Windows 7 Feature - Accessibility

Windows 7 has given users more ways to use and interact with their computer's. With great strides in speech recognition and touch technology, Windows 7 has added some new user-friendly features.

SPEECH

Microsoft has greatly improved Speech Recognition. Speech Recognition now works even better, and can be used with more programs, so instead of using a keyboard, you can just tell your computer what to do. You can start an email by telling your computer the recipients name, surf the web without a keyboard, or dictate your documents.

Windows Speech Recognition responds to your voice.

MAGNIFIER

Magnifier is a helpful tool for people with low vision, but everyone can take advantage of it to see the small hard-to-see text and pictures. Full-Screen mode allows you to magnify the whole screen on your desktop, and lens mode zooms in on one particular area. Inside the magnifier window. you can click buttons and input text as you normally would.

Magnifier zooms in on your desktop.

ON-SCREEN KEYBOARD

On-Screen Keyboard lets you "keyboard without a keyboard," with a choice of several different input methods: clicking mode, hovering mode, and scanning mode. With Windows Touch and the right hardware, you can also input text by tapping directly on the screen. And word prediction speeds things up: type the first few letters of a word, and Windows will finish it for you.

 

On-Screen Keyboard has a variety of text input choices.

NARRATOR AND VISUAL NOTIFICATIONS

 Windows 7 can read on-screen text aloud and describe some events (like error messages), helping you use your computer without the display. With Audio Description, you can hear a narration of what's happening in a video. Windows can also replace sound alerts with visual cues like a screen flash, so system alerts are noticeable even when they're not heard.

 

Narrator helps you use your computer without the display.