AccessWorld: Technology For Consumers with Visual Impairments
Preview Issue
Table of Contents
Editor's Page ..... Page 3
Product Evaluation ..... Page 6
Access Issues ..... Page 11
Product Evaluation ..... Page 16
AccessWorld News ..... Page 25
Q&A ..... Page 27
Calendar ..... Page 29
Editor in Chief
Paul Schroeder
Contributing Editors
Crista L. Earl
Deborah Kendrick
Jay D. Leventhal
Mark M. Uslan
Managing Editor
Sharon Shively
Marketing Manager
Sharon Baker-Harris
Annual subscriptions are available for $29.95 in the following
formats: on-line, large print, cassette, and braille. To subscribe,
contact The Sheridan Press; phone: 888-522-0220 or 717-632-3535. To
advertise, contact Stephanie Biagioli; phone: 212-502-7655; E-mail:
<[log in to unmask]>. To submit an article, question for the
Questions and Answers column, or Letter to the Editor, contact Paul
Schroeder; E-mail: <[log in to unmask]> .
"AccessWorld" acknowledges the contributions that The
Clovernook Center and Tactic editor Deborah Kendrick made to the
access technology field
during the 15-year publication of "Tactic". In 1999, the
American Foundation for the Blind acquired "Tactic", which
provided the foundation for the launch of "AccessWorld".
"AccessWorld" is published bi-monthly by AFB Press, American
Foundation for the Blind, 11 Penn Plaza, Suite 300, New York, NY
10001.
Products included in "AccessWorld" are not necessarily
endorsed by "AccessWorld" or AFB Press staff. All rights
reserved. Copyright \C 1999 American Foundation for the Blind.
Editor's Page
Welcome to the preview issue of "AccessWorld". The name for this
new technology periodical sums up the breadth of information on
technology we want to bring to you and the goal for a more
accessible world that we all eagerly anticipate. Sometimes, it
seems that developments in technology are giving us tremendous
access to and control of the world around us, and yet, like a
lifeline just beyond the grasp of a drowning person, sometimes
technology seems to sweep the world farther away than ever.
What's Inside
To strengthen that lifeline and push it a bit closer to those of us
who are visually impaired, we are proud to introduce "AccessWorld":
Technology for Consumers with Visual Impairments. You will find
inside every issue Product Evaluations rating the latest hardware,
software, and other technology for people with visual impairments.
For many years, these highly respected, objective evaluations have
been available only to readers of the "Journal of Visual Impairment
and Blindness" (JVIB). This issue contains evaluations of MAGic
screen magnification software from Henter-Joyce and a comparison of
IBM's Home Page Reader and The Productivity Works's pwWebSpeak, two
Web browsers designed for people who are blind.
What else will you find in "AccessWorld" ? Feature articles on
how new legislation, trends, and policy developments affect whether
available products and services are accessible; interviews with
luminaries, leaders, and experts in adaptive technology; helpful
tips from trainers and users; and answers to technology-related
questions. And, thanks to the generous support of the Ameritech
Foundation, we will be able to provide the periodical and
associated content to subscribers on the Web. (Braille, cassette,
and large- print formats will also be available.)
Who's Who
Contributing editors Mark M. Uslan, Jay D. Leventhal, and Crista L.
Earl are widely known and highly respected throughout the assistive
technology field for their excellent evaluations of products and
the quality of their presentations. Each will play a key role, not
only in conducting and writing technology evaluations, but in
handling questions and bringing expert judgment to our reporting on
the technology news.
Mark has been at the American Foundation for the Blind (AFB)
for 20 years, focusing for the last 10 years on evaluating
assistive technology. His particular area of strength is in
products targeted to consumers with some usable vision. Jay has
been at AFB for 13 years. He has built a strong reputation in
assessing the technological products that rely on speech output and
braille. Crista joined AFB 3 years ago after she left GW Micro, the
developer of the screen reader Window-Eyes. Along with evaluations
of products in the speech and braille access category, she will
take the lead in question and answer columns and training articles.
We are also extremely pleased to have Deborah Kendrick join
"AccessWorld" as a contributing editor. Deborah's many journalistic
credits include having served as editor in chief of the technology
quarterly "Tactic"; writing a weekly column for the "Cincinnati
Enquirer", "Columbus Dispatch", and other newspapers; and writingm
hundreds of articles on disability topics for magazines such as
"Woman's Day" and "Parenting."
My focus at AFB has been on technology policy and efforts by
mainstream companies to improve access to their products and
services for people who are blind or visually impaired. I joined
AFB 5 years ago after several years on the staff of the American
Council of the Blind.
Our work on product evaluations and other technology reporting
would not be possible without the invaluable assistance of interns.
