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.