Computer software: adaptive technology

With the recognition that computers can open up the world of communication to people with a wide range of disabilities, the demand for appropriate software has grown enormously. Additionally, older and disabled users want user friendly and accessible websites.

From a cottage industry of freeware and shareware in the early days of personal computers and the world wide web, the major software companies are now taking adaptive technology very seriously.

In this section, you will learn about:

The basic software needs of people with different disabilities
Mainstream software supplier initiatives
Accessible website design initiatives
Where you can see demonstrations of software

Basic software needs of different groups.

People with different functional abilities use different kinds of software. This section will outline the basic types, and will provide you with links for more detailed information.

Low vision | Blind | Poor hand function

Users with low vision

Screen enlargers, or screen magnifiers such as MAGic
Speech synthesisers or text-to-speech) for email and the web such as Connect Outloud; or ReadPlease 2003. The latter is freeware, but there is also a commercial version.

Users who are blind

Screen readers such as JAWS, a widely used product which reads all popular software and email
Refreshable Braille Displays - devices in which pins raise and lower to display Braille - a tactile system using raised dots to represent letters and numbers
Browsers, including Lynx

Users with poor hand function

Voice / speech recognition applications such as Dragon NaturallySpeaking - available off the shelf in many computer stores
Options for limiting keystrokes (shortcut keys); and
avoiding use of the mouse such as accessibility features in Microsoft products

Mainstream software

Mainstream software products such as Microsoft Word, Publisher, Excel etc; Adobe Acrobat; Dreamweaver, Director etc., are now making considerable efforts to ensure access to their products by people with a range of disabilities including vision impairments, hearing impairments and lack of fine motor control.

For instance, Microsoft offers on line tutorials to show how to customise Windows for people with low vision or who are blind. Windows XP has an accessibility wizard, to enable users to customise their operating system.

There are also a range of specialist products on the market.

Accessible Websites

The World Wide Web consortium develops standards for website design, and has taken a great interest in accessibility issues. It issues guidelines, as well as encouraging the use of validation tools for useability and accessibility.

Australia's Human Rights & Equal Opportunity Commission (HREOC) has issued guidelines for web developers: World Wide Web Access: Disability Discrimination Act Advisory Notes Version 3.2, August 2002, which are based on the World Wide Web Consortium's W3 Web content accessibility guidelines 1.0, 1999.

Validation tools include:

WebExact, a software tool from Watchfire designed to identify and repair accessibility problems in websites - this used to be known as "Bobby"
Cynthia says - another web accessibility validation tool
A-Prompt, a tool to verify the accessibility of websites and repair web pages where necessary
The Trace Center's Designing more usable websites provides a range of links to useful tools.

Software demonstrations and distributors

There are a number of places you can look at software products. These include:

The State Library of NSW has a range of adaptive technology for use by the public. To see the range, or to book the equipment, you should phone the Disability Access Service on (02) 9273 1414.
Quantum Technology's showroom at Rydalmere
Royal Blind Society at Burwood, NSW

Useful Links

These include:

Royal Blind Society's adaptive technology page, and
World Wide Web Access: Disability Discrimination Act Advisory Notes issued by the Human Rights Commission.