Koert Wehberg, one of our high school student interns funded by the
Mitsubishi Electric America Foundation, assisted in the evaluation
of Web browsers, and Cooper Union interns Joseph C. Su, and
Chen-Yung Hsu assisted with the evaluation of MAGic. Join us in
January 2000 to officially welcome "AccessWorld." Paul Schroeder
Editor in Chief
Product Evaluation
Henter-Joyce's MAGic for Windows NT
Mark M. Uslan, Joseph C. Su, and Chen-Yung Hsu
One of the few constants in the world is change. Nowhere does this
rule apply more than in the computer world. For some time now the
question, Is it Windows compatible?" represented change from an
older operating system to a newer one. Then came questions about
what Windows version--3.1, 95, or 98. Today the question often
revolves around compatibility with Windows NT, Microsoft's
operating system for networked environments. Perhaps Microsoft's
dominance in operating systems for networked computers will also
change, but until it does, NT-compatible software is big news,
which is why we chose MAGic NT for this preview issue of
"AccessWorld". Henter-Joyce, well known for its screen reader JAWS
for Windows, acquired the MAGic screen magnifier from Microsystems
in 1996 and chose to focus first on improving the version
supporting Windows NT. An improved version of MAGic for Windows
98/95 is currently being developed. Although JAWS for Windows NT
and MAGic for Windows NT are purchased separately, they are
designed to be compatible. In this evaluation we review MAGic for
Windows NT version 6.1 by itself.
What was Tested?
We installed MAGic for Windows NT on a new Dell PC with a built-in
video card (Rage Pro turbo AGP 2X). MAGic for Windows NT was tested
using Microsoft Word 97, Microsoft WordPad Version 1.0, Microsoft
Excel, and Microsoft Internet Explorer Version 5.0. Our approach
was to try out all MAGic for Windows NT features. We were
particularly watchful for instances of computer crashing because it
can indicate a major problem.
How Good Is the Help?
MAGic for Windows NT was easy to install and set up. Its
large-print manual, on-line help, and quick reference guide are
thorough and above average in terms of clarity. We also found the
graphical illustrations and the glossary of terms helpful. Some
explanations led to head scratching, not because they were unclear,
but because they were quite technical and used MAGic terminology.
How Magnification Measures Up
MAGic for Windows NT provides magnification of up to 20x, which we
think is quite adequate for most users and which is more than some
screen magnifiers and less than others. It does not offer
magnification "stretching," which is the ability to adjust
magnification horizontally to make it wider or vertically to make
it taller.
In the vertical and horizontal split-screen display modes, the
width or height of the split screen can be adjusted, and the
positions of the magnified and the unmagnified portions can be
exchanged. The overlay display mode opens a resizeable
magnification window while leaving the remaining desktop
unmagnified.
When the overlay is resized, the area covered by it appears in
inverse video. The lens mode provides a resizeable window that
functions like a magnifying glass and tracks mouse movement. The
tracking lens mode, a variation of the lens mode, tracks items that
have active focus, such as button controls or menu items. Users can
also customize the size and color of borders in most of the display
modes.
MAGic for Windows NT also offers a set of display features
that enable the user to get a visual reference of what is being
viewed and where it is located. These locators can be set as either
a box or a pair of vertical or horizontal scroll bars. Of the two,
we found the locator bars more interesting.
Tracking
Tracking allows users to jump to a location on the screen when a
Windows event occurs. Tracking features in MAGic for Windows NT
include tracking the mouse pointer, menu bars, the text cursor,
dialog boxes, and control buttons.
We were impressed with how MAGic for Windows NT handles screen
shifting. Since the magnified viewing area often does not fit on
one screen, MAGic for Windows NT can shift the screen to display
the active Windows event. It is possible to set horizontal and
vertical limits to how close a tracked object, such as the mouse,
can get to those limits before the screen shifts. The "jump
setting" determines the extent of the shift when the tracked object
reaches the limits.
Panning
Panning enables users to scroll through a screen, automatically at
a preset speed, or manually. In MAGic for Windows NT panning can
take place in a window or throughout the desktop, in all
directions, and at a wide range of user-defined speeds. It offers
automatic panning from line to line and the ability to control the
"jump settings" between lines\Mthe amount of horizontal or vertical
movement panning makes after it reaches the border of the viewing
area and before it begins a new pass. It is also possible to set
the delay between panning passes.
During tests the computer crashed whenever we tried to exit
from automatic panning at the end or the beginning of a panning
pass. We also found that the Shift key in Microsoft Word 97
conflicted with the Shift key that MAGic for Windows NT used for
manual panning. However, the MAGic Windows NT user's guide
acknowledges that conflicts are possible and offers the solution of
reassigning the MAGic for Windows NT key to one that does not
conflict. We reassigned panning to the Alt key, and it worked.
