An Introduction to Technology Accessibility in the Workplace Aaron Preece Technical Consultant: Doug Bedsaul

Barriers to Employment for People with a Visual Impairment Transportation Employer attitudes Accessibility to visual technology

Accessibility to Computers Desktop Computers: Windows, Mac, Linux Mobile Computers: iOS and Android Windows has the most choices in regards to accessibility

Screen Readers Present visual information on screen as spoken feedback using synthesized speech Allows for alternative navigation options for navigating complex visual content such as webpages

Concatenated and Formant Synthetic Speech Concatenated Speech Formant Speech Uses computer generated sound to form speech from instructions on the synthesizer Uses recorded human speech to generate words

Popular Windows Screen Readers Jaws for Windows By Freedom Scientific Commercial, price $895 for home edition Window Eyes By Ai Squared/GW Micro Price $895 for single license or Free (Microsoft Office 2010 or later) Non Visual Desktop Access (NVDA) By NV Access Free and open source

Choosing a Screen Reader Most comfortable command structure Which screen reader will work with the programs the individual will be using Modules for added functionality JAWS scripts Window Eyes Apps NVDA Add-ons Who can create them and what is the price?

Other Screen Readers and Operating Systems Mobile screen readers for tablets and smartphones Other desktop operating systems Voiceover Apple OSX (Mac) Orca - Speakup (Linux) Vinux - Accessible Linux Distribution Sonar - Accessible Linux distribution VoiceOver iOS TalkBack Android Shine Android

Windows Screen Magnifiers MAGic By Freedom Scientific Price: MAGic with Speech $595, MAGic without speech $39 ZoomText By Ai Squared Price: $399 for Magnifier, $599 for Magnifier/Reader SuperNova Magnifier By Dolphin Computer Access Price: Supernova Magnifier $395, SuperNova Magnifier/Reader $595.

Screen Magnifiers Magnify the screen to a large degree Allow for color/contrast customization for easier viewing Font smoothing and other customizations to make reading and interacting with the operating system easier

Choosing a Magnifier Reader/Speech for magnifier Additional text-to-speech to read the contents of the screen alongside magnification Windows, Mac, iOS, and Android include basic screen magnifier with the operating system All possess 60x magnification, color changing, and font smoothing Differences in hotkeys, settings dialogues, and additional functions

Screen Magnifiers The screen magnifier found in the Windows operating system enlarging the screen and altering system colors.

Multi-Function-Printers Large copier/scanner/printer/etc. popular in office environments Right: A Lexmark MFP (MX711de) compatible with Lexmark's Accessibility solutions. Image of our Lexmark printer

Canon Voice Guidance and Operation Kits External module that connects to imageRUNNER Device Uses numerical keypad for navigation and text-to-speech to communicate options Allows alteration of voice pitch, rate, and volume and provides two different voices to choose from Voice Operation kit allows user to dictate commands but also allows keypad navigation Voice Guidance Kit $750, Voice Operation Kit $1800

Canon Voice Guidance Kit Image of Canon Voice Guidance Kit

Lexmark Accessibility Solution and Accessibility Speech A webpage using standard HTML to allow access to functions Can be used with many screen access solutions and devices because of use of basic HTML Set up job from webpage Enter code to start job on MFP Accessibility Speech provides spoken prompts for status messages Price for Accessibility Solution and Accessibility Speech $1000

Lexmark Accessibility Solution Image of interface of Lexmark Accessibility Solution

Features of a Usable MFP Well differentiated keys Use of physical keys for navigation instead of a touchscreen Earcons (Audio cues) for movement/selection of items No wrapping menus

VoIP Phone Cisco Systems VoIP phone

Voice Over Internet Protocol phones (VoIP phones) Phones that make calls over the internet Possess many features and functions e.g., record a call log, built in address book

VoIP Phone Accessibility Barriers Inaccessible digital displays Soft key inaccessibility

Solution: Softphones Software that simulates a physical VoIP phone Found on many platforms Can be accessible to screen readers and magnifiers

Accessaphone A softphone by Tenacity Operating Accessible with screen readers and magnifiers; specifically engineered to be so Usable with commercial VoIP systems including Cisco and NEC Price: $1500 single license, $1000 three or more licenses

Accessaphone Accessaphone's main screen

VTGO508 Compliant Softphone An accessible softphone by IP Blue Designed to be Section 508 compliant; mostly accessible using screen readers and magnifiers Usable with Cisco's VoIP system Price: $750 per license

VTGO508 VTGO508 Softphone’s main screen

3CXPhone A mainstream softphone for the iOS platform By 3CX Free on the iOS App Store Usable but requires screen reader user to label static elements (contacts, settings, call log) Is compatible with the SIP VoIP protocol.

3CXPhone 3CX’s main screen on iPod Touch

Linphone A mainstream softphone on the iOS and Android platforms By Belledonne Communications Mostly accessible with screen reading software; dynamic content such as names is not accessible on iOS and would need to be changed in source code and recompiled Accessible on Android Free and open source on the iOS App Store and the Google Play Store Supports the SIP VoIP protocol

Linphone Linphone’s main screen

Usable Features of Physical VoIP Phones Differentiated keys Usable features of inaccessible physical VoIP phones Keys only possess a single function Sounds for phone function such as mute Internal or external accessible voicemail and caller ID No wrapping menus Adjustable font/contrast on digital display

Resources Jaws for Windows: Window Eyes Product Page: http://www.freedomscientific.com/Products/Blindness/JAWS Window Eyes Product Page: http://www.gwmicro.com/Window-Eyes/ Window Eyes offer for users of Microsoft Office: http://www.windoweyesforoffice.com/ Non Visual Desktop Access (NVDA): http://www.nvaccess.org/ VoiceOver OS X screen reader: http://www.apple.com/accessibility/osx/voiceover/ VoiceOver iOS screen reader: http://www.apple.com/accessibility/ios/voiceover/

Resources Continued Google TalkBack Screen Reader Play Store product page: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.google.android.marvin.talkback&hl=en Shine Android Screen Reader Play Store product page: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=atlab.shineplus Orca Linux screen reader: https://wiki.gnome.org/Projects/Orca Speakup Linux screen reader: http://www.linux-speakup.org/ Vinux accessible Linux distribution: http://vinuxproject.org/ Sonar accessible Linux distribution http://sonargnulinux.com/

Resources Continued Overview of speech synthesis: http://festvox.org/bsv/c59.html ZoomText Screen Magnifier: http://www.aisquared.com/zoomtext MAGic Screen Magnifier http://www.freedomscientific.com/Products/LowVision/MAGic SuperNova Magnifier: http://www.yourdolphin.com/productdetail.asp?id=3 Canon Voice Guidance/Operation Kit: http://www.usa.canon.com/cusa/office/products/software/accessibility_solutions/voice_guidance_voice_operation_kits Lexmark Accessibility Solution and Accessibility Speech: http://www.lexmark.com/en_us/solutions/accessibility-solutions.html

Resources Continued Accessaphone accessible softphone: http://www.accessaphone.com/ VTGO508 softphone: https://www.ipblue.com/products_vtgo_508.asp 3CXPhone iOS App Store product page: https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/3cxphone-for-3cx-phone-system/id660230142?mt=8 Linphone iOS App Store product page: https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/linphone/id360065638?mt=8 Linphone Play Store product page https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=org.linphone&hl=en