Accessibility at NSW CLIC

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NVDA 2011.2 released
DDReader updated for Firefox 5
NoteTab offers valuable maths facilities
OneNote as a study aid
W3C releases sufficient techniques for creating accessible PDF files
New versions of two screen readers
Portable OCR update
Dragon Dictate for iPhone
TextAloud version 3
NVDA 2010.2 released
Useful article on iPad
Portable OCR options
Dragon Dictate for Mac
Phone for vision and hearing impaired
Blio eReader
Windows keyboard commands
Adobe Connect accessibility
Google announces automatic captioning
iPhone Gets Screen Reader
PictureBraille Version 1.2.1
Victor Reader Stream V3
DAISY Creation and Reading Tools
Amazon Kindle 2 with Speech
MacSpeech Dictate Update
Total Recorder V7.1
Web Content Accessibility Guidelines Version 2
DeafBlind Communicator
Premier CD Creater

Version 2011.2 of the free NVDA screen reader released

(15 August 2011)

The latest version of this impressive, free screen reader for Windows was announced on 5 August. Significant improvements include:

• major improvements in announcement of punctuation and symbols, including configurable levels, custom labelling and character descriptions
• No pauses at the end of lines during say all (that is, when reading continuously)
• Improved support for ARIA in Internet Explorer
• Better support for XFA/LiveCycle PDF documents in Adobe Reader (PDF support is already about the best in the business)
• Access to text written to the screen in more applications

The speech provided with NVDA may be described as rudimentary. While highly configurable and provided in a number of languages, it is not very pleasant on the ear. As an aside, lowering the pitch does make it more acceptable to this scribe. The people at NV Access (the makers of NVDA) are asking for expressions of interest in purchasing Eloquence speech for use with NVDA. Cost would presumably depend on how many people are interested.

for more information and to download NVDA, see www.nvda-project.org.

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DDReader available for Firefox 5

(13 July 2011)

In March 2009, we reported on some free DAISY creation and reading tools. A favourite software DAISY reader now, as then, is DDReader. It is developed by Dorina Nowill Foundation for the Blind in Brazil, is free and has many valuable facilities. DDReader is a Firefox extension and it has just been updated to be compatible with the current version of Firefox, version 5.

DDReader offers a host of features for reading DAISY books (it only reads DAISY 3, not 2.02). It is suitable for both people using screen readers and those who need to augment visual display with synthetic speech. A feature added since the earlier summary is of particular relevance to people reading study material. Comments the reader adds to bookmarks can now be exported to a text file.

DDReader is available from the Dorina Nowill Foundation website.

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NoteTab offers valuable maths facilities

(6 July 2011)

We reviewed NoteTab in October 2007. There have been some small but useful updates to this highly versatile text editor since, but nothing dramatic.

A facility which was not discussed in the 2007 review is NoteTab’s calculator. That was a serious omission, which is now being rectified. As well as basic arithmetic, comprehensive trignometric calculations can be performed. Because calculations are performed within a file opened in NoteTab rather than with a hardware or software calculator with buttons, the user has to be familiar with the notation used. For example:
cos(1)=
With the cursor placed to the right of the equals sign, pressing ctrl-e or selecting “calculate expression” from the Tools Menu inserts the answer: 0.54030231. A problem can also be set out as shown in the following simple example:
5
10
15
Selecting the three lines containing those numbers and pressing ctrl-e will display 30 in a small window. Having dismissed the window, the answer can be pasted into the file with ctrl-v.

A benefit of this calculator is that all the working can be retained in the file for later reference or for inspection by a teacher. For people using adaptive technology, including screen readers, this is also a very inexpensive solution for gaining access to a sophisticated calculator (the feature is available in the Light (free) version of NoteTab. The calculator is well documented in NoteTab Help.

One area not provided for in the NoteTab calculator is statistical operations. This inspired me to write a Autohotkey script to provide some descriptive statistics. The script can be used to process a column of numbers in NoteTab or another text editor (not a word processor). It can calculate such values as mean, median, standard deviation, mode and minimum and maximum values. For further information about the script, please feel free to email me.

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Microsoft OneNote as a study aid

(3 May 2011)

Karen McCall is a highly skilled computer accessibility trainer and advocate. From her home in Ontario, Canada she runs her company, Karlen Communications.

