Microsoft info at CSUN (fwd)

[F. Pennell]

For your information.  Francie Pennell

---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: 11 Apr 96 16:16:25 EDT
From: Jamal Mazrui <74444.1076 at CompuServe.COM>
To: BlindCopyReceiver:  ;
Subject: Microsoft info at CSUN

At the 1996 CSUN conference, Microsoft gave a public overview of
its current accessibility initiatives.  I am posting the handout
distributed there.  The content is preserved, though some
formatting was lost in the conversion from the Microsoft Word
version to ASCII text.

This is clearly summary information lacking the detail of the
live presentation.  Still, it contains significant updates on
issues familiar to people following these developments.
Questions should be directed to enable at microsoft.com .

----------

Microsoft, Windows, Accessibility and You!
MicrosoftAs Pre-Conference Session


Introductions

* Speakers
u Luanne LaLonde
Product Manager
u Charles Oppermann
Program Manager

* Microsoft At CSUN
u David Bolnick, Laura Butler,
Greg Lowney, Gary Moulton,
Jeff Witt, Peter Wong
TodayAs Presentation Roadmap

* Windows 95 Demonstration

* Accessibility to Windows

* MicrosoftAs Accessibility Strategy

* Q&A

* Break

* Future Accessibility Efforts

* ActiveX Accessibility

* Q&A
Windows 95 Demo

* General features

* Accessibility features
Accessibility in Windows NT, Windows 3.1, and MS-DOS

* Accessibility features in Windows NT 4.0
u Currently in beta

* Access Pack for DOS and Windows 3.1
u Available on-line ftp://ftp.microsoft.com
u Can order at (206) 637-7098 (voice)
(206) 635-4948 (TTY)
Dvorak Keyboard

* Single- and two-handed layouts

* Now available for all platforms:
u MS-DOS
u Windows 3.0, Windows 3.1, Windows 3.11
u Windows NT
u Windows 95

* Order froma.
u Request Applications Note GAa.
Microsoft Accessibility Strategy

* Make changes to the operating system

* Enable accessibility vendors to write great third-party aids
u Support accessibility vendors with information
u Evangelize accessibility to mainstream software vendors

* Continually improve the accessibility of MicrosoftAs
applications and services Microsoft Accessibility Strategy

* Educate product groups and recruit owners

* Product groups responsible for testing
u Users with disabilities incorporated into usability testing u
Testing groups adding accessibility software to their labs

* Broadcast information using targeted aliases for accessibility
Microsoft Accessibility Partners

* RFB&D
u Windows 95 docs available now
u Office 95 & Office 4.3 docs available
this spring

* NIS provides customer support

* Trace R&D Center
u Research, support, innovation
Internet

* The Internet is both a great medium and a huge challenge

* Microsoft is totally focused on the Internet

* Current WWW Browsers are not acceptable to the disability
community or
Microsoft
Microsoft Internet Explorer

* Microsoft Internet Explorer 3.0 will include basic
accessibility features
u Keyboard navigation to links and graphics
u Intelligent display of ALT tags
u More flexible display options
u Available mid-1996

* Following version will fully support ActiveX Accessibility
Microsoft Internet Explorer Demo

* Keyboard Navigation of links, graphics and forms

* Images now display tooltips with ALT tags
*Microsoft Office

* Office 95 is difficult to access for some people with
disabilities

* Upcoming version:
u Adding ActiveX Accessibility to some components
u Focus indication on caret enabled

* Continuing improvements with each
new release
Microsoft Access

* Difficult to layout forms and reports without a mouse present

* The Microsoft Access product team has stepped up to improve the
situation u Hired an ISV to evaluate problems

* Leads the company in testing its product with common
accessibility aids Consumer Applications

* Many popular educational titles are moving to Windows 95

* Our Education Group is now incorporating accessibility info in
marketing and evangelizing materials

* Microsoft Works
*Multimedia

* Sound, video, not just CD-ROMs

* Adding Closed Captioning to low-level system components
u Active MovieO includes this feature

* Applications will start to use [CC] in
future releases

* Video Description is also possible
u Text captions could be routed to Braille display
Q & A
Break
10 minutes!
*Software Development Process

* Many products take more than 18 months to develop, with design
work prior to that u Accessibility innovation happens on many
levels in the code
u Current improvements are evolutionary, depending on when
implementation is done
u Goal is for accessibility in all specs

* Localization is integrated, so foreign products benefit at the
same time
*Software Development Process

* Accessibility software development doesnAt fit the norm

* Microsoft wrote the book for programmers
u Microsoft Windows Guidelines for Accessible Software Design

* Accessibility team creates the tools necessary for other
developers u Testing tools
u ActiveX Accessibility makes it easier to verify accessibility
ActiveX Accessibility
Q & A
Thank you for attending
We hope you enjoy the conference!