We want all users to be able to experience Windows 8 Metro style apps on their desktops, laptops, or the new touch-capable devices. This includes people with disabilities who rely on assistive technologies to use the PC. About 15% of the world's population has a disability<sup>1</sup>. In the United States alone, 49.6 million people have a disability<sup>2</sup> and 45 million in Europe<sup>3</sup>. When it comes to interacting with computers, these disabilities affect individuals in a number of ways:Windows 8 is a product we design for an incredibly broad spectrum of people around the world. One of the areas where we have worked to deliver an even greater level of innovation is in ensuring that Windows 8, particularly the new Metro style experience, is accessible to everyone regardless of their physical abilities. In this post we will talk about the engineering work that goes into the features we refer to as “accessibility” – though as you will see, many of these features are broadly applicable and just make the product better for everyone. If you are interested in Microsoft’s overall efforts in accessibility and related topics, please be sure to check out An important note. With the next public release of code (later this month) we will see a significant improvement in the capabilities described in this post, but we still have work to do between beta and RC especially with regards to working with the latest releases of third party tools. I just want to make sure folks know that this post talks about improvements in the next release as well as functionality that will still be improving as we get to the release candidate. This post was authored by Jennifer Norberg, a senior program manager lead on our HID team. --Steven <hr />
- Visual impairments include color vision deficiency, low-vision and blindness – all of which may impact the individual’s ability to see content displayed on the screen.
- Mobility impairments include arthritis, cerebral palsy, Parkinson’s disease, multiple sclerosis, and paraplegia, which impact the ability to use the keyboard and/or mouse to interact with the PC.
- Hearing impairments include conditions ranging from mild hearing loss to total deafness, and impact the individual’s ability to experience audio content generated by the computer.
- Cognitive impairments impact an individual’s learning and language skills, the ability to comprehend words, and difficulty with memory, solving problems, or perceiving sensory information.
- Improve the assistive technologies that are components of Windows, and provide a good experience with the Metro style UI.
- Provide developer tools that have baseline accessibility built in, so that accessible Metro style apps are available in the Store.
- Engage assistive technology vendors (ATVs) to adopt Windows 8 and build upon the accessibility scenarios.
- Narrator is Windows’ built-in screen reader that allows people with visual impairments to interact with their system and applications. User feedback on previous versions of Narrator has consistently been that it needs to respond faster, read more controls, and support more languages.
- Magnifier is a tool in Windows to make text and graphics large enough to see for people with low vision. This was initially shipped in Windows 98, and was updated significantly in Windows 7 with the ability to magnify the full screen. This change received positive feedback. However, there were still issues with Magnifier, as it sometimes conflicted with settings for High Contrast colors.
- Speech recognition initially shipped in Windows Vista to aid people with mobility impairments to navigate and use their PC. User feedback on this feature has been really positive, telling us that the accuracy in speech recognition is good, it transcribes your voice to text quickly, and it is able to handle some uncommon words.
- On-screen keyboard has been available to those with mobility impairments since Windows XP.
- We redesigned Narrator to improve its performance so that it quickly reads out what you have selected.
- We added morel languages and voices to Narrator to support additional countries and preferences.
- We updated components and features within Windows to leverage UI Automation that allows them to be read by Narrator.
- We updated UI Automation (UIA) with more text patterns and document content so that Narrator can use it to read the outputs from applications.
- Installing, setting up, and configuring your PC: Using an existing Windows 7 PC, turn on Narrator by opening Ease of Access and selecting Narrator. Then go to the webpage that hosts the Windows 8 download and install point ([url=http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/apps/br229516/" target="_blank">download Windows 8 Developer Preview here)</a>, and walk through the setup with Narrator speaking to you. There are still a few bugs in the process that we are working on. But this now provides you with the ability to install using Narrator.
Narrator has some new configuration options in Windows 8. You can select a voice, change the speed at which it speaks, create customizable commands, and specify some other aspects of Narrator’s behavior.