The Mouse
We found many options for customizing the mouse. The size of the
mouse pointer can be magnified up to 10X, and 16 mouse colors are
available. Shape options include two cross-hair mouse pointers (the
type used in gunsight targeting) and three variations of concentric
circles. It is also possible to choose MAGic for Windows NT mouse
attributes and combine them with the Windows standard mouse, which
is the arrow. In all magnification modes, one custom mouse type can
be used for the magnified screen and another for the unmagnified
screen.
Colors and Smoothing
MAGic for Windows NT offers the ability to invert the foreground
and background in black and white and in color and the ability to
replace any color on the screen with a color of the user's choice.
We would have liked more simplified controls for choosing
replacement colors. We also would have liked direct control of
brightness and contrast and a gray-scale setting.
MAGic for Windows NT's smoothing feature reduces the jagged
appearance of screen images, including text fonts and graphics.
When we smoothed one set of text characters, the lines of other
characters sometimes became unacceptably thick. MAGic for Windows
NT addresses this problem by allowing the user to reduce the
thickness of the text. MAGic for Windows NT also has a smoothing
delay feature that makes it possible to reduce flutter" during
rapid movement of magnified views, such as during scrolling.
Summing Up
What are MAGic for Windows NT's strengths? Its custom mouse
attributes and screen locators, as well as various unique features-
-such as the way it handles screen shifting, jump settings" in
panning, setting the delay between panning passes, and a smoothing
feature that reduces flutter" during rapid movement of magnified
views\Nare its biggest pluses. It was generally stable and crashed
only in one circumstance related to panning. We hope Henter-Joyce
will fix this problem.
What are the weaknesses? We found only a few noteworthy
limitations\MMAGic for Windows NT does not offer magnification
stretching" or direct control of contrast and brightness, and its
color control could be simpler to use. MAGic for Windows NT is
priced at the upper range of the NT-compatible screen magnifiers.
(At press time the price dropped significantly; see Product
Information at the end of this evaluation.)
Manufacturer's Comments
"The power of the tracking capability adapted from JAWS for Windows
for use in MAGic 6.1 and the benefits that this offers to visually
impaired users cannot be overstated. Minor problems in this version
of MAGic, including the isolated crashing problem and the keystroke
conflict, will be addressed in future releases. MAGic pricing is
based on the quality of the product, compatibility with JAWS for
Windows, and other applicable market forces. Discounts are
currently offered for volume purchases and users of JAWS for
Windows."
Product Information
Product: MAGic for Windows NT v. 6.1.
Manufacturer: Henter-Joyce, 11800 31st Court North, St.
Petersburg, FL 33716; phone: 800-336-5658 or 727-803-8000; fax:
727-803-8001; E-Mail: <[log in to unmask]> ; Web site: <www.hj.com> .
Price: $695 (at press time); $395 (after September 1). Product:
JAWS for NT v. 3.3. Price: $1,495 (at press time); $1,195 (after
September 1).
Access Issues
Is Section 255 the ADA for the Information Age"?
Paul Schroeder
Debbie Cook is a big user of her cell phone. In fact, she has a
phone that allows her to use both digital and analog services so
that it will work almost anywhere. But, she was stunned recently by
a huge charge for service because she unknowingly used the phone in
an area where only the more expensive analog service was available.
There was no way for her to know, since the phone displays the
information about what mode it is in only on an inaccessible visual
display. Cook sometimes pays for incoming calls she might rather
not accept since she cannot use the phone's caller identification
function because it flashes the message on the visual display.
Ditto for the phone's fancy voicemail function. Fortunately, she
was able to get someone to help her turn on the battery-low alert
tone, something that required\Myou guessed it\Mthe visual display.
Cook, who is blind and lives in Seattle, hopes that a federal law
will change all of this.
You have probably heard something about this law, Section 255,
and its promise to bring about improved access to
telecommunications technology for people with disabilities. Thanks
to new accessibility rules recently approved by the Federal
Communications Commission (FCC), it just might become a bit easier
for all of us to use cell phones and other communications devices.
What Is Section 255?
Section 255, which was included in the Telecommunications Act of
1996, requires manufacturers of telecommunications products and
providers of telecommunications services to ensure that their
products and services are accessible for individuals with
disabilities and are compatible with assistive technology. So far,
so good. However, accessibility and compatibility are required only
if they are "readily achievable"--not too difficult or expensive.
Although the law has been in effect since 1996, both the
telecommunications industry and disability advocates have been
waiting for the FCC to write specific implementation rules.
How Important Is It?
This summer, the FCC, the government agency charged with enforcing
communications policy, finally approved the details that the
telecommunications industry must follow to meet the requirements of
Section 255. William Kennard, who chairs the FCC, called it the
"most significant opportunity for people with disabilities since
the passage of the Americans with Disabilities Act." Susan Ness,
one of five FCC commissioners, summed up the significance of the
new rule this way: "For nondisabled people, it takes little effort
to dial a telephone number on a telephone touchpad, scroll through
an automatic voice response system to check your bank account
balance, leave a simple voicemail message on a colleague's or
friend's answering machine, or even to scan a mobile phone's visual
display to ascertain who is calling you or whether you dialed the
correct telephone number. Unfortunately, in this day and age, the
same cannot be said for people who are disabled."
