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Accessing Computers & the Internet

In virtually every organization computers have become an essential piece of office equipment. There are two kinds of accessibility that need to be taken into consideration. One is the physically accessibility of the device in the workspace, the other the accessibility of the product of the device such as documents, email, and other products.

Access to Office Equipment

Staff members and/or clients may have functional limitations that require modification of office and electronic equipment (including computers) that will enable them to use them. There are ADA standards the cover accessible office equipment. An overview of these is available at The Department of Justice .

• As always, the modification begins with the person. Any standards that apply are just a starting point to address unique individual needs.
• Of course the easiest place to start is when the equipment is purchased. If you are in that position it is possible to buy equipment that has many features that enable accessibility built in. Copy machines, for example, may have displays that may be read by a person seated in a wheelchair and controls that are easy to reach as part of the device.
• This sort of need would also apply to other electronically based devices that might be used in a shelter environments such as washing machines, dryers, electric dishwashers, trash compactors etc. Electronic devices can also have simple modifications made that will enable, for instance, a blind or visually impaired user to feel the number pad on a microwave, or see the a large print keypad on a stove.

With computers the accessibility accommodation can be broken out into three areas:

• accessibility of the environment around the computer
• physical accessibility of the computer itself
• accessibility of the software

The computer or electronic device may be located in a public or private employee area. There are federal standards related to workplace requirements that would be a place to start in planning use, but it is the need of the individual user that must drive the modifications. If there is a chance that a wheelchair user needs access then there will be path of travel considerations as well as designing the height of the table. An individual with a back problem might benefit from having a computer workstation, for instance, that could be adjusted to different heights so that the user could change position from sitting to standing as needed.

Computers and other devices generate heat (which can cause them to fail) and copy machines can generate ozone, a known carcinogen, so there needs to be adequate ventilation. Lighting can make a big difference in usability of equipment such as computer screens. They should be placed so that there is no glare from windows or overhead lights on the screen.

The computer itself may need modifications in order to be accessible.

• These modifications may be things such as getting an alternative ergonomic keyboard or a trackball instead of a mouse. For example, in recent years people have complained of “mouse wrist” a carpel tunnel like condition caused by using a mouse. An alternative to that is the use of a tablet and pen (Wacom tablet) that allows using a stylus to direct the cursor around the screen without putting pressure on the delicate nerve that runs through the wrist.
• For a user who may need screen enlargement in order to see there are a number of options available ranging from acquiring a larger screen 19” to 21” for example to changing the screen resolution (done in the preferences setup screen for the computer) to purchasing software (a common program is Zoomtext) which will allow the user to magnify specific areas of the screen to their comfort level. There are also some other tools emerging from the open source world which may offer other low cost options that might work in some cases. Firefox the free web browser now offers an extension called Imagezoom (under web developer tools on the Firefox page) that will allow the user to zoom in and out on a page from the menu bar. There is also an extension that will allow enlarging the text size from the menu bar.
• Added peripherals can extend the accessibility of a computer tremendously. The addition of a scanner and OCR (optical character recognition) coupled with a screen reading program can enable speech output. The OCR software often comes free with the scanner. The speech output software is often a part of the operating system of the computer. A scanner can also enable the computer to be used as a fax machine with the subscription to the appropriate service (such as Jconnect ).

Software is the heart of the computer. Accessibility starts with the operating system. These days most operating systems include accessibility features right from the start. Both Microsoft and Apple have suites of built-in accessibility features and also may offer add-on software that extends these capabilities.

There is some software that can be problematic for access to some disability needs. Chief among these is Adobe Acrobat. This has become a widely used program for sharing documents and manuals but for blind or visually impaired readers who rely on screen reading programs it may pose a barrier. PDF files are essentially graphic files and as such cannot be “read” with a screen reader. Adobe has attempted to circumvent this issue by providing a free translation service but that requires a number of steps and is sometimes problematic.

Online Conversion Tools for Adobe PDF Documents There are also third party software packages out there that can convert from PDF to word or ASCII (plain text) files but they are costly. If you package your information into PDFs it might be wise to save a plain text file also.

There are probably software programs or hardware/software combinations that can compensate for any functional limitation.

• For instance, for people who need to avoid sitting still too long there are programs that periodically shut off your screen and force you to take a break, Break Software .
• For individuals who have a learning disability there are word prediction programs that try to anticipate what you are trying to type and offer possible options to complete the word by choosing the correct one. One example WordQ combines word prediction with speech input. Dragon Dictate or ViaVoice by IBM exemplifies speech input or Speech recognition. This technology lets you “talk to your computer” and it types what you say. The price has dropped significantly on these types of products and sometimes you can get them bundled with word-processing software (WordPerfect).
• Jaws is software that speaks aloud what is on the computer screen. It is one of the types of software to take into consideration as you design web pages. It allows a blind or visually impaired (or learning disabled user with an auditory learning style) to write, read or surf the web.

In a relatively brief span of time e-mail has become a primary mode of communication in our culture. Its requirements as an accessible communication medium are the same as any computer-based tool.

Issues with email often involve privacy issues. Email is not a secure way of communicating. When sent it can be intercepted. Once created it can continue to exist even when deleted. If it goes through a network there is a good chance that it can get stored when a server is backed up meaning that even if it is erased on the original computer it may continue to exist in a number of places that are not apparent or accessible. It is easy to accidentally send it to the wrong user or multiple users if the send button is hit inadvertently or without thinking.

There are a number of other communication tools that could potentially become more common as the technology develops and the convergence of devices continues. Instant messaging (IM) is one that is becoming ubiquitous, as are blogs (weblogs) and wikis (collaborative peer editing). While they are buzzwords in the mainstream at this time, there is the potential that they will become a widespread common mode of communication (among people under 30 they already are) as devices integrate them more closely. In terms of accessibility all of the recommendations for other electronic based sources such as email apply. Safety concerns are similar to those for email. They have the same persistence of information and life beyond deletion.

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