The Empowerment Zone web site (http://www.empowermentzone.com) now
has a compressed plain text version of "The Windows Interface
Guidelines for Software Design."  This Microsoft publication is an
authoritative guide to components and conventions of the Windows 95
and Windows NT operating systems.  It is intended primarily for
developers of Windows applications, but in my opinion, is also
helpful to technically-oriented users with disabilities who want to
better understand the Windows environment in order to refine
strategies of accessing it effectively.

The web based version of this publication is available at
http://microsoft.com/win32dev/uiguide
It consists of over 500 web pages at multiple levels of a
hierarchy.  I converted and combined these in sequence to produce
the archived plain text version on my home page at
http://www.empowermentzone.com/win_ui.zip

Reading these guidelines may also have the benefit of stimulating
ideas as to how accessibility aid developers might better support
the current Windows environment, and how Microsoft might improve
this environment to facilitate more effective and efficient use by
people with disabilities.


Jamal