What Does It Cover?
Although the full text of the rule was not available at the time of
this writing, FCC staff provided a detailed sketch of what would be
included. One of the most difficult things to understand about
Section 255 is what it actually covers. Any product or service
related to making or receiving a voice telephone call is definitely
in, whereas E-mail and the World Wide Web are definitely not. So,
cell phones, pagers, caller identification units and services (such
as those pesky recorded menus asking you to press 1 if you want
customer service) should become more usable soon.
To clarify what accessibility means, the FCC chose to use a
definition created by the Access Board, an independent government
agency best known for its accessibility guidelines implementing the
ADA. This definition establishes the essential functions that must
be made accessible and the disabling conditions that must be
considered. For example, a person with no usable vision or with low
vision must be able to locate, identify, and operate the input and
control functions for a telecommunications product. To meet this
requirement, companies might design the product with distinctive
keys and controls (as opposed to a touch screen) and high-contrast
labels.
Similarly, the information displayed by a telecommunications
product must be made accessible to those who have no usable vision,
as well as to those with some usable vision. Audio output is one
obvious solution, along with displays that include options for high
contrast, large fonts, and the ability to control or freeze
scrolling text. In addition to product design requirements, the FCC
will also require that user documentation and customer support
information be made available in usable formats such as braille,
large print, cassette tape, and electronic media.
Of course, all of these considerations are tempered by the
fact that companies need do only what is readily achievable. This
term, adopted from the ADA and the source of much protracted debate
in the run up to the FCC decision, means easily accomplishable and
able to be carried out without much difficulty or expense. The FCC
plans to figure out what is readily achievable on a case-by-case
basis, according to factors such as the cost of adding an
accessible feature, the effort or difficulty involved in making a
product or service accessible, and the overall resources of the
company involved.
What Will It Mean to You?
Asked about what changes consumers might expect in products, Jim
Tobias, a telecommunications consultant who is preparing reports on
Section 255 for the Access Board and for the American Foundation
for the Blind, says, "I think we'll be seeing a lot more zoom
displays and speech synthesis on portable products." Adding a zoom
feature to convert a four-line LCD into a two-line one with larger
characters becomes far more possible, Tobias says,
once companies make the move to bit-mapped LCDs, which they have to
do to serve the international market because of all the different
alphabets." And, Tobias adds,
the cost of speech synthesis is dropping and the quality is rising
so fast that it will be feasible for all but the least expensive
devices, and it can help with the international market as well,
since you can load different vocabularies into the memory."
To alleviate some concerns among the telecommunications
companies about the overall cost of adding readily achievable
access features to each of their products or services, the rule
will require that companies add low-cost and easily rendered
accessibility features to all their telecommunications products and
services, but it will allow the companies to distribute the more
expensive or challenging access features in only selected products
or services.
It is hard to know what this will mean in practice, but surely
we can expect to see something like ubiquitous use of the locator
nibs on the number 5 key on a telephone keypad or more visual
contrast in labels on devices. More expensive or challenging
features, such as speech synthesis or zoom displays, might be
available on only one or two products in a company's product line.
Consumers can bring complaints about products or services to
the FCC. Initially, the FCC plans to send the complaints to the
manufacturers or service providers, who have 30 days to attempt to
resolve the customer's concerns and respond to the FCC. Because
companies are required to establish a contact for handling
accessibility-related complaints, consumers may be better off
working directly with the company to resolve any concerns.
Find Out More
For further information about the rule or FCC action, check out the
agency's Disabilities Issues Task Force at <www.fcc.gov/dtf> . The
Task Force has an E-mail information service. To subscribe, send an
E-mail to <[log in to unmask]> , leave the subject blank, and
include the following text in the body of the message: <subscribe
ditfinfo (first name last name)>.
Product Evaluation
A Review of IBM Home Page Reader and pwWebSpeak
Crista L. Earl, Jay D. Leventhal, and Koert Wehberg
Those shrieks coming from the computer room are not because of
visiting Alfred's Haunted House on the Internet. It is just some
frustrated users trying to get the baseball scores, find a local
restaurant's address, or listen to some music without worrying
about how each Web site was designed or remembering five sets of
hot keys. Users frequently complain that screen readers combined
with mainstream browsers are difficult to learn to use. In the
following evaluation, we consider these questions: Do "special"
browsers give more comprehensive access than that provided by a
mainstream browser and a good screen reader? Are they easier to use
or more efficient? Is the time spent learning the "special"
software worth the lost time not spent learning to use the screen
reader? Have special browsers kept up with the ever-changing
technology of the Web?