In January, Karen presented a webinar through EASI (Equal Access to Software and Information) on Microsoft OneNote. She discussed its potential as a study tool for people who have a variety of disabilities. In particular, it can be an effective tool for organising material. One interesting option is available if one has access to a tablet computer. Handwritten notes can be made and saved in OneNote.

During the webinar, Karen mentioned some free resources on keyboard access to OneNote she was developing. That material is now available from her website for both OneNote 2007 and OneNote 2010. Structured PDFs are available from Microsoft Office 2007 Accessibility and Microsoft Office 2010 Accessibility respectively.

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World Wide Web Consortium releases sufficient techniques for creating accessible PDF files

(29 April 2011)

In late March, the W3C released very comprehensive material on how to ensure that a PDF file complies with version 2 of the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines. Discussion covers not only structure of the PDF file, but also how to prepare source material in Microsoft Word, Open Office and others prior to exporting to PDF.

It is currently Australian Government policy that material provided in PDF format should also be available in another format to ensure accessibility. It will be interesting to see whether this policy is adjusted following release of these techniques. In any event, it is important that material that is offered in PDF format is fully accessible. This will invariably involve correctly structuring source documents prior to conversion. If this part of the process is done well, little or no remediation of the resulting PDF file will be necessary. More about this in an upcoming post.

The W3C PDF sufficient techniques are available from http://www.w3.org/WAI/GL/WCAG20-TECHS/pdf.html. Note that a considerable amount of reading and digestion will be involved.

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New versions of two screen readers announced

(17 March 2011)

NVDA 2011.1

NV Access announced the latest version of the free and very effective NVDA screen reader for Windows yesterday. Changes are very much evolutionary rather than revolutionary. Highlights include:

• automatic reporting of new text output in mIRC, PuTTY, Tera Term and SecureCRT
• support for global plugins
• announcement of bullets and numbering in Microsoft Word
• Improved support for electronic Braille displays

NVDA is available from the NVDA website.

Window-Eyes version 7.5

GW Micro announced the latest version of their Window-Eyes screen reader today. A major change involves a completely revised approach to users interacting with the Window-Eyes control panel. This makes both locating and adjusting individual settings much more intuitive. Support for Internet Explorer 9 has been added and support for Microsoft Office products has been further improved.

A new feature is Remote Assistance. This allows two computers running Window-Eyes to be connected via GW Micro’s server so that one person can provide assistance to the other. There is no charge for this facility.

One issue not addressed in this release is access to the internet. While web access through Window-Eyes is quite good, it has fallen behind other screen readers in some areas. This issue is scheduled to be addressed in the next release.

More information about Window-Eyes is available from the GW Micro website or from Humanware, the local distributor, on (02) 9686-2600.

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Portable OCR options update

(24 February 2011)

In October 2010 we briefly discussed some portable tools for providing access to hardcopy material by people who have visual reading difficulties. As promised then, reviews of the Eye-Pal and OpenBook with Pearl are now available. On a separate page, available from links on both review pages, is a comparison of these similar products.

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Dragon Dictate for iPhone, iPod and iPad

(22 February 2011)

While available in the USA for some time, Dragon Dictate for the iPhone and its colleagues was only made available for Australian users late last year. It is, at least for now, available free from the iTunes Store.

To date, our experience has been very limited on a borrowed iPad and an iPhone. Based on that experience, however, usage will increase markedly over coming months. Especially as this scribe has not used speech input software previously, recognition was remarkably accurate. Errors were few and some could be readily attributed to imprecise speech.

The interface on the iPad is more comprehensive than that on the iPhone. On either device, material can be appended to a passage after pausing to gather ones thoughts. But whereas multiple passages can be retained on the iPad, all material is removed when exiting the app on the iPhone.

On the iPad, material appears as text on the screen As it is dictated. On the iPhone, however, it only appears after pausing. On either device, the text can be edited. It can then be copied to another app, sent as an SMS or email or posted to various social networking sites.

It is important to be aware that Dragon can only be used if there is access to the internet. This can either be by via a wi-fi network or the cellular network. Some thought may have to be given to cost if extensive use over the cellular network is contemplated.

On first impressions, Dragon Dictate seems to be a very effective tool for creating text, including composing emails. It is especially relevant to those whose physical limitations preclude or severely limit keyboard access or who have difficulty reading visually for any reason.

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TextAloud version 3 released

(26 November 2010)

TextAloud is one of our favourite inexpensive multimodal tools. It is Windows-based software that provides both visual and auditory access to text. It can be used interactively, with text on the screen being spoken by synthetic speech. It can also be used to convert text into audio files as high speed.