[i][url=http://blogs.msdn.com/cfs-file.ashx/__key/communityserver-blogs-components-weblogfiles/00-00-01-29-43-metablogapi/5074.Narrator_5F00_3DA1A618.jpg" target="_blank"><img title="Welcome to Narrator" style="display: inline background-image: none" border="0" alt="Tap twice with 3 fingers to review the full set of touch gestures supported by Narrator. Drag a single finger around the screen to hear the item under your finger. Or, on a keyboard, press Windows + Alt + F1 to review the full set of Narrator commands. General. Change how Narrator starts and other standard settings. Navigation. Change how you interact with the system with Narrator. Voice. Change the speed, pitch, or volume of the current voice or choose a new voice. Commands. Create customizable keyboard commands." src="http://blogs.msdn.com/cfs-file.ashx/__key/communityserver-blogs-components-weblogfiles/00-00-01-29-43-metablogapi/8611.Narrator_5F00_thumb_5F00_2F632D28.jpg" width="546" height="480" /></a>
Narrator main screen to configure settings[/i]
Right out-of-the-box with a new Windows 8 tablet, you will be able to press the Windows logo key and Volume Up to launch Narrator and walk through the setup of your machine. Whether you’re blind, have low vision, or are fully sighted, you’ll be able to start experiencing a Windows 8 tablet from the moment you get it. - Web browsing: Previously Narrator didn’t say much on webpages, and it was slow. But with the updates in Internet Explorer to leverage text patterns built into the UI Automation platform, and with additional performance updates, Narrator keeps up with you as you explore text on a webpage. Narrator provides you with the ability to continuously read a page (Use the Windows logo key + Alt + to invoke the reading) and then responds quickly to commands such as Ctrl, which will instantly stop Narrator from speaking. This allows you to interact with a control like a hyperlink (Windows logo key +Alt + Enter tells Narrator to select the hyperlink, and Windows logo key + Alt + Space navigates to the linked page).
- Use Visual Studio Express IntelliSense to type [url=http://www.w3.org/WAI/PF/aria/appendices#quickref" target="_blank">accessibility attributes</a> quickly and declare accessibility information in the markup.
- Accessibility support is built into the Windows 8 controls. In most cases, all you need to do is define a good [url=http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/windows/apps/hh452677(v=VS.85).aspx" target="_blank">accessible name</a>.
- Use the Dev Center [url=http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/windows/apps/hh452681(v=VS.85).aspx" target="_blank">guidelines</a> and [url=http://code.msdn.microsoft.com/windowsapps/site/search?query=accessibility%20or%20%22high%20contrast%22%20or%20aria&f%5B0%5D.Value=accessibility%20or%20%22high%20contrast%22%20or%20aria&f%5B0%5D.Type=SearchText&ac=8" target="_blank">samples</a> to learn best practices and copy/paste accessible code. [/list]
- Testing: When your app is ready for testing, use the Windows SDK accessibility testing tools to validate the markup. The Dev Center documentation also offers guidelines about [url=http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/windows/apps/hh452726(v=VS.85).aspx" target="_blank">testing a Metro style app for accessibility</a>.
- Selling: Once the app is complete, if it meets the baseline accessibility scenarios, you can declare it as accessible during the Windows Store publishing process by selecting the Accessibility check box. This will allow users looking for accessible apps to easily find them in the Store.
- Support the standards. Ensure people with low vision or those who are fully blind can use a screen reader such as Narrator to accomplish the main scenarios offered by the app. The screen readers will leverage UIA and the standards discussed above to get information from the apps.
- Make keyboard shortcuts. Ensure people with mobility impairments or users of screen readers that prefer keyboard navigation can use a keyboard to interact with the app and its UI elements. This includes navigating with the Tab and arrow keys activations with Spacebar and Enter keys and the use of shortcuts (access keys and accelerators).
- Support high contrast and “make it bigger.” Ensure people with moderate visual impairments can distinguish the UI and text with sufficient text contrast ratios, and a good high contrast mode and respect layout settings when the “Make everything on your screen bigger” mode is active.
