How to Adapt Your Computer to Make it More Accessible

Accessibility in computers and software is a growing need

Using computers at home or in the workplace has become almost essential. Because about 20% of Americans have some type of disability that inhibits computer use, computer manufacturers and software developers have made creating accessible computers and software a priority. Vision loss increases with age and as our population ages, more and more people need computers and software adapted for low vision or blindness.

Vision Loss and Input vs Output

Anyone using a computer today must continually perform two tasks:

1. Read information presented on the computer monitor (or other output device); and
2. Provide input to the computer, either data or a command to the computer. This is usually done using either a keyboard and/or a pointing device such as a mouse.

If you are blind, you can't use a mouse because you can't see and move the cursor on your computer monitor screen. People with some useful vision may or may not be able to use a mouse. However, most people with vision impairment (but not mobility impairment) can learn to use a computer keyboard. The accommodations required to make a computer usable by someone who is blind or visually impaired are to compensate for the computer user's inability to see and use a computer screen. The adaptation must be to the display of output rather than to a method of input.

Screen Magnification

One type of software magnifies the computer screen for people with some vision. Read more about screen magnification software [1] on this VisionAWARE web site.

Specialized browsers:
Lighthouse International, a leader in advocating accessibility for people with low vision, is announcing an innovative new add-on software tool that will enable millions of people worldwide with low vision to access previously inaccessible web pages.While existing programs enable blind people to access the web effectively, LowBrowse™ [2] enables people with moderate or severe low vision to both view web pages as the original web author intended and read the text on those pages tailored to their own visual needs. The highly anticipated program, which runs in conjunction with the Mozilla Firefox browser, will be offered at no charge and is expected to be available to the public for download via the Firefox add-on site. LowBrowse will work with Mozilla, IE and Mac and will be released by September 2008.

Screen Reading Software

If screen magnification isn't sufficient, or if you are blind, you can still use a computer by learning to use screen reading software [3] (also called "speech synthesizer" or "speech output" software programs) to read aloud the information displayed on the screen.

Microsoft and Apple Computers Provide Accessibility Features

Newer computers have built-in accessibility features that may help you use any software more easily, including any calendar, email, financial, and other games, entertainment or productivity software you prefer.

For Apple Computer users

Here is where to learn more about Apple computer's built-in accessibility tools. [4]. The MAC Leopard OS has many built-in accessibility tools.

For Microsoft Computer users

For computers running various versions of Windows and Microsoft Office software, read about Microsoft product accessibility features. [5] The Vista OS has many built-in accessibility tools.

If you use Windows XP operating system, Microsoft provides XP accessibility tutorials [6].