Web Site Accessibility Blog

First, Microsoft, who claims that Vista will be the most accessible Windows OS.

3 areas of Increased Accessibility
There are three areas that increase this functionality; first the accessibility options will no longer be labeled as such, as they found that most people will not use those options as they do not consider themselves disabled.

Accessibility Interview
However, Microsoft did find that 57% of working-age computer users can benefit from accessible technology. To remedy this, and to satisfy the accessibility needs of a wide variety of users, a wizard will walk new users through new features and gather information about their working habits, requirements and preferences. This could result in a naturally larger font size for some users, and less reliance on audio cues for others.

Functions
In a second step, functions such as speech recognition and screen magnification have been emphasized in the new OS. The speech recognition will also improve over time as it “learns” each user’s vocabulary and style. Included in this is a magnification layer that will enlarge graphics and text without the pixilation that happens in current programs or features. To change this, text will be rendered at a larger size from the start, and then reduced based on the preferences of the user.

Third Party Integration
The third area of improvement is Microsoft’s UI Automation. This feature will enable third-party devices to take advantage of the accessibility features built into Vista. Rob Sinclair, director of Microsoft’s Accessible Technology Group is excited about the developments, as the vision of a computer adapting to individual users is no longer a concept – which is an interesting premise.

I have long thought that each user should be able to customize the OS to his needs. There are many components of Windows that could be used to create a better user experience, yet they are not easily understandable, and most users are afraid to “mess” with their settings. A wizard that interviews users about their habits and needs could be a great way to begin the set-up for a personalized experience that will reduce frustrations of small text, inaudible cues, and enjoyment of features never before realized.
IBM Donates Code
From the IBM Side, IBM is once again donating code to the open-source community. IBM will work to integrate Dynamic Web Accessibility into the Dojo Toolkit widget set. This will create better accessibility interface features for developers using AJAX and Dojo. This is critical for screen readers and magnifiers, as screen readers have not been able to work within applications using AJAX technology.

AJAX, JavaScript & Accessibility
AJAX does not play well with screen readers, and Ajax cannot be considered an accessible technology yet. Many accessiblity advocates have expressed concern about assistive technology support for this technology. Roger Johansson has researched this and has put together a great resource of accessibility issues and commentaries about AJAX & Javascript.