Accessibility Options

Computer Operating Systems

The operating systems of both Windows-based and Macintosh computers have built-in accessibility features to assist students with visual impairments. We have provided a handout explaining how to adjust the Windows Operating System for Students with Vision Impairments.

Windows

On a Windows-based computer system, the entire display interface is customizable.

• Sizes and colors of window titles, scroll bars, borders, menu text, icons, and other elements can be adjusted. High-contrast schemes and modes make it easier to see screen objects.
• The mouse pointer can be resized to normal, large, or extra-large. Customizing pointer color or adding mouse tails or animation also increases the pointer's visibility.

Microsoft Magnifier is a display utility that makes the screen more readable for some students with low vision. A magnified portion of the screen displays in a separate window. For word processing, this program works much better with Word Pad than it does with Microsoft Word. View an example of Microsoft Magnifier in Windows 98 or ME.

Macintosh

Universal Access Tools are utility programs that come with every copy of Mac OS. They make the computer system more accessible to individuals with disabilities. While the current version of the operating system does not allow the student to increase the size of the menus, scroll bars or mouse pointer, it does provide a magnification program called "CloseView." CloseView magnifies screen contents up to 16 times. We provide information on Installing CloseView.

Internet Browsers

Internet Explorer

Did you know? You can customize the look of Internet Explorer screens in a number of ways including:

• Changing font size, style, and color,
• Reducing screen clutter, and
• Removing backgrounds.

Experiment with several combinations for the best view.

Example: In browser accessibility options, when you select "Ignore Color" this is how the different web pages will look:

From this:	To this:

Opera Browser

Opera also allows customization when viewing web pages:

• A zoom feature enlarges the size of web pages including graphics.
• You can customize browser colors, font and buttons.
• It remembers your settings for any web page visited.
• It includes keyboard commands for ALL browser functions.

Netscape

Netscape allows some customization:

• You can change the color and size of the website's fonts and background.
• You can choose how buttons are displayed.