Starting at $30US, TextAloud has always represented excellent value. Version 3 brings a raft of improvements in areas of the interface, visual display and control of synthetic speech. There are far too many improvements to list them all. Some notable features include:

• Several refinements to recording of audio files, including several options for producing multiple audio files from one text file
• Provision of spell checking
• Revised pronunciation dictionary, with the option of adjusting speech for just one or all installed voices
• Improved visual highlighting and scrolling of text, making it a more effective tool for combining visual and auditory reading

For more details, see www.nextup.com. While the $30 price tag (unchanged for many years) includes only the quite rudimentary Microsoft speech, a wide variety of high-quality voices is available for not a great deal of extra cost.

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NVDA screen reader 2010.2 released

(17 November 2010)

The latest version of the free NVDA screen reader for Windows was released last month. This already very effective software now has even more power. The following is a brief summary of only some of the new features:

• Navigating through objects with the review cursor has been greatly simplified
• In applications using the Java Access Bridge (including OpenOffice.org), formatting can now be reported in text controls
• When moving the mouse over cells in Microsoft Excel, NVDA will appropriately announce them
• When selecting an entire row or column in Microsoft Excel with the shortcut keys shift+space and control+space, the new selection is now reported
• A virtualBuffer can now be used to navigate adobe Flash content. Object navigation and interacting with the controls directly (by turning on focus mode) is still supported
• Support for IBM Lotus Symphony documents
• Table row and column headers can now be reported in current versions of Mozilla products
• Support for Mozilla Firefox 4, Microsoft Internet Explorer 9 and Early experimental support for Google Chrome

See the NVDA website for more details and to download the software. The option to download the installed or portable versions remains. The latter can be run from a thumb drive, even if the user does not have administrative rights to the computer.

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New York Times Article on iPad for use by people with disabilities

(3 November 2010)

For an inspiring article on the potential of the iPad for people who have severe disabilities, see the recent New York Times article. While outlining its benefit to the featured seven-year-old, the article goes on to present potential benefits and disadvantages to people with a range of disabilities.

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Portable optical character recognition options

(28 October 2010)

Starting with the knfbReader Mobile, reviewed in April 2008, there are now several portable options for converting print on paper into an electronic form. We had planned to have provided reviews of a couple of these products by now, but circumstances have prevailed against that hope. This item is therefore an interim measure.

Intel Reader

This is a hand held, battery powered, device with an optional (very bulky) stand. After a page (or multiple pages) of material is photographed, optical character recognition (OCR) is performed. Information is then available both via a small screen and synthetic speech.

Some months ago we evaluated the Intel Reader. While seeking feedback from the manufacturer on two issues, very slow processing time and variability of accuracy, it was announced that the Intel Reader would not be available in Australia at present.

Eye-Pal and Pearl

We recently conducted a comprehensive evaluation of the Eye-Pal from ABiSee and were about to place the review on the blog when Freedom Scientificreleased its Pearl. The products are very similar in some respects and it seemed sensible to experience the Pearl before reporting on the Eye-Pal. We currently have a Pearl so, subject to other pressures, hope to have formal evaluations of both products available either later this year or early next.

The hardware of both the Eye-Pal and Pearl consists of a camera mounted on a folding stand. They both connect to a Windows-based computer via a USB port and take their power from the computer. Either product, together with notebook computer, easily fits into a small backpack, brief case etc very easily.

While the Eye-Pal uses software specifically written for it, the Pearl utilises Freedom’s OpenBook software. Very briefly, the Eye-Pal software is very intuitive to learn but lacks some of OpenBook’s sophisticated options. On the other hand, trying to use OpenBook without extensive reading of the (very thorough) documentation is not advisable.

To date, the Pearl has not been as extensively assessed as the Eye-Pal. We can report, though, that both offer a high level of accuracy, with the Eye-Pal perhaps having the edge. Processing speed is also impressive, again with the Eye-Pal perhaps more likely to get the job done first.

The major difference is in the area of cost. In this case, the Pearl is the clear winner. Whereas the Eye-Pal costs approximately $3,500, the Pearl with OpenBook is closer to $2,000.

Both products are available through Quantum Technology, phone (02) 9479-3100.