We also review Home Page Reader version 2.5 from IBM and
pwWebSpeak version 2.5.14 from The Productivity Works, two Web
browsers designed to make browsing easier and more effective for
visually impaired users. After you read this review (and the
sidebar, "Mainstream and Special Browsers"), you can decide for
yourself if special browsers offer more efficient and comprehensive
access and which product best suits your needs.
IBM Home Page Reader 2.5
The IBM Home Page Reader (HPR) functions in conjunction with
Netscape Navigator, which handles many of the basic chores involved
in connecting to Web pages. HPR converts the layout of a page to
make it easier for a visually impaired user to navigate. When HPR
is opened, Netscape stays primarily in the background, but moves to
the foreground to download files and to present some error
messages.
Getting Started and Getting Help
HPR's installation dialog boxes are read by a recorded human voice,
so we were able to install the software without a screen reader.
The last step of the installation explains the steps required to
set up Netscape (if Netscape is not already installed), but the
recorded voice was not available, so a screen reader or sighted
assistance was needed for this last step. HPR's on-line help page
is displayed in the form of a Web page, so users can familiarize
themselves with how HPR formats Web pages while they are learning
to use the program.
Command Structure
HPR's command structure is based on the PC keyboard's numeric
keypad. Number keys are used for navigating a Web page, moving
through menus, and changing speech settings. The commands,
including the menu structure, differ from conventional Windows
commands and from those of Windows-based screen readers. Thus, the
beginning user has to learn a set of commands that will not
transfer to any other Windows application. HPR uses the number keys
1\N9 for navigating through items on a Web page. Commands exist for
navigating by word, item, character, and link. HPR's settings menu
contains all options that can be changed by the user. Here, too,
the number keys are used to navigate and select the item to be
changed.
Browsing a Simple Web Page
HPR displays Web pages in text format. The pages can also be
displayed in the Netscape window, allowing a sighted user to see
part of the text in the background. Opening a Web page, searching
the Web, and searching for an item on the current page are all
initiated with the same key combination.
HPR's main display is divided into three sections: "Contents,"
which gives the text version of the Web page; "Location," which
gives the URL of the current page and a history list; and "Links,"
a list of all items on a page with which the user is able to
interact. The user can type a letter in the "links" list and jump
to the first link that begins with that letter. HPR includes frames
and form elements in the links list, as well. Keys on the numeric
keypad can be used to navigate through links in the "Contents"
window. Basic text pages, such as the "New York Times" page
(www.nytimes.com), work very well with HPR.
Browsing a Complex Web Page
HPR does not support Javascript. Since Javascript is often used for
online banking and other sites that allow users to buy items, this
is a major shortcoming. For example, Citibank's online banking
page, (https://home.da-us.citibank.com/signin/indexkiosk.htm),
which is extremely easy to use with Internet Explorer and a good
screen reader, did not work with HPR due to the lack of Javascript
support.
HPR allows the user to navigate frames by presenting them as
separate sections, and a frame's content is made available only
after a frame has been chosen. The user is given a display with the
name of the frame and its number. If users want to see links
associated with a frame, they can either click on the frame or
press a key combination, which will expand the frames on the page.
By contrast, with Internet Explorer 5.0 and a screen reader, the
beginning user can hear the content of the Web page and then move
from link to link without regard to frames. A more knowledgeable
user can press Control-Tab to move to the next frame.
HPR supports Web pages in several languages. A keystroke
switches from one language to another. If the user sets the
language to "automatic," HPR will read the page in the correct
language as it opens. However, the list of links, forms, and
messages such as "end of page" will be read in the default
language\MEnglish in our case. IBM plans to release other versions
of HPR with different default languages.
Reading Tables
HPR's most powerful feature is reading tables. HPR reformats tables
and presents each cell as a separate item. The user can move easily
through simple tables using normal navigation keys. For more
complicated or larger tables, HPR has a special mode that allows
the user to jump to the top of the column, the beginning of the
row, and so on. It is very easy to move down any column, read
specific entries, and to find the associated heading. This special
mode also provides table summary information, so that users can
ascertain the size of the table and their current position within
it.
Filling Out Forms
Simple forms such as the search form at <www.webcrawler.com> work
easily. Forms with list boxes and radio buttons can be tedious
because each option in the list is presented as a separate item in
the "Links" list.
Downloading Files
HPR allows users to navigate FTP sites, but when users try to
download from an FTP site or Web page, HPR identifies the material
as "special data" and opens Netscape so the file can be downloaded.
Because HPR does not continue providing speech output while
Netscape is handling this download, the user will require a screen
reader or sighted assistance for this task.
Although HPR uses the computer's sound card to produce its
speech, audio files can be downloaded easily and opened with few
problems. HPR does not speak while the audio file is playing.
pwWebSpeak
In addition to its speech capabilities, pwWebSpeak presents text in
high contrast, uncluttered screens and provides options to change
font size. These features make it more attractive than HPR for
users with some usable vision.
