Microsoft has announced on the company’s blog that it will be updating features on its upcoming Windows 8 operating system to help people with disabilities more easily navigate their computers.
Narrator, the built-in screen reader component of Windows, will be redesigned to improve its performance, including faster reading and more available languages and voices. It will also be updating Magnifier, the tool designed to make text and graphics large enough for people with low vision to see by improving its display of high contrast colors. Applications will also be available to use magnifier on a touch-screen device.
Discussing the company’s efforts, Microsoft Windows head Steven Sinofsky said, “Windows 8 is a product we design for an incredibly broad spectrum of people around the world. One of the areas where we have worked to deliver an even greater level of innovation is in ensuring that Windows 8, particularly the new Metro style experience, is accessible to everyone regardless of their physical abilities.”
Microsoft competitor Apple has been making headlines over the success of its iPad tablet. Sufferers of conditions like cerebral palsy have been experiencing improvements in their communication abilities using the touch-screen tablets, so much so that classes for disabled users have been popping up around the country.
Cappolino Dodd Krebs, LLP – cerebral palsy lawyers
