Accessibility for People with Disabilities
Accessibility for People with Disabilities |
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The following accessibility features are useful to people who are blind or have low vision, colorblindness, tunnel vision, or other visual impairments: text-to-speech utilities, such as Narrator; keyboard shortcuts; Magnifier; and customizable features such as mouse pointer, color and contrast schemes, and other user interface elements.
Narrator is a minimally featured text-to-speech program included with the U.S. English version of Windows 2000. This new feature works through Active Accessibility to read objects on the screen, their properties, and their spatial relationships. Narrator has a number of options that let users customize the way a device reads screen elements. The Voice option lets users adjust the speed, volume, or pitch of the voice. The Reading option lets them select the typed characters they want the device to read aloud, such as Delete, Enter, printable characters, or modifiers. The Mouse Pointer option causes the mouse pointer to follow the active item on the screen. The Announce events on screen option lets users order the device to announce any of the following components when it displays them: new windows, menus, or shortcut menus. Narrator provides a minimum level of functionality for users with moderate visual impairments. Many users with low vision need a text-to-speech utility program with higher functionality for daily use. For more information about other Windows-based text-to-speech utilities, see the Microsoft Accessibility link on the Web Resources page at http://windows.microsoft.com/windows2000/reskit/webresources.
Note
Narrator is a temporary aid and is not intended as a replacement for the full-featured text-to-speech utilities available from other software companies.
ToggleKeys is especially useful for people who accidentally press the CAPS LOCK key instead of the TAB key because it provides immediate feedback when they do so. ToggleKeys also functions with keyboards that do not have the status indicator lights for the CAPS LOCK, NUM LOCK, and SCROLL LOCK style of keyboard.
Magnifier is a limited-function screen enlarger that magnifies a portion of the display of Windows 2000 to make the screen easier to read for people with slight visual impairments or whenever magnifying screen elements might be useful, such as during graphic editing. Magnifier displays an enlarged portion of the screen in a separate window. When Magnifier is on, the magnified area is merely a display and is not an active area. Magnifier provides a minimum level of functionality for users with moderate visual impairments. Many users with low vision need a magnification utility program with higher functionality for daily use. For more information about other Windows-based magnification utilities, see the Microsoft Accessibility link on the Web Resources page at http://windows.microsoft.com/windows2000/reskit/webresources.
Note
Magnifier is not a replacement for the full-featured magnifiers available from other software companies.
To select fonts, users click the Fonts icon in Control Panel to remove the fonts that they do not want to use. If they remove all TrueType customizable fonts and leave only raster fonts, users can also restrict the sizes that they use. TrueType fonts are device-independent fonts that are stored as outlines and that can be scaled to produce characters in varying sizes. Raster fonts are created with a printer language based on bitmap images. Removing fonts does not delete them from the hard drive, so users can easily reinstall the fonts for later use.
Note
Limiting fonts in Control Panel also limits the number of fonts available to applications. This operation affects the display of documents on the screen and how they are printed; therefore, users need to use caution when limiting fonts.
In the Accessibility Wizard and also in Control Panel, users can adjust the size and color of most screen elements, such as window text, menus, insertion point indicator (also called a caret), mouse cursor, fonts, and caption bars. This capability can make the system easier to use and can reduce eyestrain. In the Accessibility Wizard, users can change icon size, mouse pointer size, and text size. In Control Panel, users can change the border width of windows. They can also change text sizes in Windows messages and in command prompt windows by double-clicking the Display icon and then selecting the preferred scheme from the Appearance tab. Users can resize a window by using the keyboard instead of the mouse. They can also resize a window in the Accessibility Wizard by selecting I am blind or have difficulty seeing things on the screen. Users can change the font size in Windows messages through Accessibility Wizard or Control Panel.
Consider the following points before you adjust color settings:
Customizing contrast and color can make it easier to see screen objects and can reduce eyestrain. No longer activated by Control Panel alone, the High Contrast feature is a built-in and expanded library of color schemes for users with low vision who require a high degree of contrast between foreground and background objects. For example, users who cannot easily read black text on a gray background or text drawn over a picture can benefit from this feature. Activating High Contrast mode automatically selects the user's preferred color scheme. Through the Magnifier dialog box, users can invert the colors of the magnification window or display the screen in high contrast. It can take a few seconds for High Contrast mode to take effect.
Customized through the Accessibility Wizard or Control Panel, new mouse pointers let the user decide which pointer is most visible. To improve visibility, users can now set characteristics of the mouse pointer for size, color, and speed, and for animation and visible trails. Pointers now include three sizes: large, extra-large, and default. Pointer options include white, black, and an inverted pointer that reacts to screen colors. (The latter pointer changes to a color that contrasts with the background.)