Feature No Special Equipment Required The accessibility features built into the Windows and Macintosh operating systems make computers accessible for students with special needs. By Walter H. Kimball, Libby G. Cohen, Deb Dimmick, and Rick Mills Subject: Accessibility, special needs Audience: Teachers, teacher educators, technology coordinators, library media specialists, administrators Grade Level: K–12 (Ages 5–18) Standards: NETS•S 1; NETS•T I (http://www.iste.org/standards/) 12 Learning & Leading with Technology Volume 31 Number 4 Copyright © 2003, ISTE (International Society for Technology in Education), 1.800.336.5191 (U.S. & Canada) or 1.541.302.3777 (Int’l), [email protected], www.iste.org. All rights reserved. Feature igh school social studies The proliferation of computers to ensure that your settings change— teacher Cara Elena is teach- and other electronic learning devices just make your choices and accept Hing an interdisciplinary unit has made knowledge and commu- them as needed. on mountains of the world. Students nication accessible to people with a You can also use the Windows and have begun to investigate how local wide range of abilities. But you do Macintosh control panels to change tourism can be balanced with the not always need to install and use specifi c settings. When we describe protection of mountain environments special software programs or purchase the specifi c options, we list the con- and cultures by focusing on the Blue separate equipment to make com- trol panel you need to use. Mountains of Australia. puters accessible. Many accessibility Cara Elena asked student teams features are readily available in the Solutions for Visual Impairments to pretend they are members of the operating systems (see the table For students with visual impairments, World Conservation Union, the on p. 14). A fi rst step we can take choices may include adjusting scroll- world’s largest conservation organiza- is to make ourselves and our students bar and window border size, desktop tion, and to develop a plan that con- aware of the built-in options immedi- icons, contrast, and size and color of siders natural resource conservation ately available on our computers. the mouse cursor and its blink rate. and local community involvement. The small size of characters and icons One student in the class, Zeke, Useful Features and fi ne differences in shades of color has limited vision because of the Both Windows and Macintosh make using the computer diffi cult for effects of juvenile diabetes. He has computers have accessibility options some people. Permitting larger bor- diffi culty seeing text and objects on to help with many different special der sizes, sharper color contrasts, and the computer monitor. Cara Elena, needs. We’ve grouped them to help larger cursor size solves this problem. using the Accessibility Wizard on a you decide which are most important If you choose to change these set- Windows computer, helps Zeke use for your students. (Editor’s note: You tings in Windows XP outside of the the screen magnifi er and adjust the can also fi nd Web sites to help you Accessibility Wizard, you should start size of fonts and objects, screen reso- make your computers accessible un- by opening Accessibility Options in lution, and contrast. Zeke is now able der Resources on p. 15.) the control panel and using the Dis- to contribute to his team as the stu- There are different ways to set play tab. Here you can set contrast dents develop their plans. these options. The Windows Acces- and colors to highlight the screen Eighth grader Tracy is intently sibility Wizard asks questions about display. The high contrast tab enables focused on a problem that she and accessibility needs and confi gures high contrast colors to be used for the other members of her small utilities and settings. Depending on backgrounds and fonts (e.g., black group were trying to solve. Tracy’s the version of Windows, you can font on white background, white teacher, Duane Bunker, e-mailed a select options for persons who are font on black background) to increase word problem to his students: fi nd blind or have diffi culty seeing the readability. Then you can use the Dis- a secret location and the treasure screen, persons who are deaf or have play control panel to change the size hidden there. Each team was asked to diffi culty hearing sounds, and persons of the icons on the desktop, lower the read directions to the location, fi nd it who have diffi culty using a keyboard screen resolution to enlarge all objects on a map, and communicate accurate or mouse. Once you start the Wizard, on the computer screen, and custom- directions to other team members. you must continue to the end for the ize the colors. In Mac OS 7–9, use Tracy has a reading disability. settings to be put in place. When you the Monitors control panel to change She has diffi culty understanding select a category (e.g., visual, audi- the resolution and the Appearance written language. When