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Technology for sensory impairments (vision and hearing)
Published in Alex Mihailidis, Roger Smith, Rehabilitation Engineering, 2023
J. A. Brabyn, H. Levitt, J.A. Miele
Screen readers are software packages used to access the contents of the screen and port them to speech or Braille output. Keyboard controls allow users to navigate the screen and specify what aspects of its information are read at any given time – for example, to read by lines, words, or characters, to select headings or specific forms of highlighting (e.g., underlined text). The advent of the Mac and Windows operating systems was a setback for this technology, but modern screen readers are able to access and display most information used in modern computer operating systems and office applications that are primarily text based. However, they are still largely incapable of displaying the information displayed in graphics. Apple provides a built-in basic screen reader (“VoiceOver”), and several third-party options are available for Windows, such as JAWS and the open-source NVDA screen reader.
Making the Web Accessible
Published in Constantine Stephanidis, User Interfaces for All, 2000
Daniel Dardailler, Judy Brewer, Ian Jacobs
As part of its ongoing efforts to pursue and promote accessibility, the WAI joined forces with the W3C HTML Working Group in the design of HTML version 4.0,9 which became a W3C Recommendation in December 1997. For this latest release of the World Wide Web’s publishing language, the WAI group sought remedies for a number of authoring habits that cause problems for users of: Screen readers. Screen readers are software applications, which intercept output being sent to a monitor and direct it to speech synthesis devices, or refreshable Braille displays.Audio browsers. Audio browsers read and interpret HTML (and style sheets) and are capable of producing inflected speech output.Text-only browsers. Text browsers are used on some devices (including hand-held devices, with small character displays) that are only capable of displaying characters.
Accessibility vs. Usability – Where is the Dividing Line?
Published in Philip D. Bust, Contemporary Ergonomics 2006, 2020
Sambhavi Chandrashekar, Rachel Benedyk
This also illustrates the compensating role played by assistive technologies in providing alternative or enhanced modes. A screen reader program enables a person with visual impairment to perceive visual content through audio output (speakers) and operate interface controls through the tactile input (keyboard). A screen magnifier program enables a person with low vision to perceive visual content through enhanced visual output.
Access and Experiences of Arabic Native Speakers With Disabilities on Social Media During and After the World Pandemic
Published in International Journal of Human–Computer Interaction, 2023
Zainab AlMeraj, Iyad Abu Doush, Dari Alhuwail, Shok Shama, Ahmed AlBahar, Mohammad Al-Ramahi
A screen reader is assistive technology (AT) that converts text and graphics into speech to enable people with visual impairment to read and navigate by hearing the content from the screen (Smaradottir et al., 2017). The main purpose of a screen reader is to provide disabled people with accessibility and control over a computer or a system (Hersh & Johnson, 2008). TalkBack, the screen reader of Android, is used to control Android devices by adding vocal information to the visual displays in a way that describes the action results inside touchscreen devices (Morris, 2014). TalkBack works by using several finger movements such as one tap, double tap, and swipe. One tap is used to select an item and double tab to activate and select it, while swipe is used with either single or multiple fingers to navigate or scroll (Kane & Bigham, 2008). TalkBack enables people with disabilities to manage the verbosity, speech rate, and sound feedback volume. It also provides the feature of reading characters aloud while entering a password and customizing menus and gestures (Samsung, 2021).
Perceived importance and difficulty of online activities among visually impaired persons in Nigeria
Published in Assistive Technology, 2020
Patrick Emeka Okonji, Olatokunbo Christopher Okiki, Darlington Ogwezzy
Screen readers are software applications that convey what people with normal eyesight see on a display to their users via nonvisual means, like text-to-speech. However, if information is presented using only one attribute (such as contrast, size, font, or depth), a visually impaired user may not detect the difference (Anderson, 2017). This may have implications for how visually impaired people use the internet. For example, screen readers cannot convey images (or photos) people with normal eyesight see on a display to their users via nonvisual means because they are nonstandard interface components with three-dimensional animations that cannot be recognized by the screen readers (Anderson, 2017). The internet experience for Blind and visually-impaired (BVI) individuals, who require screen readers, is not equivalent to that for sighted users because many screen readers cannot interpret special formatting, such as a change in color signifying a difference or other visual cues that help sighted individuals access information. Another problem faced by screen readers is that it reads the content of the web page from left to right and then from top to bottom (Valenza, 2000). This is a problem when a screen reader is trying to read charts or columns in a tabular format. The screen reader does not know that it should read each column or cell that is something a sighted user would know. Furthermore, BVI users have limited access to graphical user interfaces. Regular sighted users are able to scan a web page for a particular piece of information at high speeds, but BVI individuals do not have the same chance. These put the BVI user at a disadvantage as some of them experience difficulties accessing many online platforms (Anderson, 2017; Valenza, 2000).