Microsoft Internet Explorer 3.0 Beta 1 now available (fwd)

[John F. Elmer]

------------------------------------------------------------------------------
John F. Elmer, M.S.S.W., Ph.C.
Shoreline Community College
16101 Greenwood Avenue North
Seattle, WA   98133
206-546-4799/5823/4559


---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: Fri, 31 May 1996 16:38:17 -0500
From: Charles (Chuck) Oppermann <chuckop at MICROSOFT.com>
To: Multiple recipients of list <kiosk-l at trace.wisc.edu>
Subject: Microsoft Internet Explorer 3.0 Beta 1 now available

30 May 1996

Greetings,

Microsoft's Internet Explorer and Windows Accessibility teams have been
working hard to make Internet Explorer 3.0 an accessible World Wide Web
(WWW) browser. Here is your chance to help us make it even better!

You can download Windows 95 and Windows NT versions of Microsoft
Internet Explorer 3.0 Beta 1 from the following FTP locations:

The Windows 95 download URL is:

ftp://ftp.microsoft.com/msdownload/ie3b/msie30b1.exe
(This is a 2,865K self-extracting executable file.)

The Windows NT 4.0 Beta 2 download URL is:

ftp://ftp.microsoft.com/msdownload/ie3b/ntie30b1.exe
(This is a 2,499K self-extracting executable file.)

Please note that the Windows 95 version only works with Windows 95, and
will not work with Windows 3.x.  The Windows NT version only works with
Beta 2 of Windows NT 4.0 and will not work with any earlier version. 
There will be Windows 3.x and Macintosh versions of Microsoft Internet
Explorer 3.0 at a later time.

In order to help us create the highest quality and most accessible
product, we need your specific feedback on the accessibility features
that are implemented and enhancements you would like to be considered. 
To send us feedback on the accessibility features of Microsoft Internet
Explorer 3.0 Beta 1, please email the following address:

abletech at microsoft.com

We are in the process of setting up a public newsgroup for discussions
on the accessibility of the Microsoft Internet Explorer.  When that is
ready, we will post an announcement. 

Please note that all feedback will be considered, however we cannot
promise implementation or a personal reply.  Future versions of
Microsoft Internet Explorer are in the planning stages and your feedback
is important.

ACCESSIBILITY FEATURES OF MICROSOFT INTERNET EXPLORER 3.0

TAB Navigation:  Pressing the TAB key allows keyboard navigators to
quickly jump sequentially through a series of hyperlinks, forms,
client-side image maps, frames, and ActiveX(tm) controls. Pressing
SHIFT+TAB moves the focus in reverse. The order of presentation is
determined by the HTML source. 

Frames:  Move forward through frames via CTRL+TAB and backwards via
SHIFT+CTRL+TAB. The order is determined by the FRAME tags position in
the HTML document. This feature is currently not working in Beta 1.

ALT Text:  The HTML ALT tag allows HTML authors to provide a text
description to act as an alternative to an image. The display of ALT
text has been improved to accommodate large amounts of text and large
text sizes. When a blind or visual impaired person is using a screen
reader, Microsoft Internet Explorer 3.0 repositions ALT text to be
easily read.  Portions of this feature are still being worked on and are
not fully implemented in Beta 1.

Extra-Large Font Size:  The current range of font sizes is inadequate
for users with vision impairments. Microsoft Internet Explorer 3.0
supports an Extra-Large setting. This feature is not yet implemented in
Beta 1.

High Contrast Display:  Microsoft Internet Explorer 3.0 cooperates and
respects a High Contrast setting for low-vision users by turning off the
Internet Toolbar graphic, removing background graphics and other methods
to improve the readability of the page.  This feature is not yet
implemented in Beta 1.

ALT Text in Property Sheets:  If images are displayed, ALT text can
still be viewed. When a user positions the mouse pointer over an image
with an ALT tag, a tooltip window is displayed with the text of the ALT
tag.  Over an image hyperlink with focus, press SHIFT+10 or right click
then select Properties.  Not fully implemented in Beta 1.

For more information on the accessibility features of Microsoft Internet
Explorer 3.0 please browse to the following URL:

http://www.microsoft.com/ie/access/

For more information all the features of the Microsoft Internet Explorer
3.0, please browse to the IE Home Page at the following URL:

http://www.microsoft.com/ie/

Please note that IE Home Page uses frames and is currently inaccessible
via keyboard users without the aid of mouse pointer to give a frame
focus.  This is a known bug and will be resolved for Beta 2 due out
within a few weeks.  In the meantime, we are working on alternatives to
the IE Home Page.

Please visit Microsoft's accessibility WWW site:  

http://www.microsoft.com/windows/enable/

Please email abletech at microsoft.com with your bug reports and
suggestions.

Thank you,

The Internet Explorer team and the Windows Accessibility Group