After reading Chapter 10, I thought it was interesting to learn about disabilities such as visual impairment or hand movement restrictions and how operating systems such as Windows are attempting to help users with these disabilities use Windows 10. Visual impairment refers to a decreased ability to see that cannot be fixed by usual means or due to total blindness. For instance, if a person has difficulty with reading the screen on the monitor Windows can provide that person with plenty of tools to help with reading. Some of the tools available are a magnifier to get a close look at the text or a high contrast theme with bigger text and darker and brighter colors. Windows 10 can even provide a narrator to read some text depending on the type of coding format. Windows will not be able to read out loud text in picture forms such as jpeg or png. The speech recognition function tool can help users navigate through applications by inputting voice commands into the computer to open certain programs. |
I felt that all of chapter 10 had an important message. Although, in my opinion, it seemed like most of the chapter seemed elementary as far as describing the graphics and presentation of the program. It would seem elementary to use proper colors that are accenting, draws attention where needed and is logical. Other elementary points, seemed to be with displaying text, designing tables and lists, and other GUI components with similarities to the colors. I understand the importance of the chapter and although seemed basic. It is obvious that some of the projects that have been completed by companies did not consider some of the points that were presented above so i appreciate the importance of this chapter.
Thanks Michael for your comment. Yes I am with you on that. I also felt the chapter had many helpful suggestions on making the application accessible to people with disabilities.
Elias – this is an extremely important and often over-looked field. I met someone the other day who has written a software tool that can scan an organization’s User interfaces (web apps etc) and generate a score of how well they do for Accessibility. The next thing their tool does is generate a Risk Factor of each failure point on their assessment that it could result in a legal claim against the organization based on the ADA statutes (Accommodations for Disabled Americans). It means that organizations are being sued for their systems not being Accessible enough as defined in the ADA!
Hi Richard, Thanks for your insightful comment about your work experience. Yes, I am with you on having good and tested handicap accessibility components for systems that can mitigate the risk of expensive lawsuits. That is why it is paramount that organizations are reviewing and testing their system to make sure all sections are working properly for all their users.
This is something that, five years ago, I felt like was getting more attention … yet there’s still so much to do and room to grow. Websites I use on a daily basis don’t have things as simple as alt tags for their pictures. I find it interesting that a few years back I noticed that Facebook and Instagram began using some sort of algorithm and possibly AI to analyze a picture and generate a generic description such as “man with brown dog” or “boy standing in front of a house”.