Getting Started and Getting Help
Installing pwWebSpeak is simple and takes less than five minutes.
A screen reader or sighted assistance is required, since the
installation program does not speak automatically. Users have a
choice of three synthesizers. Softvoice, the default, works well
with pwWebSpeak.
PwWebSpeak's user's manual is straightforward and is presented
as a book with chapters in a contents list that can be navigated as
a Web page. Links for technical support and to the Productivity
Works home page are also helpful.
Command Structure
PwWebSpeak's command structure is basic and can be learned in a
very short period of time. Many commands are assigned to function
keys, and less frequently needed settings are accessed through one
main menu. The arrow keys are used to navigate the page. New users
will find the structure simple and easy to remember. The hot keys
can be customized.
Browsing a Simple Web Page
PwWebSpeak displays a Web page in plain text. It reads the heading
of a page when it opens and can be set to read the page
automatically. Links are labeled with the word link" next to them.
Graphics are identified as images." On text pages, such as the "New
York Times" page, pwWebSpeak performs well. Its search current
page" command allows the user to find a specific line of text.
Browsing a Complex Web Page
Besides presenting the text of the Web page in one continuous
window accessible by pressing the down arrow, pwWebSpeak has
windows for links and forms. This feature makes it easy for the
user to jump directly to a form without having to scroll through
all preceding text. Pages with more complicated formats and
advanced page elements proved difficult. PwWebSpeak does not
support Javascript, which makes it impossible to use certain sites,
such as Citibank's online banking system, or to purchase items,
since the program does not support secure sockets that ensure the
private, encoded transmission of data. PwWebSpeak also does not
read the titles of frames when navigating through a page. The user
may frequently have to guess at what links belong with which frame.
Reading Tables
By default, table cells are broken apart and displayed as separate
lines of text within the pwWebSpeak window, the same approach used
by HPR and by some screen readers with Internet Explorer. The user
can simply press the down arrow to hear each cell of the table
read. For simple tables, this approach is sufficient. For more
complex tables, pwWebSpeak provides a short menu of commands to
jump to the beginning of the row, the beginning of the table, the
next table, or the next or previous cell.
Unfortunately, it is necessary to jump to the menu and choose
these commands, so browsing from one row of the table to the next
involves six keystrokes. This approach makes it clear that the
current item is the first cell of the new row, but is prohibitively
tedious for meaningful reading. There is no command to move
directly down a column other than the first. For example, in
looking for a game with a particular opponent in the New York
Knick's schedule (<www.nba.com/knicks/schedule2000.html> ), there
was no efficient way to move down the column of opponents.
PwWebSpeak had one other minor problem with the U.S.
Department of Labor's The Economy at a Glance" page
(<stats.bls.gov/eag.table.html> ). One row listed a month name and
year in each cell, but with the year below the month within the
same cell. PwWebSpeak attached the first month's year to the second
month's name, and so on, making it difficult to know which pair
actually belonged together.
Filling out Forms
Filling out forms is quick and easy. PwWebSpeak creates a list of
all links and forms on a page. The user presses Enter on the form
and then fills it out. List boxes and radio buttons are presented
as conventional controls that can be found in Windows dialog boxes.
The user simply arrows up or down in a list box or uses the space
bar to check a check box. This method provides maximum control in
filling out forms.
Downloading Files
Downloading files from Web pages is easy with pwWebSpeak. However,
we were unable to connect to ftp sites to download from them.
Downloading audio files is simple and requires little effort.
PwWebSpeak stops speaking when an audio file is open.
What It All Means
HPR's strength is its handling of tables. This feature alone makes
it worth the price. If you want to keep your life on the Internet
simple, the choice is pwWebSpeak. If you want the maximum access to
the Web and are willing to learn a full set of screen reader
commands, Internet Explorer 5.0 and a good screen reader are for
you.
Manufacturers' Comments
IBM
"We recognize the JavaScript issue, which is shared by all text
browsers, and we are investigating ways to resolve this problem."
The Productivity Works
"E-commerce will be supported in the next release, and we are
working hard to ensure that popular E-commerce sites function well
with our product. We are working on supporting Java scripting
present in Web content, although we cannot commit to a date since
providing good accessibility to dynamic content is not a simple
problem. PwWebspeak can read frame titles if Alt-Text (a text
description) is present. FTP should be fully functional. We will
investigate the difficulty the authors had."
Product Information
Product: IBM Home Page Reader.
Manufacturer: IBM Special Needs Systems; Building 901, Internal Zip
9171; 11400 Burnet Road; Austin, TX 78758; phone: 800-426-4832 or
512-838-4598; Web site: <http://www.ibm.com/sns>. Price: $150.`
Product: pwWebSpeak.