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Dragon Dictate for Macintosh

(23 September 2010)

In February of this year, Nuance acquired Macspeech, which produced Macspeech Dictate for the Mac. Kevin O’Gorman reviewed Macspeech Dictate in August 2008 and gave an update on this page in February 2009. An updated version of the software has just been released, now rebadged as Dragon Dictate. New features include screen navigation and text to speech capability. Cost is $249.95, including a USB microphone. We hope to report on performance shortly.

On a related note, Dragon Dictation has been released as a free application for the iPhone. Unfortunately, it is not available in Australia at this stage and we do not know if/when it will be. We will, however, report as news comes to hand.

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Uniden SSE25 phone for people with vision or hearing impairment

(19 May 2010)

Uniden Australia has recently released a phone with features that are especially relevant to people who have vision and/or hearing impairment. The model is SSE25, consisting of a phone on the base and one or more cordless handsets. An answering machine is built into the base.

As well as the usual raft of features provided on today’s cordless phones, the SSE25 includes some that are specifically relevant to people who have visual reading difficulties and/or have a hearing loss. These include:

• Visual incoming call notification
• T-Coil for hearing aid compatibility
• An audio boost control (also relevant for noisy areas)
• Text to speech for announcing incoming caller identification (if enabled for the particular subscriber), number being dialed and on-board phonebook entries

Recommended retail for the phone is $99. For more details, see the description on the Uniden Australia website. This link will take you directly to the relevant place on the site, which is important for screen reader users as the site is largely inaccessible. An unstructured but reasonably usable PDF manual can also be downloaded from this page.

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K-NFB Blio eReader coming soon

(7 April 2010)

K-NFB is a company formed through collaboration between Ray Kurzweil and National Federation of the Blind. For more on Ray Kurzweil’s work in the field of optical character recognition (OCR), see our 2008 review of the knfbReader. Whereas that product is specifically intended as a tool for accessing print by people with vision and/or reading problems, Blio is aimed at the general readership. Nevertheless, it also has huge potential for those who have special needs.

Soon to be released, Blio is free software that provides access to ebooks. It will be available for the following computer platforms:

• Windows
• Macintosh
• Linux

and the following mobile phone platforms:

• Android
• Symbian
• Windows Mobile
• iPhone

The eBook formats that will be supported are:

• XPS
• PDF
• ePub

The company claims that Blio provides a very book-like reading experience, including original layout, including images, and full colour. Text can be resized and augmented with human or synthetic speech. Words can also be highlighted as they are read. It will also be possible to annotate books – the eBook equivalent of writing in the margins.

More information is available from the Blio website. As is made clear on the site, Blio is not entirely a philanthropic gesture. Once the software is available, people will be able to purchase books from the Blio bookstore. K-NFB is also looking to establish partnerships with publishers, no doubt with a view to both making material readily available and to generate income.

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Some MS-Windows and word processing keyboard commands

(15 March 2010)

Longlong ago, when computers were much younger, we humans interacted with them via a keyboard. As GUI (graphical user interface) systems have evolved, there has been widespread use of the mouse as a navigational tool. For many people, this has simplified or even made possible access to computers and all they have to offer. For some, however, the keyboard is preferable to the mouse.

For proficient keyboard users, many tasks can be performed more efficiently with it than with a mouse. This is especially true for some, but by no means all, people who have disabilities.

Part of being a proficient keyboard user is the accurate and reasonably rapid entry of text. Another facet is knowledge of relevant keyboard commands. We have compiled a list of the more commonly used commands for the Windows operating system and for word processing. The list for word processing is by no means comprehensive. This is partly because it would be huge and partly because those commands that have been included are largely consistent between different word processing programs.

The shortcut_keys.pdf file (less than 20kb) may be downloaded and used as a reference. An effective method of downloading it is to right click the link and choose Save As. It is bookmarked to aid navigation and is fully screen reader accessible.

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How accessible is Adobe Connect?

(30 November 2009)

Adobe Connect is a conference tool. It allows participants, each with access to a computer connected to the internet and optionally equipped with a microphone, to collaborate. The collaboration can include file sharing, access to the desktop of other participants’ computer desktops, video and voice communication.

In January 2009 CLI staff tested Connect to determine whether it could be used with screen readers. For all practical purposes, it could not. It was not even possible to turn the microphone on and off without sighted assistance.

Adobe subsequently provided a file which catelogued a raft of accessibility improvements. While providing facilities for keyboard users and those who are deaf or hearing impaired, it was acknowledged that screen reader access had not improved.

