How to set up and use the Accessibility options on your iPad

The INDiana Assistive Technology (INDATA) Project has published another series of videos; this series is about Accessibility on the iPad.

Part 1 of the series teaches you how to turn on VoiceOver and set up other accessibility options.

Part 2 of the series shows you how to work with the Contacts app by using the Dictate option to add the first and last name of the contact.

Part 3 of the series show you how to add a phone number to the contact by turning on Handwriting mode.

I watched all 3 videos this morning – unfortunately, I couldn’t follow along because I don’t have an iPad – yet.

Licensed users of Microsoft Office can get Window- Eyes for free

Thanks to a partnership between Microsoft and GW Micro, licensed users of Microsoft Office (2010 or later) can get a copy of Window-Eyes, a screen reader for Windows PCs,  for free. You can get more information at the Window-Eyes Offer for Users of Microsoft Office web site.

How to use the accessibility features built into Windows 8 (Videos)

I've been doing some research as part of my work with the W3C WAI Mobile Accessibility Task Force, looking for resources on Windows 8 Accessibility, specifically for the Microsoft Surface. I found a collection of videos created by the North Carolina Assistive Technology Program that I thought might be helpful to my readers.

• Ease of Access Center in Windows 8
• Magnifier in Windows 8
• Windows On-Screen Keyboard in Windows 8
• Windows Speech Recognition in Windows 8
• Narrator on a Windows 8 Touch Tablet

These are just a few of the videos created by the North Carolina Assistive Technology Program available on Vimeo - check out the complete list of their videos.

How to find accessible apps in the Windows Store

Did you know that you can set your preferences in the Windows Store so it's easier for you to find apps that are built with accessibility features? Here's how:

On the Start screen, tap or click Store to open the Windows Store.

• If you are using a touchscreen, swipe in from the right edge of the screen, and then tap Settings.
• If you're using a mouse, point to the lower-right corner of the screen, move the mouse pointer up, and then click Settings.
• If you are using a Microsoft Surface and have a keyboard attached, press the Settings charm on the keyboard.

Tap or click Preferences.

Choose the "Make it easier to find apps that include accessibility features" preference to turn it on. By doing this the Windows Store will only show you apps that meet accessibility requirements (determined by the publisher) when you search or browse the Store.

W3C opens registration for Mobile Web Apps course - early bird rate available if you register before December 25, 2013

The W3C Mobile Web 2: Programming Applications online course is back! Now open for registration and to start on 13 January 2014, this course covers all techniques for programming successful mobile Web applications that can ship both online and in application stores. You will have access to high quality content material, be trained by a first-class expert, and learn step by step. Register before 25 December 2013 to benefit from the early bird rate. Learn more about W3DevCampus, the W3C online training for Web developers.

A new tool in my Accessibility Toolbox - The WAVE Toolbar for Firefox

In Part 2 of INDATA's Web Accessibility series, Wade Wingler, Director of Assistive Technology at the INDATA Project, introduces The WAVE Toolbar for Firefox.  The WAVE (web accessibility evaluation tool) Firefox toolbar provides an automated way to run WAVE reports directly within Firefox.

It provides you with information about your web page in four different ways:

• Errors, Features, and Alerts
• Structure/Order View
• Text-only View
• Outline View

Text-only View is especially useful if you want to see what a screen reader would read out loud about your page.

W3C WAI Mobile Accessibility Task Force - Seeking Participation

The W3C Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI) has established a Mobile Accessibility Task Force to develop more specific guidance on mobile accessibility related to WCAG (Web Content Accessibility Guidelines) and UAAG (User Agent Accessibility Guidelines).

The Mobile Accessibility Task Force expects to:

• develop mobile techniques for WCAG using HTML5, ARIA, CSS and JavaScript
• develop design guidance or mobile web accessibility best practices
• review existing resources, including those outside of W3C

The Task Force seeks to bring together individuals and organizations to contribute to this W3C/WAI work.

• Active participation in the Task Force takes about 4 hours per week, including teleconferences.
• Participation is through either the WCAG Working Group or the UAAG Working Group.
• More about participation is at http://www.w3.org/WAI/GL/mobile-a11y-tf/#participation

More at: http://lists.w3.org/Archives/Public/w3c-wai-ig/2013OctDec/0000.html