Follow-up: Accessibility in Windows 7

re: Follow-up: Accessibility in Windows 7

graham.lv — Thu, 22 Jan 2009 09:36:38 GMT

I am using Windows 7 beta full time on a cheap overclocked machine I built. Don't really use magnifier but have just tried and I think it is better and is easy to learn. Just made one mistake (on 1st seeing it) in full screen - click to try and get controls - and must have clicked the back button - went away.

Only remember the old one as having a box (window?) at the bottom of the screen.

You have options to invert the colour and use keyboard, etc and to fine tune 'clear type' - for the mag. I guess. Mine's tuned - if I tuned again for the 200% view would it affect me when I returned to normal view?

Only downside I see is there's no 150%. Only goes in 100's.

mmm featured?

tryon — Thu, 22 Jan 2009 09:57:05 GMT

When we try to use the new magnifier with high-contrast (which I don't use as I don't need 133% dpi is fine for me) it goes back to the old screen magnifier which if I read correctly is a "feature" rather than a bug? Doesn't makes much sense to me ... maybe the new magnifier should work even if aero is not the default themed, no ? (I mean if you have the hardware capability why not use them?)

As a part-blind (legally blind) user I thank your team for the high-dpi custom settings although it would be awesome to have it in a per-application basis as legacy program sometimes hate it. (especially if their boxes are positioned using pixels like my old job's support desktop application)

Keep up the good work as it's only a beta and there's still time to improve these features, I hope :)

Something scary (to magnifier) just blew this way

graham.lv — Thu, 22 Jan 2009 11:31:40 GMT

(1)"..Here’s another great idea in this age of high-resolution screens and low-resolution middle-aged eyes: with one click, you can now enlarge the type, everywhere, in all programs, without affecting the rest of the screen picture..".

Where is this? Do they mean the Magnifier? Because it doesn't seem so....

I enlarge (or decrease) type by holding down the [Ctrl] Key and rolling my mouse wheel. Do you think this has killed a little of screen magnifier? Never thought of this till now...

(2)"...Among other changes, the Pictures, Documents and Movies folders have been replaced by something very cool — but very confusing — called Libraries. They’re virtual folders. Click the Pictures library, for example, to see all the pictures on your entire PC or even your network, no matter what folders they’re really in...".

Really? It hasn't put C:\Users\user\Pictures\Congo mercenaries\Congo video folder shortcut there with my Windows Media Player (.flv) files.

(1)(2) Quotes are from the New York Times article: Hate Vista? You May Like the Fix - http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/22/technology/personaltech/22pogue.html?em

Suggestions? Comments?

d_e — Thu, 22 Jan 2009 12:09:22 GMT

Where am I supposed to send my suggestions and comments?

I think it's sad that I can't use the zoom-in-keyboard shortcut on my notebook, because it doesn't have a seperate numpad. And Win+Shift+1 (Shift+1 = "+" on my keyboard) doesn't work.

I submitted one to Microsoft Connect. I was told that MSFT "[...] determined that the behavior or functionality mentioned in your report is normal and working as intended. There might be a Fn key that you may not be using while trying to get the plus sign. Please try.". Well, there is a Fn-key but it doesn't work as shortcut.

My two comments/suggestions:

1. Change the keyboard shortcuts to something that'll work on all computers and notebooks.

2. Magnifier is not only an accessibility tool. It's valuable for presentations as well. Please remember this.

re: Follow-up: Accessibility in Windows 7

Domenico — Thu, 22 Jan 2009 12:29:55 GMT

I love new Magnifer,

is very awesome.

PLS ad possibility to configure shortcurt (mouse or keyboard)

Windows + or Windows -

is not always easy, more keyboard have WIndows key only in left side.

Thx

-Domenico

re: Follow-up: Accessibility in Windows 7

dugbug — Thu, 22 Jan 2009 16:17:02 GMT

Ok Im confused.... why does the high-contrast theme NOT use aero? Wouldn't this just solve everyone's problem?

re: Follow-up: Accessibility in Windows 7

billysielu — Thu, 22 Jan 2009 22:31:17 GMT

My dissertation was entitled AJAX Accessibility. I spent time investigating the range of visual impairments, and was surprised that the vast majority of those termed 'blind' are quite happy with some extra magnification and have no use for screen readers whatsoever.

