Access for Everyone
CIO - December 1, 1997 - page 28

Java is already known as the language that can operate on any computer
platform. Now it can be used to build applications for just about any person,
including the blind. Sun Microsystems Inc. unveiled the Java Accessibility
API this summer, and several companies are preparing to take advantage of
some unique Java attributes to improve computer interfaces for the visually
impaired, the dyslexic, and people with other disabilities.  

Java allows developers to provide visually impaired people with detailed
information about what's on a computer screen via assistive technologies such
as screen readers, speech-recognition systems and Braille terminals, says
Rich Schwerdtfeger, lead architect in IBM Corp.'s special needs systems
division in Austin, TX. For example, when working in a word processing
application, blind users need to hear which fonts, type sizes, margins, and
the like appear on their screens. Using assistive technologies, Java lets
developers present more of that information than other platforms do. "Blind
people are going to have better access to computer applications than they've
ever had before," Schwerdtfeger says.  

In addition, the protocol "was designed to allow people with disabilities
greater access to the world of Web technology - both at home and in the
workplace," says Jon Kannegaard, vice president of software products at
JavaSoft, a Sun division in Palo Alto, CA. Future versions of Netscape
Navigator will have the Java Accessibility API built into them, opening a new
window into the Web for the blind.  

Finally, IBM is tailoring assistive technology based on the API for
dyslexics: It is planning to develop an application that improves reading
comprehension by highlighting words while a computer reads them aloud. 

