Windows 95 Sees Better Future

Joe Lazzaro

Windows has been a mixed blessing for disabled computer users. People who are unable to type on a standard keyboard can benefit from Windows and other GUIs like the Macintosh interface, in which a few keystrokes or mouse-clicks can accomplish many tasks. But for blind or moderately visually impaired users, using Windows with adaptive equipment, such as speech, braille, and screen-magnification systems, can be frustrating. And, due to inconsistent programming methods by Windows software developers and a lack of standards, adaptive equipment that verbalizes important information, such as the current position of the mouse cursor, doesn't always work. Microsoft now says it will work to improve Windows' support for blind users.

One near-term solution in which Microsoft hopes to improve Windo ws' accessibility is by putting its Access Pack of utilities, which aids disabled users, in the Windows 95 control panel. The Access Pack can provide such assistance as holding and locking the Shift keys, allowing mouse movements via the arrow keys or an external adapted switch, and making the screen flash when the speaker beeps. These utilities make a computer more accessible for users with hearing or other physical disabilities.

The company also plans to improve Windows' support for third-party assistive devices. "We plan to provide extra assistance to independent software developers writing accessibility software, give the developers increased access to low-level technical information, and evangelize how to make programs more accessible across the board," says Greg Lowney, a senior program manager in Microsoft's Accessibility and Disabilities Group.

Microsoft also plans to implement new features in its API and DLL library to make Windows 95 more compatible with adaptive hardware and software. A Helper.DLL file, which will be released shortly after Windows 95, will expose system information (e.g., the on-screen location of a menu item) to accessibility products through a supported, documented interface. Further out, Microsoft has other plans. "Our intention is to use the off-screen model [OSM] as the basis of a component architecture to provide access to information on the Windows screen," explains Lowney. In the OSM, a database tracks the data that a Windows application writes to and removes from the computer's screen. A screen-reader program queries the OSM to find out exactly what's on the screen at any given time so that it can reliably report this information to a blind user.

People in the disabled community welcome Microsoft's plans but remain wary. "I am impressed with what Microsoft has agreed to do and to consider," says Paul Schroeder, national program associate for technology and telecommunications at the American Foundation for the Blind (Chicago, IL). "But we must remain vigila nt to ensure that they and other companies really commit to making computers more accessible for persons with disabilities."