I'm happy with the work done by Michael, Brett, and the team - and only hope the same considerations can be passed into Internet Explorer, to deal with things such as unexpected changes of focus, or indeed any subtle changes to the Document Object Model.

re: Follow-up: Accessibility in Windows 7

marcinw — Fri, 23 Jan 2009 00:51:01 GMT

beta 1:

1. when you set higher DPI, many Control Panel windows are not scaled

2. Clear Type tuner is more difficult than in XP (4 steps in wizard, not 2 like earlier; no ability of set options manually like earlier)

3. options for setting various visual effects are put in very different screens (for example System\Advanced System Settings\...).

4. I don't see easy/at all ability of enabling contrast font colors in menu with Areo effects (why there is no simple screen with options: enable transparency, enable Alt-Tab switch, etc. ?)...

Generally magnifier is not enough...

re: Follow-up: Accessibility in Windows 7

boen_robot — Fri, 23 Jan 2009 02:05:17 GMT

@graham.lv

Articles like the one you post are one of the few reasons I never trust such articles - I always MUST see and experience the software (regardless of whether it's an OS or something else) before I judge it. In other words - many articles don't really tell you how a certain feature works, leaving you to think that it "just happens".

For the particular things you say:

(1) The CTRL+scroll combo is also available in Vista (for the desktop at least; I assume that's what you were reffering to). I haven't tried Windows 7 yet (downloading it now btw), but either way - when *articles* say "one click", they mean "easy", but not necessarily in *exactly* one click.

(2) You see, THAT is what I mean by they "don't really tell you how a certain feature works". You must explicitly specify the directories which are included in the library, and Windows would then update them in the library view. Think of the libraries as the Windows Media Player library, only this time it's about documents too, and it's exposed by a single API to other programs (including WMP itself).

Also, UAC is not about "warn you about virus and spyware installations". It's about warning you when any program requires higher privilages to do its thing, including privilages that may compromise your system if the program was malicious. Anyone who critisizes UAC doesn't really understand the idea behind it if you ask me. The opinion of any such person (IMHO) should not be trusted, or at least be taken with a grain of salt.

re: Follow-up: Accessibility in Windows 7

martinmine — Fri, 23 Jan 2009 12:07:19 GMT

The Magnifier is justawesome! It is a usefull tool for people that sees badly.

But when you zoom too far, the screen gets pixelized, maby you guys at Microsoft could do something with this?

Martin

re: Follow-up: Accessibility in Windows 7

AssistiveTech — Fri, 23 Jan 2009 17:13:39 GMT

The pixelation is because Windows does not 'smooth' the fonts when magnified. This magnifier is just magnifying the screen, it is not modifying anything -- much like holding a lens to a newspaper. ZoomText does smoothing the best with MAGic a distant second place, but both magnifiers are doing far more in the background than the Windows magnifier is designed to do. They essentially redraw the newspaper before it is seen in the lens.

What I would like is a simple hotkey to enable/disable magnification and the key combo Win+mousewheel or plus/minus to adjust magnification. I hate to suggest it, but look at a modern linux install with compiz in place. No smoothing there either, but you can easily change the magnification on the fly.

re: Follow-up: Accessibility in Windows 7

Domenico — Fri, 23 Jan 2009 23:46:45 GMT

Ot-

@Mr. Steven and Windows Team

http://arstechnica.com/journals/microsoft.ars/2009/01/23/even-the-competition-and-nontech-media-is-praising-windows-7

:D Go Team Go!! :D

re: Follow-up: Accessibility in Windows 7

oggyb — Sun, 25 Jan 2009 17:33:32 GMT

When the option for "invert color" is selected in the new magnifier options, it reverts to the old vista magnifier. How does one get it to go back to the new one?

Can we have more on screen readers Narator NVDA and wich functionality

thoeg — Tue, 17 Feb 2009 08:14:18 GMT

Hi,

there is a brief comment in the original post about the grand given to the community who are developping the open source screen reader for blind users called NVDA non visual desktop access. Microsoft have given money so NVDA can work with the new replacement for MSAA I do not remember the name something like UI Automation. Does this mean that NVDA in some form will be part of Windows 7?

On a previous topic I have posted about the problem or rather inability I as a totally blind user have with a clean installation of Windows 7. Maybe there is a deployment tool or script sollution, if so it would be nice to have a place where blind users can find this information! yes most of us can find some eyes that can help with installation, and it should not be necessary to do that often, except when you are running betas! but with the development by apple of the voiceover screen reader functionality to do all this without sighted assistance this shortcoming gets more and more annoying!

´´