With the recent release of Connect Version 7.5, it was decided to test again. On this occasion, turning the microphone on and off and activating menus could be done independently by a screen reader user familiar with the relevant keyboard commands. In all other respects, however, Adobe Connect is essentially inaccessible to screen reader users.

This type of collaborative tool, relying as it does on visual content, will necessarily present challenges to people who have visual reading difficulties. For screen reader users within NSW DET, the freely available BridgIt software, while not as sophisticated, currently represents a substantially more accessible option than Connect. All buttons are fully accessible and it is therefore possible to verify independently microphone status. Configuration is also straight forward. Another benefit of Bridgit is that establishing a conference for any two or more people with access to the DET network is achieved quickly and easily.

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Google announces automatic captioning for YouTube

(20 November 2009)

Google has just announced a facility whereby people uploading videos to YouTube can have audio automatically captioned. While the technology is not perfect, they claim that it works quite well. Presumably the quality of the original audio would impact on success rate.

For more details, see the Google blog page.

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iPhone Gets Screen Reader

(12 June 2009)

The latest version of Apple”s iPhone, the 3GS, was released this week. The phone joins all Macintosh computers in having the built-in VoiceOver screen reader. Unlike the Mac, the iPhone does not have a “real” keyboard. To operate VoiceOver, the user applies “gestures” to the touch screen. These consist of movements such as twisting two fingers or flicking a finger. We eagily await the opportunity to experience this new approach to commanding a device.

As well as offering synthetic speech in 21 languages, the iPhone can accept spoken instructions to select music or make a call. Again, it recognises 21 languages.

The new iPhone should be available in Australia by about the end of June. For much more detail about its accessibility features, see the Apple Accessibility page.

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PictureBraille Version 1.2.1 Released

(30 April 2009)

Pentronics released this update last month. This version incorporates some enhancements to the graphing and plotting functions as well as the addition of triangle and trapezoid creation tools that allow accurate determination of side lengths and angles.

PictureBraille can now be purchased directly from the Pentronics website using secure credit card payment. This version builds on V1.2.0, released in the second half of 2008. A full review was written in February 2007.

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Victor Reader Stream Version 3 Released

(16 April 2009)

In late March, Humanware released Version 3 of the Stream software. This versatile product was reviewed in October 2007. At that time, we criticised the lack of a text search facility and inability to check spelling of words in DAISY books. The spell checking issue was addressed in an intervening upgrade. This release includes a text search feature, cleverly implemented by using the number keys for entering text in the same fashion as on a mobile phone keypad.

There is a raft of other minor improvements and “bug fixes”. One new feature is that two voices of the chosen language are installed. The Vocaliser synthesizer’s speech is reasonably clear, but not especially pleasant. Switching between voices at least offers some variation in the sound.

The free Companion software has also been revised. The one program now supports both the Stream and Classmate, reviewed in June 2008. It can be used to transfer material between a computer and the Stream, but more confident users can also use Windows Explorer to achieve this. One important provision in the Companion software is the ability to convert audio material recorded on the Stream from the unusual 3gp format into wav files.

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Free DAISY Creation and Reading Tools

(31 March 2009)

The following is only a very brief summary of some exciting developments. More detailed reviews of these options will be provided as soon as possible.

DAISY Plugin for Microsoft Word

Version 2 of this plugin was released last week. It can be used with Word XP, Word 2003 and Word 2007.

Once installed, the plugin will convert a correctly structured Microsoft Word document into either an XML file for further refinement or a complete DAISY book. The default speech on the host computer will be used to produce the audio. This release markedly reduces the complexity of producing DAISY material compared to the DAISY Pipeline, which requires considerable knowledge on the part of the user.

The plugin can be downloaded from http://www.daisy.org/projects/save-as-daisy-microsoft/

Obi 1.0

On 27 March, the DAISY Consortium announced this Obi release. It is a free audio recording tool for creating material complying with the DAISY 3 standard. Unlike the Microsoft Plugin discussed above, Obi provides for human recorded audio. We have not assessed the software as yet, but very much look forward to doing so.

Obi can be downloaded from the Obi website, together with documentation.

AMIS

AMIS (Adaptive Multimedia
Information System) is a free DAISY player. It provides access to several DAISY book versions, including text-only. One of the major efforts with the development of AMIS has been to make it available in a wide variety of languages (we can only attest to the effectiveness of the English implementation). Its self-voicing and flexible visual display caters for people who have print disabilities, while screen reader users can turn off the speech if desired.

