IT Accessibility Review
Volume 1, Number 6
Breaking News
Microsoft´s New Accessibility Model to Be Offered as Cross-Platform Solution for Industry
As a longtime leader in accessibility, Microsoft will be offering a cross-platform, royalty-free license for its new accessibility model, Microsoft® Windows® User Interface Automation, or UI Automation, to promote innovation in the assistive technology industry.
"Microsoft is excited to offer UI Automation to the industry because it allows application developers to easily expose the rich semantic information needed by assistive technology products to create effective, interactive experiences for computer users. UI Automation represents a significant accessibility innovation for the industry and one that should benefit all computer users, not only Microsoft customers," explains Rob Sinclair, director of the Accessible Technology Group (http://go.microsoft.com/?linkid=3141662) at Microsoft.
Microsoft recognizes the growing demand for accessible technology and is providing the industry with this new model to advance the state-of-the-art for products that are essential for computer users with disabilities. A recent study found that 57% of computer users (http://go.microsoft.com/?linkid=3141663) in the United States are likely to benefit from the use of accessible technology due to experiencing mild to severe difficulties or impairments. Currently, 57 million computer users in the U.S. utilize some form of accessible technology. That number is expected to rise to 70 million in the U.S. by 2010 (http://go.microsoft.com/?linkid=3141664).(1)
"Because the majority of computer users benefits from accessible technology, it is increasingly important for technology leaders like Microsoft to foster innovation in accessibility through industry-wide collaboration," explains Sinclair. "We´re offering this model to improve collaboration across the industry and demonstrate Microsoft´s commitment to accelerate innovation in accessibility," further explains Sinclair.
UI Automation is the successor to Microsoft Active Accessibility® and preserves the investment software companies have already made in that model. UI Automation builds on the lessons learned from Microsoft Active Accessibility to offer a complete model for sharing information about graphical user interface elements, document content, and tables of information. This work represents more than four years of research and development by Microsoft´s Accessible Technology Group-the team responsible for developing Windows´ accessibility support for the last twelve years.
Microsoft´s implementation of UI Automation will be available for Microsoft® Windows® XP and the next version of the Windows desktop operating system code-named "Longhorn," scheduled to release in calendar year 2006.
More UI Automation Information:
Questions and Answers About UI Automation
(http://go.microsoft.com/?linkid=3141665)
For Developers: Accessibility Framework (UI Automation) Details
(http://go.microsoft.com/?linkid=3141666)
(1) Study Commissioned by Microsoft, conducted by Forrester Research, Inc.
(http://go.microsoft.com/?linkid=3141667) 2004.
Data on computer users likely to benefit from accessible technology
(http://go.microsoft.com/?linkid=3141668).
Data on forecasted accessible technology use
(http://go.microsoft.com/?linkid=3141669).
More UI Automation Information:
Questions and Answers About UI Automation
(http://go.microsoft.com/?linkid=3141670)
For Developers: Accessibility Model (UI Automation) Details
(http://go.microsoft.com/?linkid=3141671)
Accessibility Links:
Microsoft Accessibility (http://go.microsoft.com/?linkid=3141672)
Microsoft Developer Accessibility (http://go.microsoft.com/?linkid=3141673)
Newsletter Archives (http://go.microsoft.com/?linkid=3141674)
Feedback/Contact (http://go.microsoft.com/?linkid=3141675)
Legal Information (http://www.microsoft.com/info/legalinfo/default.mspx).
© 2005 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved. Microsoft, MSDN, the Office logo, and Visual Studio are either registered trademarks or trademarks of the Microsoft Corporation in the United States and/or other countries. The names of actual companies and products mentioned herein may be the trademarks of their respective owners.
U.S. Postal Service and GSA Adopt New Accessibility Standards
New accessibility standards adopted by the U.S. Postal Service and the General Services Administration (GSA) will soon govern the design of new or altered Federal buildings.The standards, which are based on guidelines the Board issued last July, contain updated provisions that improve accessibility while facilitating compliance. The adopted standards will apply to a wide range of Federal facilities under the purview of GSA, the Federal government´s "landlord," and to postal facilities.The design and construction of new facilities, altered areas of existing facilities, and leased facilities will be subject to these standards in accordance with the Architectural Barriers Act, which ensures access to buildings that are federally funded.
The new standards will replace the Uniform Federal Accessibility Standards for these two agencies and will take effect in six months; according to notices, the agencies will be issuing.Similar action by two other agencies, the departments of Defense (DOD) and of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), will update those standards covering the rest of the Federal sector, specifically military facilities and HUD-funded housing.
"This prompt action by GSA and the U.S. Postal Service will help ensure that the Federal government serves as a model of accessibility," noted Board Chair Jan Tuck. "Through its technical assistance and training programs, and its history of partnerships with other agencies, the Board stands ready to assist these agencies in implementing the standards." The Board has already helped train hundreds of facility personnel on the new standards at the U.S. Postal Service´s eight facility service offices across the country and at its headquarters.
In addition to the Federal sector, the Board´s guidelines will also serve to update standards for facilities in the private sector and state and local government sectors covered by the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).The Department of Justice and, in the case of transit facilities, the Department of Transportation, are responsible for updating the ADA standards.
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