RE: edit of profiles draft

my comments below [:jma]
Jim Allan
-----Original Message-----
From: w3c-wai-eo-request@w3.org [mailto:w3c-wai-eo-request@w3.org]On Behalf
Of Harvey Bingham
Sent: Wednesday, October 20, 1999 9:32 PM
To: WAI-EO
Subject: Re: edit of profiles draft


*At 1999-10-15 02:08 AM-0400, Judy Brewer wrote:

  Thanks for the comments Jim!


  >=== Rewrite
  >
  >Braille and refreshable braille
  >Braille is a technique involving six or eight dots that are raised in
  >different patterns to represent letters and numbers so that they may be
read
  >by people who are blind using their fingertips. Braille systems vary
greatly
  >around the world. Some "grades" of braille include additional codes
beyond
  >standard alpha-numeric characters, to represent common letter groupings
  >(e.g., "th," "ble" in Grade II American English braille) to make braille
  >more compact. An 8-dot version of braille has been developed to allow all
  >ASCII characters to be represented. Dynamic or refreshable braille
involves
  >the use of a mechanical display where dots can be raised and lowered
  >dynamically to allow any braille symbols to be displayed. Only letters
and
  >numbers can be represented in braille, although some braille printers
have
  >the ability to emboss simple graphics  using the raised dots at a
resolution
  >of approximately 11 dots per inch.
  >Screen magnifiers

For consistency, add colon after magnifiers, or remove from both
subheads below.


  >Software used primarily by individuals with low vision that magnifies a
  >portion of the screen for easier viewing. Note that at the same time
screen
  >magnifiers make presentations larger, they also reduce the area of the
  >document that may be viewed on the monitor. Some screen magnifiers
therefore
  >offer two views of the screen: one magnified and one default size for
  >navigation.

We should add a category on

Font enlargers:
Capability of some browsers to allow the user to enlarge the display font,
and re-wrap lines to fit the display window. In contrast to a screen
magnifier, this re-wrapping usually avoids the need to scroll in the
writing direction, so often proves more effective for low-vision users,
unless the source is in an inaccessible image file format.
[:jma] I have problems with adding this. The major heading for this
materials is "Tools", in the introduction it discusses assistive
technologies specifically. Font enlarging capability is a function of the
browser, not an assistive technology. I see it as equivalent to being able
to use the TAB key to move between links. It helps accessibility but not
specifically an assistive technology. There are many features of browsers
that enhance accessibility-like changing foreground and back ground color. I
think it might confuse people who are unfamiliar with the range of tools
available and miss "capability of some browsers" and start looking for a
"font enlarger" tool.  I think it is useful information and I tell people
about these features all the time. I see two possible solutions
1) add another section  to the entire documents that addresses "Features of
browsers that aid accessibility".  or
2) since Some of this information already exists on EO Browser page
http://www.w3.org/WAI/References/Browsing.html in Section 3: Browsers with
adaptive technology, that this page be update and expanded to include
"Features of browsers that aid accessibility".
  >Screen readers:
  >Software used by individuals who are blind or have learning disabilities
  >that interprets what is displayed on a screen, and directs it either to a
  >speech synthesizer, for audio output, or a refreshable braille display,
for
  >tactile output. Some screen readers use the document tree (i.e., the
parsed
  >document) as their input. However, older screen readers make use of the
  >rendered version of a document, meaning that document order or structure
may
  >be lost (e.g., when tables are used for layout) and their output may be
  >confusing.

Do some of these need to do pattern matching and OCR on the pixel image
read from the actual screen image? Or do they intercept text before it
gets into the screen image generation?
[:jma] screen readers do not use ocr. they receive the text from the
character generator for the platform.
  >
  >Jim Allan, Statewide Technical Support Specialist
  >Texas School for the Blind and Visually Impaired
  >1100 W. 45th St., Austin, Texas 78756
  >voice 512.206.9315    fax: 512.206.9453  http://www.tsbvi.edu/
  >"We shape our tools and thereafter our tools shape us." McLuhan, 1964
  >
  ----------
  Judy Brewer    jbrewer@w3.org    +1.617.258.9741    http://www.w3.org/WAI
  Director, Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI) International Program Office
  World Wide Web Consortium (W3C)
  MIT/LCS Room NE43-355, 545 Technology Square, Cambridge, MA,  02139,  USA

Regards/Harvey Bingham
hbingham@acm.org
+1.781.862.6908