AMIS can be downloaded from http://daisy.org/projects/amis/

Buttercup

This software, developed by Microsoft, is in the early stages of development. It uses Microsoft’s Silverlight in conjunction with Internet Explorer or other web browsers to read DAISY Version 3 material. It is currently necessary to compress the DAISY files using Zip -compatible software before Buttercup can read them.

Bearing in mind that Buttercup is still being developed, it shows much promise. Speech was occasionally “fluttery” on the test machine, but it may well become a valuable resource.

To try the Buttercup demo, go to http://www.buttercupreader.net. Be sure to read instructions carefully to have Buttercup self-voice. A link is also available to install Silverlight.

DDReader

DDReader is a Firefox extension developed by Dorina Nowill Foundation for the Blind in Brazil. It is available in English, Portuguese and Spanish. Any speech on the host computer that matches the selected language can be used.

Currently only DAISY V3 books can be read. Comprehensive help and a tutorial are provided. This is an innovative approach to providing access to DAISY material for both people who have a print disability and those who have limited or no vision. Facilities are extensive and, with limited experience, DDReader is easy to use.

DDReader is available for download from the Dorina Nowill Foundation website.

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Amazon Kindle 2 Offers Speech Output

(12 February 2009)

Background

Kindle is an electronic book reading device sold by Amazon. Unlike current computers and mobile phones, that use LCD (liquid crystal display) screens, it uses an E-Ink® display. Whereas usual screens can be updated (or refreshed) dynamically, the screen on the Kindle and similar products is passive. This approach is highly suitable for displaying material a page at a time. A major benefit is that it closely mimics the appearance of a hardcopy book, without the glare and other drawbacks of reading from a screen.

In the USA, Kindle is supported by a 3G wireless network. Once books are paid for, users can freely download them to their Kindles via this network. Our limited investigations indicate that Kindles are not available in Australia at this time and Amazon’s wireless network certainly is not. Even without the network, material can be transferred to the Kindle from a computer via USB port.

Kindle 2

Amazon has just announced that Kindle 2 will be released on 24 February. It includes the ability to augment the visual display with synthetic speech output. Text size can also be adjusted. This is potentially a major development for people who have reading difficulties for any of a variety of reasons.

Full details are available at the Amazon Kindle page.

A worrying sequel to the above positive news is the report from Lioncourt that the Author’s Guild sees speech output on the Kindle as raising copyright issues. The article suggests that access to material by people with vision impairment is threatened.

The Author’s Guild has responded by claiming that the Kindle is not intended for use by blind people. Leaving aside the fact that this seems to be a mainstream product with relevance to people with vision impairment, they make no mention of the possible impact of their approach to this technology on people who have reading difficulties for reasons other than vision loss.

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MacSpeech Dictate Update

(6 February 2009 by Kevin O’Gorman)

MacSpeech Dictate is speech recognition software for the Macintosh. It was reviewed in August 2008. In September of that year, a major update was released.

Version 1.2 provides a “move” command for easier verbal editing of a document, a spelling mode for letter-by-letter dictation of unusual words and phrase training capabilities that help the user increase accuracy on the fly. As well as these new features, some existing commands have been replaced with easier to use expressions. For example, “Do select” has been replaced with “Select the word”. Speech capture accuracy has also been enhanced with this release. A welcome addition has been the “Purge memory” command, which solves an issue with Dictate getting out of sync with the text when the mouse or keyboard is used. However, once invoked it is no longer possible to edit existing text.

The 1.2 release was not without problems. After installing the update I lost access to Global commands for controlling other applications on the computer. Applying the suggested fixes from the MacSpeech support team failed to solve the problem. After a considerable length of time I discovered through the MacSpeech support forums that the international settings on my Macintosh computer were affecting how the program works. My computer is normally set up with the international settings for Australia. However, being English born I use a British profile in MacSpeech. Using the Australian settings did not affect dictation but prevented my readily accessing other applications using voice commands. Changing the international settings to the default US or to UK settings fixed the issue, but left me with the problem of having to change these settings back to original locality each time – A tedious inconvenience.

MacSpeech recently released a 1.2 .1 update that has addressed this issue. It is now possible to access all global application commands while retaining preferred localisation settings.

Having resolved the above issues, the new features and the perceptible improvement in speech recognition accuracy makes MacSpeech Dictate a more powerful piece of software.