Manufacturer: The Productivity Works, 7 Belmont Circle; Trenton, NJ
08618; phone: 609-984-8044; fax: 609-984-8048; E-mail:
<[log in to unmask]>; Web Site: <www.prodworks.com>. Price: $150
with Softvoice, $50 without Softvoice.
Sidebar
Mainstream and Special Browsers
A mainstream application with a screen reader can be a formidable
tool to learn to use. Users who are inspired to take on the
Internet with Netscape or Internet Explorer will need to learn
conventional interface characteristics and screen reader commands.
They will also need to develop strategies for deciphering the
visual display. These skills transfer to all other aspects of
computing and using the Internet and can be superb practice.
One factor that greatly complicates the blind user's success
in accessing information through a mainstream browser is the
process by which information is delivered in braille or speech.
When a mainstream application displays information, it converts it
into a visual version. Then the screen reader must rearrange the
visual version into an aural or braille version. In addition,
because control of the mainstream application is designed purely
around the visual interface, the blind user must use tricks and a
great deal of knowledge to control the application. A self-voicing
application (such as a special browser), by contrast, presents its
information directly in a fashion understandable to the blind user,
and the developers design the controls with the blind user in mind.
No third-party need make any further interpretation of the
information. This approach ought to lead to an efficient method of
making the information intelligible to the blind user. However,
historically, "special" applications have had technical problems,
such as incompatibility with certain systems, and have lagged
behind mainstream applications in the addition of innovative
features.
AccessWorld News
Braille Translators Combine Forces
Duxbury Systems will soon be purchasing Braille Planet (the
successor to Raised Dot Computing). The intended result of this
merger will be a larger pool of talented braille software
developers. All current MegaDots and Duxbury software will be
maintained and supported. The combined forces will emphasize
creating written materials for training users and developing a
national network of software trainers. For more information,
contact: Braille Planet, Inc., 408 South Baldwin Street, Madison,
WI 53703; phone: 608-257-9595 or 800-347-9594; fax: 608-257-4143;
Web site: <www.brailleplanet.org> .
Change at the Top at Telesensory
After 28 years in the assistive technology field, Larry Israel has
announced his resignation as president and CEO of Telesensory
Corporation. Chief operating officer Yakov Soloveychik will handle
company operations while the search for a new CEO is initiated.
Through July 31, 2000, Mr. Israel will serve as consultant to
Telesensory and will continue his roles as chairman and member of
Telesensory's Board of Directors. Mr. Israel will not be
maintaining a full-time office as consultant of Telesensory, but
his E-mail and voice mail accounts will remain intact. For more
information, contact: Larry Israel, Telesensory Corporation, 520
Almanor Avenue, Sunnyvale, CA 94086; phone: 408-616-8700; fax:
408-616-8736; E-mail: <[log in to unmask]>.
Bar Code Reader
E Z Bar and Super E Z Bar are laser scanners that can be plugged
into a computer. E Z Bar is pen shaped and Super E Z Bar is a
two-directional scanner that is designed to find bar codes that are
difficult to locate. The E Z Bar and Super E Z Bar, along with a
computer keyboard and speech- or braille-output devices, are
designed to read bar code labels from products or from preprinted
labels that users can designate themselves. The E Z Bar and Super
E Z Bar come with 100 bar code labels, 20 reusable labels, 20
labels that are specifically for use on clothing, and a database
that catalogs commercial product names and bar codes.
The E Z Bar costs $330; the Super E Z Bar costs $599. For more
information or to order, contact: Disability Specialtys, 802 South
Drew Street, Saint Albans, WV 25177; phone: 304-722-1183 or
888-892-7878; fax: 304-722-1184; E-mail: <[log in to unmask]> ; Web
site: <http://disabilityspecialtys.com>.
New Talking Book Player
Plextor has released a new digital, CD-based Talking Book player
called Plextalk. Plextalk uses a CD-ROM system with a read-out
format of CD-DA and Daisy for CD-ROM. The player can read single
CDs that may contain up to 53 hours of voice-recorded text. Among
the features of Plextalk are high speed searching, bookmark index
mode (which allows users to create up to 20 bookmarks within the
CD), speed control (which adjusts from 0.75 to 3 times the normal
speed of play), and a page index mode (which allows access to any
page number by using a 10-key pad). For more information, contact:
Plextor Co., Limited, Kyodo Building (Tokyo Ekimae), 4-21 Yaesu
1-Chome, Chuo-ku, Tokyo, 103-8281, Japan; phone: 81-33-517-8061;
fax: 81-33-517-8065; E-mail: <[log in to unmask]> ; Web site:
<www.plextor.co.jp>.
Question and Answer
Crista L. Earl
Are you looking for an answer to that nagging computer question?
Even if I do not know the answer, I will find someone who does.
E-mail your questions to me at <[log in to unmask]> , and I will try to
find the answer for an upcoming issue of "AccessWorld".
Question: Can I listen to music CDs on my computer?
Answer: Of course! Why walk across the room to your stereo when
there is a CD player next to you? But you might be asking because
you have tried but cannot hear anything. In that case, there could
be a couple of problems.
Do you have a sound card? Is it working? If not, you will need
to install one and get it working. This is where the music will
come from.
If you have a functioning sound card, make sure the speakers
are correctly connected. Of course, if you are hearing sound
effects while you use your computer, you can be sure your speakers
are plugged in. If not, you can use trial-and-error to plug the
speakers into the right jack by playing a midi file or a large wave
file on your computer and then crawling around behind the computer
and trying each jack. If your speakers are working fine and you
have plenty of sound effects, there are two more likely
possibilities.
Many sound cards have separate volume and mute controls for
wave files and CD music. So, just because the volume is acceptable
for sound effects does not mean it is loud enough to hear music
CDs. Try bringing up the volume control for your sound card. If you
use Windows 95/98 or NT it is probably on the system tray, below
the task bar. If it is not there, bring it up under Multimedia on
the control panel. Once you are in the volume control, Tab around.
You might find the CD mute is checked or that the volume is turned
all the way down.
If checking the volume control does not solve the problem,
then you may have a missing cable between your CD-ROM drive and
your sound card. If you installed the sound card yourself, you now
know why you had all those pieces left over! Open the computer back
up and connect that mysterious cable between the CD-ROM drive and
the sound card. If you bought the computer completely assembled, it
is extremely unlikely that the cable is missing, but as a last
resort check that it is securely connected.
Calendar
date October 6-9, 1999
Assistive Technology Industry Association (ATIA) World Conference
'99, Orlando, Florida. The conference will focus on current
assistive technology products and services from around the world.
For more information, contact: ATIA, 526 Davis Street, Suite
217, Evanston, Illinois, 60201-4686; phone: 847-869-1282; fax:
847-869-5689; E-mail: <[log in to unmask]> ; Web site:
<www.atia.org> .
October 14-15, 1999
9th Annual Assistive Technology Expo, Raleigh, North Carolina.
Sponsored by the North Carolina Assistive Technology Project. For
more information, contact: Sandy Baldwin, North Carolina Assistive
Technology Project, 2313 Executive Park Circle, Greenville, NC
27834; phone: 252-830-8575; fax: 252-830-8576; E-mail:
<[log in to unmask]>.
October 21-23, 1999
Closing the Gap Conference in Computer Technology in Special
Education and Rehabilitation. Radisson South Hotel and Hotel
Sofitel, Bloomington, Minnesota. Conference topics will give an
overview of technology as it is being applied to all disabilities
and age groups in education, rehabilitation, vocation, and
independent living. Offered during this conference are over 150
one- and two-hour presentations, along with many commercial
exhibitors. Twenty-two preconference workshops are offered October
19\N20, 1999. The fee for each one-day workshop is $140 (there may
be an additional fee for materials).
For more information, contact: Closing the Gap, P.O. Box 68,
Henderson, MN 56044; phone: 507-248-3294; Web site:
<www.closingthegap.com>. Preconference workshops will be held
October 19-20.
November 1, 1999
2nd Annual Expanding Cyberspace Conference, New York Information
Technology Center, Global Community Digital Sandbox, New York City.
Initial Gold Sponsors: Mitsubishi Electric America Foundation and
the New York Information Technology Center.
For more information, contact: Jennifer Douglas, Executive
Director, the New York Information Technology Center, 55 Broad
Street, New York, NY 10004; phone: 212-269-4284; Web site:
<www.digiclubny.org> .
November 1-4, 1999
Fifth European Conference for the Advancement of Assistive
Technology (AAATE), D|$$|Adusseldorf, Germany. The conference is
being presented in conjunction with REHA international, a trade
fair for rehabilitation, equipment, and care for people who are
disabled.
For more information, contact: AAATE Conference `99, c/o
Forschungsinstitut Technologie-Behindertenhilfe,
Grundsch|$$|Adotteler Stra<gds>e 40, D-58300 Wetter (Ruhr),
Germany; phone: 49-233-596-8111; fax: 49-233-596-8119; E-mail:
<[log in to unmask]> ; Web site:
<www.fernuni-hagen.de/FTB/AAATE99/> .
March 20-25, 2000
California State University at Northridge's Center on Disabilities'
15th annual international conference, "Technology and Persons with
Disabilities," Hilton Los Angeles Airport and Los Angeles Airport
Marriott Hotels, California.
For more information, contact: Center on Disabilities,
California State University, Northridge, 18111 Nordhoff Street,
Northridge, CA 91330-8340; phone: 818-677-2578; fax: 818-677-4929;
E-mail: <[log in to unmask]<>; Web site: <www.csun.edu/cod/>
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