Visual Basic.NET How to Program (PDF)

Chapter 24 Accessibility 1241
VoiceXML and AuralCSS (www.w3.org/TR/REC-CSS2/aural.html). These tools
allow people with visual impairments and illiterate people to access Web sites.
Despite the existence of adaptive software and hardware for people with visual impairments,
the accessibility of computers and the Internet is still hampered by the high costs,
rapid obsolescence and unnecessary complexity of current technology. Moreover, almost
all software currently available requires installation by a person who can see. Ocularis is a
project launched in the open-source community that aims to address these problems. Opensource
software for people with visual impairments already exists; although it is often superior
to its proprietary, closed-source counterparts, it has not yet reached its full potential.
Ocularis ensures that the blind can access and use all aspects of the Linux operating system.
Products that integrate with Ocularis include word processors, calculators, basic finance
applications, Internet browsers and e-mail clients. A screen reader also will be included for
use with programs that have a command-line interface. The official Ocularis Web site is
located at ocularis.sourceforge.net.
People with visual impairments are not the only beneficiaries of efforts to improve
markup languages. People with hearing impairments also have a number of tools to help
them interpret auditory information delivered over the Web. One of these tools, Synchronized
Multimedia Integration Language (SMIL), is designed to add extra tracks (layers
of content found within a single audio or video file) to multimedia content. The additional
tracks can contain closed captioning.
Technologies are also being designed to help people with severe disabilities, such as
quadriplegia, a form of paralysis that affects the body from the neck down. One such technology,
EagleEyes, developed by researchers at Boston College (www.bc.edu/
eagleeyes), is a system that translates eye movements into mouse movements. A user
moves the mouse cursor by moving his or her eyes or head and is thereby able to control
the computer.
The company CitXCorp is developing a new technology that translates Web information
through the telephone. Information on a specific topic can be accessed by dialing the
designated number. For more information on regulations governing the design of Web sites
to accommodate people with disabilities, visit www.access-board.gov.
GW Micro, Henter-Joyce and Adobe Systems, Inc., are also working on software that
assists people with disabilities. Adobe Acrobat 5.0 complies with Microsoft’s application
programming interface (API) to allow businesses to provide information to a wider audience.
JetForm Corp is also accommodating the needs of people with disabilities by developing
server-based XML software. The new software allows users to download
information in a format that best meets their needs.
There are many services on the Web that assist e-businesses in designing Web sites to
be accessible to individuals with disabilities. For additional information, the U.S. Department
of Justice (www.usdoj.gov) provides extensive resources detailing legal and technical
issues related to people with disabilities.
24.15 Accessibility in Microsoft ® Windows ® 2000
Beginning with Microsoft Windows 95, Microsoft has included accessibility features in its
operating systems and many of its applications, including Office 97, Office 2000 and Netmeeting.
In Microsoft Windows 2000, Microsoft has significantly enhanced the operating