----- Original Message -----
From: "Gregg Vanderheiden" <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Friday, February 14, 2003 8:52 AM
Subject: [UACCESS-L] New Chat Application Includes Accessibility Features
for Users of Screen Readers and Screen Magnifiers
New Chat Application Includes Accessibility Features for Users of Screen
Readers and Screen Magnifiers
Dagmar Amtmann, Ph. D., Assistant Director, UW Center for Technology and
Disability Studies
Debbie Cook, Director, Washington Assistive Technology Alliance
Chat is a popular Internet based application that allows participants to
communicate instantly, similar to talking on the phone. Chat participants
typically exchange messages by typing text using a keyboard. The messages
are exchanged instantly, allowing for real-time, synchronous communication
using computer networks instead of telephones.
If you think that chat is mainly used by teenagers to exchange gossip, you
may be surprised to learn that instant communication is increasingly used
for corporate communications. Market research analysts estimate that by 2004
over 5.5 million instant messages will be sent over the Internet by
corporate users.
With the popularity of chat applications steadily increasing, accessibility
of these tools becomes very important to users with disabilities. In
addition to popular use of the chat applications by themselves, all distance
learning packages commonly used by educational institutions, government, and
corporations include a chat feature that allows instructors to communicate
with students, trainees and other participants in real-time.
From the accessibility point of view, chat presents one of the more
difficult challenges for users of screen readers and magnifiers. How
accessible chat applications are for users of screen readers depends in part
on how they were developed. Screen readers are able to handle some
HTML-based chat applications, but most chat programs use the programming
language Java to create an updateable region of the screen that can be used
for chatting with other users. Developers using Java typically pay little or
no attention to the application's accessibility to users with disabilities.
As a result, most applications do not allow the user to control how and when
new messages are displayed. Typically, the window refreshes automatically,
displaying new messages as soon as they arrive, and making the environment
very confusing for the users of screen readers.
The good news is that the Special Needs Opportunity Windows (SNOW) Project
based in Toronto, Canada developed and recently released A-Chat, a chat
application with accessible features.
A-Chat, designed for blind and low vision users, is both keyboard accessible
and screen reader friendly. For example, the user controls how often
messages are refreshed and can even set this feature to manual so that the
screen will not refresh while it is being read. The user can choose to
receive an audible alert each time a new message is received. Layout of
received messages can be set in ascending or descending order allowing the
user to read messages in the order they were sent or to read the latest one
first. The user selects whether all messages or only new messages are
displayed and that helps reduce clutter on the screen. Users also have
control the type and size of the font,and the color combination for the
display, making it easier to read for low vision users.
The text and voice chat features of instant messaging programs like MSN
Messenger are generally accessible and are well supported by assistive
technologies, but are mostly used for personal communication with friends
and family.
Voice chat products are also becoming increasingly popular and allow users
to chat orally through their computer's microphone and speakers, but these
applications may present a challenge to users with speech impairments and
those who are deaf or hard of hearing.
For educational, corporate, and government communications, A-chat provides
an accessible alternative and a viable model of accessibility for other text
chat applications. It is currently available free of charge to non-profit
groups and educational organizations as a freeware beta and can be
downloaded from http://snow.utoronto.ca/chat.html.
Gregg
-- ------------------------------
NOTE: TRACE IS MOVING TO NEW ADDRESS
(Same Email and Phone)
Trace R & D Center
2107 Engineering Centers Bldg.
1550 Engineering Drive
MADISON, WI 53706
------------------------
Gregg C Vanderheiden Ph.D.
Professor - Human Factors
Depts of Ind. Engr. & BioMed Engr.
Director - Trace R & D Center
University of Wisconsin-Madison
[log in to unmask] < <mailto:[log in to unmask]> mailto:[log in to unmask]>, <
<http://trace.wisc.edu/> http://trace.wisc.edu/>
FAX 608/262-8848
For a list of our listserves <http://trace.wisc.edu:8080/mailman/listinfo/>
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