presented tory), you see the menus that relate control panel to change the color with word problems, she is unable to it. Get to the Accessibility Wizard scheme and type size. OS X users can to read the text to solve the problem. through the Start menu, under All open the Universal Access control Tracy used her Macintosh’s built-in Programs/Accessories. Mac OS X’s panel to make these types of changes. PlainTalk text-to-speech feature to Universal Access control panel (ac- Both Windows and Macintosh read this electronic text aloud so she cessed under System Preferences) computers include utilities that can receive the same information as works in much the same way, but magnify portions of the screen to her fellow students. you do not need to run a full wizard increase their visibility. In Windows, December/January 2003–04 Learning & Leading with Technology 13 Copyright © 2003, ISTE (International Society for Technology in Education), 1.800.336.5191 (U.S. & Canada) or 1.541.302.3777 (Int’l), [email protected], www.iste.org. All rights reserved. Feature use the Magnifi er, under Programs/ fi le saving, fi le printing, and receiving the locking keys—Caps Lock, Num Accessories/Accessibility. It follows mail. Use the Sounds and Audio Lock, or Scroll Lock—are pressed. mouse, keyboard, or text editing in- Devices control panel in Windows. For students with limited vision, the put to display a magnifi ed portion On OS 7–9 Macs, select the Sound indicator lights for these keys are not of the screen. Mac OS X’s Zoom tab in the Appearance control panel adequate signals. Turn on ToggleKeys feature magnifi es the entire screen. to turn on a soundtrack for various in Windows through the Keyboard Access Zoom from the Universal Ac- actions. Use the Universal Access tab in the Accessibility Options con- cess control panel. In Mac OS 7–9, control panel to make the necessary trol panel. We are not aware of a way the CloseView control panel is listed changes in OS X. to do this on a Mac. under the Apple menu. The Close- You can also set the computer View control panel is not automati- to read the text of alert boxes. On Solutions for Hearing Impairments cally included in Mac OS 7–9 system Windows machines, open Narrator, Computers are very visual in their software, but may be downloaded free under Accessories/Accessibility. You basic operation, which produces far from Apple. can then choose the different things fewer limitations for people with A blinking cursor can help people you want Narrator to read. On Macs, hearing impairments, than say, visual who need the fl ashing cursor to bet- use the Speech (OS 7–9) or Univer- or motor impairments. However, ter see it on the screen. In Windows, sal Access (OS X) control panels to sound-based alerts, such as a chime fi nd the slide bar to set the speed turn on Talking Alerts. You can use when you hit a key too many times of the cursor in the Cursor Settings the control panels in both operating for the computer to process, can be screen of the Accessibility Wizard systems to choose different voices and ineffective for students with hearing or choose Mouse in the control panel. change the speed of the voice. In OS impairments. In Mac, fi nd the cursor setting under 7–9, you can also use the PlainTalk If the student has some hearing, the Apple menu in Control Panels, English Text-to-Speech (TTS) feature, you might simply turn the volume General Controls. which uses a digitized voice to read up. In a classroom, however, this For students who rely on sounds to electronic text. option might disrupt the rest of the get information from computers, you Finally, ToggleKeys enables a com- class. In Windows, the SoundSentry can attach sounds to events, such as puter to provide sound cues when allows you to change computer set- Built-In Accessibility Features of Different Operating Systems Feature Mac OS 7–9 Mac OS X Windows 95–2000 Windows XP Disability Helped Accessibility Wizard No No Yes Yes Visual Hearing Mobility Magnifi cation CloseView Zoom Magnifi er Magnifi er Visual Contrast Yes Yes Yes Yes Visual Display Yes Yes Yes Yes Visual Text-to-Speech AppleWorks Universal Access No Yes Visual PlainTalk AppleWorks Learning Disabilities TextEdit Voice (Speech) Recognition No Basic No Basic Mobility Learning Disabilities Visual Alert No Flash Screen SoundSentry SoundSentry Hearing ShowSounds ShowSounds Audio Alert Yes Yes ToggleKeys ToggleKeys Visual StickyKeys Yes Yes Yes Yes Mobility Repeat/Filter Keys Slow Keys Slow Keys FilterKeys FilterKeys Mobility Mouse Clicking Speed Clicking Speed Clicking Speed Clicking Speed Mobility Visual Tracking Visual Tracking Visual Tracking Visual Tracking Visual Blinking Rate Blinking Rate Blinking Rate Blinking Rate MouseKeys Yes Yes Yes Yes Mobility Shortcut Keys Yes Yes Yes Yes Mobility Serial Keys Yes Yes Yes Yes Mobility 14 Learning & Leading with Technology Volume 31 Number 4 Copyright © 2003, ISTE (International Society for Technology in Education), 1.800.336.5191 (U.S.