My computer is blue. The screen displays fancy computer artwork that looks like swimming futuristic jellyfish. These, strangely enough, are some of the options that I’ve chosen to personalize my computer. However this description is just the tip of the iceberg. I chose these options because I like the way they look. Other options make it easier for me to use my computer. This article is written to introduce some existing features built into computers that can make them less frustrating to use. Some of these features can be found as part of the operating system software, and some can be found as features in applications such as word processors or internet browsers.
Tucked in the control panels folder of many operating systems (Macintosh, Windows) are features that many people are not aware of. Many of these features lie behind an "accessibility" icon that presents itself as a utility for people with disabilities but are actually helpful to many people that don't consider themselves disabled. While it’s true that many of these features have been developed for people with mobility, vision or hearing impairments they also fall into what we call universal design.
Universal design is a phrase that is used to describe products that are designed to meet the needs of a wide group of users. Curb cuts fall into this category. Any parent with a stroller knows that curb cuts are not only useful for someone in a wheelchair. More directly related to computer use are features such as ToggleKeys (a beep to tell you that you have just selected the CapsLock or similar key), Talking Alerts, or Magnification. Keep reading. You might find something that makes it easier for you or someone you know to use a computer.
For anyone who has tried to sit back at the end of a long day and and do a web search, how likely is it that you will be able to see the words on your browser? Well, quite likely until you get to those pesky sites with teensy-weensy print. So is a minor magnification to this display only a feature for someone with a disability? Perhaps not. But perhaps again, it confuses us with what it means to have a disability. As we age, many of us will experience decreased visual acuity and expect our computer to adapt by giving us larger print if we so desire. Many of us will tire from extended keyboard or mouse use and expect our computer to reduce the amount of work we need to do with these devices. But how do our symptoms associated with daily life differ from those among us with a diagnosed "disability" such as macular degeneration, or carpal tunnel syndrome?
It is hard to lob features into things for people with diagnosed disabilities and without, so the following descriptions will be grouped into options that are available in the areas of keyboard use, mouse use, visual feedback (i.e., presenting things visually on the screen), and auditory feedback (i.e., providing sounds for things that would otherwise be presented visually).
Many of the features described here are available in the control panels that come with the operating system. Some of these features are only available as freeware or shareware. Resources for both existing and downloadable software are provided at the end of this article. You should check with these resources for more specific information about accessibility features as well as any updates or possible omissions. These resources include a website that has been created to list and describe a variety of known features.
What’s Available?
For simplification, the information here is limited to Macintosh and Windows operating systems.
Keyboard & Mouse Use
If you use only one hand for typing, you know that using the Shift key is awkward at best. Yes, the CapsLock is an option, but for other keyboard commands that require pressing two keys simultaneously you may want to use a feature like StickyKeys.
If you have difficulty moving your finger off a key fast enough before numerous characters are typed on the screen, you can customize the delay before this letter repeats so as to give you some time to get your finger off the key (good for use with sensitive keyboards too).
You can customize the amount of time a key needs to be pressed before it actually delivers a letter to the screen. This is a useful key if you accidentally hit keys on your way to your intended one, or tend to "bounce" back on a key you just pressed, thereby selecting it more than once.
Spell Check and Grammar Check have helped numerous people, on numerous occasions. However if you find these features distracting you can turn them off (e.g., in Microsoft® Word 97, you would find this option in the Preferences option in the Tools menu).
Another feature is Abbreviation/Expansion found in some word processing software. This allows you to reduce the number of keystrokes you have to make by allowing you to type abbreviations of a word or phrase, and have them automatically expanded into the full word or phrase. Actually this is a trick that you can perform via another feature called Auto-Correct (Microsoft® Word 97), which is intended to automatically correct words that you always type wrong (e.g., "teh" instead of "the").
Somewhat similar to this is the ability to reduce the number of keystrokes and mouse actions through the creation of macros. Macros evoke a software-equivalent to a tape recorder. To create a macro you turn on the "tape recorder" and perform actions such as you would, for example, in creating a form letter. Then you turn off this "tape recorder" and assign either a keyboard command or a menu option to it so that you can automatically play back these same actions in the future using a single command. This is a feature found in some software such as word processing programs. To create macros that record actions that work between multiple programs you would need a separate piece of software to do this (for example, if you wanted to open your web browser after your computer turned on and log on to a specific site all with one command).
If you wanted to change the arrangement of the keys on your computer there are different layouts, such as frequency of use or one-handed layouts (e.g., the most commonly used keys are located under your most dominant fingers). To change an existing keyboard you would need to re-lable keys (or physically swap keys, but this only works if the keys are not contoured) and then "tell" the computer what you’ve done. The computer knows what layout it is working with by having it selected in the Keyboard control panel. Some options for frequency of use layouts are available (or downloadable) and located for selection in the Keyboard control panel.
