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Accessibility for Academics
At Canisius there are students (and faculty and staff) who use assistive technologies to access the internet, digital documents, and other computer or smart-phone resources. We often hear the assumption that people with impairments or non-typical circumstances find using computers and the internet a special challenge. But experts, such as those at the University of Utah's webaim.org, believe the opposite: computers and the web have the potential, at least, to offer unprecedented access and freedom for more individuals, regardless of physical or neurological circumstances. It is up to all of us to make that happen.
To do that, it's worth learning a little about the assistive technologies now available.
Screen Readers
Screen Readers
Screen readers are a type of software or tools within software that read aloud, through speakers or headphones, the text on a website. They may do additional things, such as attempt to describe graphical content. But these have obvious use for visually impaired individuals.
Dedicated screen reader software (such as JAWS or NVDA) offers a variety of features for users. However, major PC operating systems include simpler screen readers that visually impaired individuals occasionally use for certain tasks, and that can offer all of us a familiarity with how this technology works. Without additional downloads, you can try out a screen reader on your own Windows or Mac computer:
A more sophisticated screen reader is available for free: NVDA. Alongside screen readers available for purchase, it is considered a commonly used full-feature screen reader option.
If you have never tried a screen reader you may find them confusing and daunting. But most computer users forget what it took for them to learn to use a keyboard and mouse. Those who rely on screen readers become quite proficient navigating software and the web.
Microsoft's Magnifier Tools is build into Windows 10 and 11.
Windows also features Narrator a simple but effective screen reader application
Zooming Tools
Zooming Tools
Many visually impaired people have some use of sight but find computer screens to be, out of the box, unhelpful or challenging to use without a zooming application. These simply enlarge parts of the screen, but the offer complex options and optimizations so users can work quickly. While there are robust third-party versions, such as Zoomtext, simpler versions are also available within the big two operating systems for PCs, Windows and Mac:
Alternative Navigation
Alternative Navigation
A broad array of technologies exist to assist those for whom mouse, and even keyboard operation are not practical. These may allow users to navigate via clicks on a button, or use a sensor to follow users' eye movements. Many people cannot use a mouse or touchpad but can use a keyboard, with special software that repurposes some keys and key combinations (shortcuts) for interface navigation. These are built into screen readers, and are equally important alongside reading text aloud. You can try these out with the screen readers linked above.
Screen readers have a robust set of keyboard commands to facilitate mouse-less navigation on computers. A good example of this is NVDA:
A Different Experience
A Different Experience
There are other tools available for those who use computers without the typical input and output devices; so many, in fact, that listing them here is impractical. However, many make use of the same underlying code and software architecture that the above tools use.
Generally, those using assistive technologies may experience what typical users see on screen. While many students use a mouse, its scroll wheel, sidebars, and their vision to quickly scan pages in whatever order their intuition and habits determine, those using screen readers and alternative navigation tools generally move top to bottom, left to right with a series of keyboard inputs. However, they need not move over or hear every word, link, and other feature. Assistive tools assign keyboard keys and combinations for quickly cycling through, for example, headings, web links, paragraphs (at the beginning of each), and so on. So a hypothetical visually-impaired user can quickly find a link on a page where, days before, she first encountered that link, without having to hear each and every word between the top of the page, and the link she needs.
By acknowledging accessibility, we are not creating a separate internet, or another digital world that is unlike that of typical users. Some practices, such as keyboard navigation, are not just a resort for those with impairments. Professionals in many fields use keyboard shortcuts to avoid the time involved in moving their right hand to the mouse to navigate in specialized software essential to their craft. Accountants become proficient at keyboard shortcuts in Excel, while videographers use key commands to work quickly in software such as DaVinci Resolve, or FinalCutPro. So assistive technologies overlap with user practices across the IT landscape.
Those using assistive technologies can be at least as efficient as anyone using typical technologies in navigating computers and the internet. And many with physical impairments or neurodivergent circumstances use computers and the internet to do work on the job or in their courses just like millions of other professionals and students. But we should optimize our content so they can best take advantage of the assistive tools' features. Let's look at that next.
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