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Total Recorder Version 7.1

Total Recorder is audio recording software for Windows. Version 7 was reviewed in September 2008. Version 7.1, which is a free upgrade for existing customers, was released shortly afterwards. Features described below are available on the Professional Edition.

A number of minor improvements have been made, including availability of a Favourites menu. For people who use large amounts of audio material, the inclusion of a variable playback speed option is a potentially valuable facility. Speed can be set between 0.35 and 3 times normal for audio files. With the optional Video add-on, speed can range between 0.01 and 300 times normal. The default setting is for normal pitch of audio material to be preserved.

Several speed settings are provided. The user can edit these and add new values. By default, if a speed other than normal is selected, playback reverts to normal each time the Stop button is pressed. If the feature is to be used regularly, it would be more convenient to adjust playback settings so that repeated presses of the Play button toggles between normal and the selected alternate speed.

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Web Content Accessibility Guidelines Version 2 Released

(12 December 2008)

After what must be the longest gestation period in history, the W3C (World Wide Web Consortium) has released Version 2 of the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines. Version 1 of the Guidelines was released in 1999 and has long since been overtaken by technological developments. There is an important shift in focus between the two versions. Whereas Version 1 concentrated on HTML code, Version 2 aims to be technology neutral. While this makes the documentation vastly more bulky and initially more confusing, the Guidelines are relevant to the wide variety of approaches employed on today’s websites.

The documentation is divided into several segments, assisting people with particular interests or concerns to locate relevant information:

• For practical, technical information see Techniques for WCAG 2.0 which cover 260 techniques including
  • 140 general techniques;
  • 57 Html and xhtml techniques;
  • 22 CSS techniques;
  • 44 Scripting techniques;
  • 20 SMIL techniques;
  • ARIA (accessible rich internet applications) techniques

  these are designed to be “agnostic”, incorporating techniques for any possible future formats including webpages, mobile devices etc.

• Understanding WCAG 2.0 will be a helpful starting point for many people
• How to Meet WCAG 2.0 provides many of the practical tips for WCAG2 and it may provide sufficient information for most developers

A helpful resource for those wanting to test a specific site is How to Meet WCAG 2.0, which offers a customisable quick reference to WCAG2.0 requirements (success criteria) and techniques.

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DeafBlind Communicator Released

(5 December 2008)

The Canadian headquarters of Humanware announced this week the release of the DBC (DeafBlind Communicator). Hardware consists of a BrailleNote with either QWERTY or Braille keyboard and a mobile phone. The BrailleNote has software that allows it to serve as a TTY when connected to a standard telephone line. Face to face communication is facilitated via a bluetooth connection between the BrailleNote and phone. That is, text written on the BrailleNote appears on the display of the phone and vice versa.

There is also potential for the phone to serve as a connection to the internet. Contents of web pages would then appear on the BrailleNote’s electronic Braille display.

Importantly, the DBC is not yet available in Australia. Current estimates suggest that it may be here by late 2009.

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Premier CD Creater – Very Accessible

(1 July 2008)

This software is not new, but we have only just had the opportunity to review it and it thoroughly deserves a mention. It consists of a suite of utilities:

• Audio Grabber (copies tracks from an audio CD)
• Make An Audio CD
• Make A Data CD
• Make A Data DVD

The software is produced by the Canadian company, Premier Assistive. They claim that this is the world’s most accessible CD burning software. In particular, they assert that there is no need to tailor screen readers to get the most from the software. We can verify that claim. The purpose of most features and settings is immediately obvious and helpful backup information is available in the documentation. While screen reader access is a strong point, this software is very easy for any user to operate. One observer commented that all software should be this clean.

Many of Premier Assistive’s products are intended for people who have reading or literacy-based disabilities. This may account for a few “rough edges” in the form of completely forgivable typographical errors in the software. The help file is in Microsoft Word format, when a well structured HTML file or formal help file format could offer somewhat improved information retrieval. Discovering how to purchase via the website is also a little tedious – it was much easier to download a demonstration version. On the other hand, the purchase process is punctuated by helpful and friendly emails.

The Audio Grabber component is a little disappointing. It attempts to retrieve information about the CD such as artist, track titles etc from an internet site. More often than not, the information it presents is incorrect.

At approximately $60US, this software is much less expensive than mainstream competitors. For anyone who wants simple and effective CD burning software, it therefore represents very good value.

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