Short-cut keys (also referred to as accelerator keys, or keyboard commands) are a way to perform mouse functions by using the keyboard. Short-cut keys are used because they are often quicker than using a mouse, require different motor skills or are more accessible by someone with a visual impairment.
If you have difficulty using the mouse another option is to use the keyboard keys to move the pointer on the screen. MouseKeys allows you to convert the numeric keypad into a grid of buttons that translates to a grid for moving the pointer, double-clicking and dragging.
You may also wish to change the speed of how fast the movement of the mouse (keypress, as mentioned with MouseKeys above) translates to movement of the pointer on the screen. You can change the overall movement, as well as the acceleration on some computers.
If you have a hard time locating either the pointer or cursor (i.e., I-beam used with text) you can change its size or color. If your system does not come with a good selection to choose from, you can download some. Alternately you can create a "trail" whereby the mouse leaves a shadow behind it to show the direction it is moving in.
If you are right or left handed you can use the Mouse control panel to change the functions of the mouse button (as typically on IBM compatible computers the right button is the menu button, and the left button is the select button). This may not be helpful if the mouse is contoured for only right-handed use and may be more useful for trackball users.
Visual Feedback
There are numerous options for enhancing the computer display. There are magnification features for enlarging the entire display, or enlarging only specific elements such as the mouse pointer, icons, menus or document text. There are possibilities for changing colors such as those used with highlighting, window bars, desktop or mouse pointer. There is even the option of changing the display to be high contrast, or with white images on a back background. There is even some software you can download to help zero in on where the pointer or cursor is at any given time.
Another type of visual feedback that is available is for people who are deaf or have limited hearing. This provides a visual replacement for alert sounds that are meant to notify the user by a sound such as a beep. Users may want turn the sound completely off to have the message bar flash as a form of a "visual" beep (Mac), or select ShowSounds or SoundSentry (Windows).
Auditory Feedback
There is a way to have some alerts (e.g., those little dialog boxes that come up to tell you about problems that are occurring) talk. However this is only available in newer operating system software such as Windows 2000, and Mac OS 8.6. Certain system events such as moving onto menu optins or resizing windows can also be set to have specific sounds associated with them. System volume is also adjustable, but may require having additional speakers for the computer.
Some word processing programs come with the capability to provide basic text-to-speech capabilities (e.g., ClarisWorks 4© and above, or AppleWorks ©). This means that what you have just typed can be read back to you. Likewise, you can open up another document and have it read to you.
In addition to being able to customize the above-listed features, many of these settings can be saved on a computer that is used by other people. This is available in Windows 95 and above, and Macintosh 9.0.
There is still a long way to go to make computers truly accessible for people with disabilities. Sometimes it feels the closer we get the further we are. Just ask anyone using a device that reads aloud what is on the computer screen: DOS (a text-based interface) was much easier to interpret than the graphical user interface that Macintosh and Windows uses today! But that’s not to say that we’re not making progress. I am, after all, uploading this to the‘ net from my garden (sans tether).
For more information…
At the time of this article, Windows 95 and above have accessibility features listed as "Accessibility Options" that can be found in the control panels of the system folder (or via the Accessories menu option under the Start button in the lower left corner of the screen). AccessPack and AccessDOS provide similar accessibility features for Windows 3.x and DOS via a download from the website listed below.
Macintosh also houses its accessibility features in the control panels folder. Macintosh OS 8.6 requires users to download Universal Access from the website listed below or to load it from the CD-ROM that came with your computer. This download includes a folder called Easy Access and another called CloseView. These items are then be placed in the control panels folder in the system folder. Additional resources for documentation, software and hardware are available from each company’s website.
More information about accessibility features are available on-line,
or by phone at the locations listed below. In an effort to make all
this information available in one location, a website has been developed
that describes accessibility features built into the operating system as
well as related shareware and freeware options. This website is located
at:
http://www.nyu.edu/education/ot/features.htm
Windows Accessibility Features: http://www.microsoft.com/enable
Microsoft: (800) 426-9400 (home user, or pre-sales menu option)
TTY: (425) 635-4948
Macintosh Accessibility Features: http://www.apple.com/education/k12/disability/
Apple: (800) 767-2775
FAX: (800) 5102834
For additional information about features mentioned above, you may also
wish to refer to your system’s help section (typically on menu bar or under
the Windows’ Start button), or the Preferences menu option in the software
program you are using.
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This article was made possible through a project funded in part by
the Microsoft Corporation. Project details are available on:
http://www.nyu.edu/education/ot/pcaccess.htm
Please direct comments or corrections to CBurwell
Posted July 2000