Accessibility

Recently Daniel Hubbel from the Windows team met with us to talk about the Ease of Access features in Windows. Last week he invited us over to see the lab where all of these features are tested. The lab, tucked away behind a discreet door in a typical Microsoft hallway, is setup…

Susumu Harada is a Ph.D grad in the Computer Science and Engineering department at University of Washington. He invited me over to see a system he built, which allows someone to paint pictures using a voice-controlled mouse. Though the practical applications of this include other uses, drawing is…

Susumu Harada is a Ph.D grad in the Computer Science and Engineering department at University of Washington. He invited me over to see a system he built, which allows someone to paint pictures using a voice-controlled mouse. Though the practical applications of this include other uses, drawing is…

In this episode of geekSpeak, we explore how to write accessible applications using Microsoft Windows Presentation Foundation (WPF) and Microsoft Silverlight with Robert Altland, a principal consultant with Neudesic. Robert provides a quick review of UI automation, the new accessibility…

Cynthia Shelly has worked with web accessibility both inside Microsoft and with our partners.  She currently works in the Accessible Business Unit; the team who bring you the accessibility center on MSDN, among other things.Cynthia recently joined me in the MIX Online studios to discuss…

From NBC to AOL, Nokia to Move Networks, the broad range of spotlight Silverlight applications attest to how much maturity the platform has gained since being launched last year.Accessibility has been something of a weak spot in Silverlight 1.0; with only very basic support for alt tags and default…

The other day, while helping an agency build accessibility into a Silverlight project, the designer asked where he could see an example of a screen reader in action.  This is a reasonable question, since the vast majority of web developers and designers have never observed someone using a…

Last time I discussed accessibility here, it was to hold out a carrot.  Designing for accessibility makes your site more mashable, skinnable, and maintainable.  But if the carrot isn't enough, the government holds a big stick.The U.S. District Court of Northern California has just ruled…

Dr. Crounse and his guests discuss the surprising incidence of permanent and temporary disabilities and then demonstrate some of the accessibility tools available in Windows Vista. See how the Ease of Access Center can be used to customize a user’s experience to meet their needs and abilities;…