Guide for Individuals with Vision Impairments

About Vision Impairments

Vision difficulties and impairments include low vision, color blindness, and blindness. Among adult computer users in the United States, 1 in 4 (27%) have a vision difficulty (see study). There are many options for individuals with vision difficulties to modify their computer displays and appearance to make them easier to see, or, alternatively, to receive information through sound or touch. Those who are blind cannot use a computer monitor but have the option to receive information from their computers through hearing or touch using assistive technology such as screen readers and Braille displays.

Adjusting your PC

Many accessibility features are built into Windows and other Microsoft products that are useful to people with vision impairments.

• Personalize your computer to make it easier to see
• Find demos and tutorials to make it easier to see items on screen
• Read this article on how to Magnify your screen and Zoom in on a webpage

Assistive Technology

You can shop for assistive technology products compatible with Microsoft Windows made by independent assistive technology companies. People who have vision impairments may be interested in the following assistive technology:

• Screen magnifiers work like a magnifying glass. They enlarge a portion of the screen as the user moves the focus—increasing legibility for some users. Some screen enlargers allow a user to zoom in and out on a particular area of the screen. Learn about the Magnifier in Windows 7, Windows Vista, and in Microsoft mouse and keyboard products.
• Screen readers are software programs that present graphics and text as speech. A screen reader is used to verbalize, or "speak," everything on the screen including names and descriptions of control buttons, menus, text, and punctuation. See basic screen reader called Narrator in Windows 7 and Windows Vista.
• Speech recognition, (also called voice recognition), allows data entry by voice commands rather than a mouse or keyboard. Windows 7 and Windows Vista include speech recognition.
• Speech synthesizers (often referred to as text-to-speech (TTS) systems) receive information going to the screen in the form of letters, numbers, and punctuation marks, and then "speak" it out loud. Using speech synthesizers allows blind users to review their input as they type.
• Refreshable Braille displays provide tactile output of information represented on the computer screen. The user reads the Braille letters with his or her fingers, and then, after a line is read, refreshes the display to read the next line.
• Braille embossers transfer computer generated text into embossed Braille output. Braille translation programs convert text scanned in or generated via standard word processing programs into Braille, which can be printed on the embosser.
• Talking word processors are software programs that use speech synthesizers to provide auditory feedback of what is typed.
• Large-print word processors allow the user to view everything in large text without added screen enlargement.