needs vary as much or more than the needs of any other types of users. Consider the diversity of user interface issues that are faced by people with the following:

Vision impairments . Includes blindness, low vision, and color blindness.
Hearing impairments. Includes deafness or partial hearing loss.
Mobility impairments. Includes cerebral palsy, tremors, seizures from epilepsy, loss of limbs or digits, and paralysis. Even people with carpal tunnel syndrome or other repetitive stress injuries can be considered people with mobility impairments.
Cognitive disabilities. Includes learning disabilities, such as dyslexia and memory loss; Down Syndrome, and language impairments, such as illiteracy and language unfamiliarity.

Configuring Windows 2000 Features for Accessibility

Depending on each person's specific needs, different users might find challenges with different aspects of Windows 2000. Table 23.12 describes a few general considerations when configuring Windows 2000, as well as specific new and upgraded accessibility features in Windows 2000.

Table 23.12 Accessibility Features in Windows 2000

Feature	Definition
Microsoft Utility Manager	Utility Manager improves access to accessibility applications on the computer and simplifies the process of configuring those options.
Microsoft Accessibility Wizard	The Accessibility Wizard makes it easier to set up commonly used accessibility features by specifying options by type of disability, rather than by numeric value changes.
Microsoft On-Screen Keyboard	The On-Screen Keyboard allows limited access for users with mobility impairments.
Microsoft Narrator (with built-in text-to-speech functionality)	Narrator is a synthesized limited functionality text-to-speech tool for users with moderate vision impairments. Narrator reads aloud what is displayed on the screen.
Microsoft Magnifier	Magnifier is a basic screen enlarger that displays a portion of the screen in a separate window.
Higher-visibility mouse pointers	New large, extra-large, white, or black pointers. In addition, inverted pointers change color to contrast with the background.
High-contrast color schemes	Expanded library of color schemes can be helpful to users with low vision who require a high degree of contrast between foreground and background.
Quick Launch Bar	Accessibility features status icons on the Quick Launch Bar of the taskbar show the user whether certain commonly-used keyboard filters are active.
Synchronized Accessible Media Interchange (SAMI)	Enables closed captioning of multimedia products.

Enabling Third-Party Devices

Although the accessibility tools released with Windows 2000 provide functionality for users with special needs, most users with disabilities need additional tools for daily use. Also new in Windows 2000 is Microsoft Active Accessibility (MSAA), an API that allows accessibility aides to work with UI elements such as toolbars, menus, text, and graphics.

Examples of add-on software are smaller or larger keyboards, eye-gaze pointing devices, and sip-and-puff systems controlled by breathing. Another category is called augmentative communication devices, which were originally designed to control a speech synthesizer for people who are nonverbal.

Your users might be aware of these products and can tell you which ones they would like to have enabled on their computers. For more information about hardware and software for people with accessibility needs, see the Microsoft Accessibility link on the Web Resources page at http://windows.microsoft.com/windows2000/reskit/webresources.

Using Group Policy to Fine-tune Configurations for Accessibility

A number of configuration options that you can access through Group Policy can be helpful to users with accessibility needs. Review your user interface configuration options with someone knowledgeable about accessibility issues (Human Resources departments typically have someone with this expertise) to configure computers for people with accessibility needs.

Also, when you begin to plan for advanced change and configuration management (see "Applying Change and Configuration Management" in this book), consider the value that these features can have to users with accessibility concerns who might discover that they are no longer restricted to working on only a single computer that has been configured for their needs.