Issue 25

Equal opportunities engagement: Bringing technology to the widest possible audience

Making technology accessible to everyone.

To me, with equal opportunities engagement in mind, one of the most interesting things I noted throughout the coverage of the aftermath of Christchurch’s earthquake was that each of the televised daily briefings included a live sign language translation.

We’re lucky in what we do here at Intergen. We get to build stuff that helps people in their daily lives, and a big part of this involves making technology accessible to everyone. We’ve long been about embracing accessibility in the things we build. And to that end it’s refreshing to see – and be a part of – new solutions that offer far greater accessibility features without scrimping on functionality.

For the longest time, particularly in government circles, with eGovt Web Standards guidelines dictating a suite of restrictions in the name of accessibility, people shied away from rich technologies, choosing to opt instead for pared back technology. By working closely with Microsoft on accessibility features that are destined to become part and parcel of our most-used daily productivity tools, we’ve been able to prove that it’s not a case of either/or. You really can have the best of both worlds.

Here’s what we’ve been working on with Microsoft, with accessibility in mind.

DAISY add-in

Save as Daisy for Office 2010 helps you convert Word Open XML files to the Digital Accessible Information System (DAISY) format. DAISY powers digital talking books and compatible software and Braille readers for people with print disabilities or limited vision.

With Save as DAISY for Office 2010, you can transform Word 2003, 2007 and 2010 Open XML documents into accessible multimedia formats for people who can’t read print. These formats include synchronised text and .MP3 audio that can be played directly within Windows 7 or DAISY XML, which works with compatible software readers and talking book/Braille devices.

ButtercupReader

The first of our forays into accessible software, ButtercupReader is a Silverlight application that allows visually impaired people to read DAISY talking books and better access the information contained within Word documents. No special hardware required, and no cost to the user. The only thing needed is Microsoft Silverlight, which is free and takes just a few minutes to download. There are a number of readers on the market, but none so accessible or easy to obtain. All you need to do is open your browser.

You can try ButtercupReader yourself at: http://www.buttercupreader.net

STAMP

STAMP (the Subtitling Add-In for Microsoft PowerPoint) lets you add closed captions to the video and audio files in your PowerPoint presentations, so no one misses a word of what you have to say. With STAMP you can also subtitle videos or audio files in another language. People with hearing disabilities can also use STAMP to caption their own videos for those who don’t understand sign language, opening up whole new communication possibilities.