Download this video to view it in your favorite media player:
[url=http://video.ch9.ms/ch9/8f07/7f89f824-fa21-4375-8443-9ff201608f07/EnsuringAccessibility2_high_ch9.mp4">High quality MP4</a> | [url=http://video.ch9.ms/ch9/8f07/7f89f824-fa21-4375-8443-9ff201608f07/EnsuringAccessibility2_low_ch9.mp4">Lower quality MP4</a> These are just two examples of ATs that are shipping with Windows 8 and that are now optimized for touch-only devices. There are many other improvements across all the Windows 8 ATs, but we will save that to discuss at a later time. <h4>Onboarding assistive technology vendors</h4> There are many scenarios and a wide range of impairments to cover, and so we’ve engaged and partnered with AT vendors to ensure we are creating the best and most comprehensive experiences for the disability community. The assistive technologies that ship in Windows 8 will work across both the desktop and Metro style UI experiences, to provide seamless access to the PC. People who need advanced AT features may need or want to purchase solutions from specialty Assistive Technology vendors (AT vendors) to meet their specific needs. AT vendors create sophisticated ATs that can provide richer experiences to the disability community. For example, they may provide in-depth support for specific applications and for legacy applications. The ATs shipped in Windows may not work well with apps that do not support industry standards or platform technologies, including for example, legacy applications that do not implement UIA. In Windows 8, we invested heavily in building the foundation for the new Metro style UI and adopting the industry standards that will benefit application developers, ATs, and the disability community. By providing a standardized way of getting the information, ATs can work with the standards that app developers are used to, but more importantly, AT vendors can rely on these standards to be supported through multiple Windows releases, to ensure their ATs don’t break with each release. Since the //Build conference, we have partnered with leading AT vendors to help them get started with Windows 8. This has included support for previously used [url=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mirror_driver" target="_blank">mirror drivers</a> and UIA support. We continue to sync up with the AT vendors to ensure that their questions are addressed, and we are working toward the common goal of an accessible Windows 8. Windows 8 has been an incredible opportunity for us to improve our accessibility support. Not only have we evolved the platform, we have introduced new opportunities for developers to broaden their application’s reach into the disability community. We have also focused a lot of attention on the ATs that are included with Windows 8, not only improving performance and language support, but also enabling new form factors including touch-only devices. We continue to be very committed to a rich and innovative third-party ecosystem, and with more standardized and consistent interfaces, we hope to help the ecosystem continue to innovate on Windows. If you are a user with accessibility needs, we think you will like what we have done. If you are a developer, build an accessible app and reach a larger spectrum of users! If you are an AT vendor, come work with us and refresh your applications using our platform. This is an exciting and compelling release that will change how people of all abilities interact with PCs. There is still work to be done in Windows to meet all the accessibility needs, but we would like to encourage people to try out the Metro style experiences with our free, updated Windows 8 ATs. -- Jennifer Norberg, Lead PM, Human Interaction Platform team Data [list] [*]WHO: [url=http://www.who.int/mediacentre/factsheets/fs352/en/">Disability and health: Fact sheet Number 352</a> [*]US Census: [url=http://www.census.gov/newsroom/releases/archives/facts_for_features_special_editions/cb11-ff14.html">Profile America Facts for Features</a> [*]European AT Report: [url=http://ec.europa.eu/information_society/newsroom/cf/document.cfm?action=display&doc_id=606">Analysing and federating the European Assistive Technology ICT industry, March 2009 (PDF)</a> [*][url=http://blogs.msdn.com/controlpanel/blogs/posteditor.aspx/lifekludger:%20The%20Touch%20Barrier%20%20Accessibility%20and%20usability%20issues%20around%20touch%20technologies">Lifekludger: The Touch Barrier – Accessibility and usability issues around touch technologies</a> [*][url=http://bls.gov/oco/oco2003.htm">Occupational Outlook Handbook, 2010-11 Edition</a> [/list]
Source: [url=http://blogs.msdn.com/b/b8/archive/2012/02/14/enabling-accessibility.aspx]Windows 8 Blog
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