Wednesday, April 04, 2007

IBM develops Accessibility Browser

To further enhance accessibility for people who are visually impaired, IBM will soon release
The Accessibility Browser.

The multimedia browser, also called the “A-Browser,” is set on giving people with visual impairments the same control over their browser’s content as their sighted counterparts, and will do so without interfering with the functionality of talking screen readers. There is a specific concentration on content compatible with the Real player and Windows Media Player.

Information from the BBC news article linked above states:
“By using the A-Browser, the visually-impaired person can control media content by using preset shortcut keys instead of having to seek the control buttons using a mouse. The browser also allows the users to slow down or increase the speed of the video. The volume controls let user adjust the sound of various sources in parallel. Frances West, director of IBM’s Human Ability and Accessibility Centre said.”

“IBM says it should be available later this year and hopes that it will be free.”

The A-Browser’s developer, Dr. Chieko Asakawa,is a blind employee of IBM who designed the browser in response to the growing amount of web content she was unable to access.

Now, if somebody would only do something similar with that darn, embedded Flash content.

No comments: