Screen Magnifiers
Working on the UIA Viewer Tool has brought some intersting ideas concerning screen magnification. The technique we are using to reconstruct the user interface could also be used to reconstruct a user interface for screen magnification. This would enable a tool for overcoming one of the most difficult problems with screen magnifiers.
With a screen magnifier, the user is focused on one part of the screen at a time. This makes it very difficult to find or even notice some elements on the screen. Pop up balloons, dialog boxes, status bars, and other visual indicators are often missed by a screen magnifier. In addition, when the user knows they are present, it is often difficult to locate these elements in order to read them.
A sighted person does not have this problem because he or she can see the whole screen at once. So a solution is to allow a user of a screen magnifier to do the same.
The important part of this solution is to remove all the details and give an outline view of the major elements on the screen. Elements that have changed or have focus could have a stronger outline or some other way to emphasize them. With this tool, a user could quickly switch to this view, visually move the mouse to the desired part of the screen, and switch back to zoom view.
With the ability to see the whole screen in high contrast without unneccessary details, the user could greatly enhance thier user experience.
This solution could also be used for those with tunnel vision. For example, if a user could only see about 3 by 5 inches of the screen. This screen preview could be sized to a small window that he or she could see all at once. It would serve the same purpose, and it would allow the user to find the relevant parts of the screen and know where to look on the monitor.
This technique is actually relatively easy to implement. I expect it will be one of the earliest practical uses of the UIA Viewer. The main implementation difficulty will be allowing it to work in conjuction with a screen magnifier.
With a screen magnifier, the user is focused on one part of the screen at a time. This makes it very difficult to find or even notice some elements on the screen. Pop up balloons, dialog boxes, status bars, and other visual indicators are often missed by a screen magnifier. In addition, when the user knows they are present, it is often difficult to locate these elements in order to read them.
A sighted person does not have this problem because he or she can see the whole screen at once. So a solution is to allow a user of a screen magnifier to do the same.
The important part of this solution is to remove all the details and give an outline view of the major elements on the screen. Elements that have changed or have focus could have a stronger outline or some other way to emphasize them. With this tool, a user could quickly switch to this view, visually move the mouse to the desired part of the screen, and switch back to zoom view.
With the ability to see the whole screen in high contrast without unneccessary details, the user could greatly enhance thier user experience.
This solution could also be used for those with tunnel vision. For example, if a user could only see about 3 by 5 inches of the screen. This screen preview could be sized to a small window that he or she could see all at once. It would serve the same purpose, and it would allow the user to find the relevant parts of the screen and know where to look on the monitor.
This technique is actually relatively easy to implement. I expect it will be one of the earliest practical uses of the UIA Viewer. The main implementation difficulty will be allowing it to work in conjuction with a screen magnifier.
posted by Rick at 1:11 PM
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