Microsoft



Windows 7: Accessibility – Usability for People of All Abilities

Commitment to Accessibility

At Microsoft, our mission is to enable people and businesses throughout the world to realize their full potential. We deliver on that mission by engineering solutions for people of all abilities, including those with difficulties and disabilities. Accessibility makes it easier to see, hear, and use a Windows computer and to customize your PC according to your own needs and preferences. For many people, accessibility is what makes computer use possible. Microsoft’s commitment to accessibility empowers governments to make accessible technology choices that enhances their employment of aging workers and people with disabilities and provides citizens with better access to public services.

Windows 7 Accessibility Features

Accessibility is the epitome of usability and was a key tenet throughout the engineering of Windows 7. The accessibility related features of Windows 7 include features that allow users to better see content on the screen, and to input data more easily:

• High Dots Per Inch (“DPI”): Windows 7 improved the overall support for High DPI, which scales the user interface to make text and graphics easier to see while preserving the quality of the users’ viewing experience. The High DPI setting is now a per-user setting, which allows for a PC with multiple users to have a personalized setting – thereby increasing the usability of the system and the productivity of the user.

• Magnifier: Windows 7 Magnifier enlarges portions of the screen. This is especially useful for viewing objects that are difficult to see, but also for seeing the whole screen more easily. Magnifier includes the new capability to magnify the entire desktop, and includes a new lens mode that allows a user to magnify a portion of the screen.

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• Speech Commanding and Dictation: For users who do not utilize the keyboard or mouse or who prefer using speech for dictation, Windows 7 includes a Speech function that enables the user to dictate documents (including e-mail), navigate the Internet, and command applications and the operating system. Windows 7 also adds the capability to dictate into almost any application.

• Narrator: Narrator is a text-to-speech program (or basic screen reader) that is built into Windows 7. Narrator reads on-screen menus to help users control the computer. This basic screen reader may work for the casual computer user. For IT workers, Windows 7 includes the Windows Automation application protocol interfaces (“APIs”), which allows more than 300 specialty assistive technology products, such as commercial screen readers, to interoperate with Windows.

• On-Screen Keyboard: On-Screen Keyboard (“OSK”) has a new look with Aero user interface support, can be resized to make it easier to see and use (including by highlighting or “glowing” certain keys), and includes text prediction in eight languages, which speeds up typing. The new OSK also includes a new scanning feature that allows people who use alternate input devices to click the on-screen keys.

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• Ease of Access Center: Windows 7 provides an innovative centralized location where users can receive quick and easy access to adjust accessibility settings and manage assistive technology programs. The Ease of Access Center within the control panel provides easy access to a variety of settings allowing you to customize the system to the user’s needs, including Mouse Keys, Mouse pointers, Toggle Keys, Stick Keys, Filter Keys, High Contrast, and access to the Narrator screen reader, among other capabilities. [pic]

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• Microsoft is committed to designing Windows with accessibility in mind.

• Windows 7 provides assistive technologies and accessibility features that serve the needs of an ever increasing percentage of Windows users and allows them to reach their full potential.

• Microsoft delivers innovative technologies to industry partners, allowing them to create assistive technology products at a reduced development cost and increase choice for users.

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