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November 16, 2006

The Potential of Windows Vista Accessibility

One of the often overlooked set of features of Windows Vista is its great features for accessability. Added to the previous accessability features of Windows XP, Windows Vista now includes a great built-in speech recognition feature. While this feature is great for users who want to dictate a letter, and show off the novelty of being able to control their computer's with voice commands, it will open up a whole new world for people with physcial challenges who previously either had to purchase expensive third party solutions, or just go without adequate computer access. The built in accessibility features including speech recognition in Windows Vista can change all of that.

Imagine not being able to use a keyboard or a mouse and being stuck in a world where you are dependent on others for your everyday needs. Now, imagine that suddently you can use a computer to surf the internet, send and recieve emails, communicate with people all over the world, and enjoy many of the computer programs which are out there to experience things that before where out of reach. This is truly an area which could have a profound impact on people who were previously bound by thier physical challenges.

Experimenting with the speech recognition in Windows Vista, I was easily able to open, use, and close native Windows and many third party applications. Browsing the internet was easy - I could even make forum posts! Playing music or watching a video was just a matter of a few voice commands. While there is still some work that is needed for many applications in order to make them fully speech compatible, the current implementation is quite good, and the future potential is incredible. In addition, the ability to communicate with others through email and web interfaces by using speech recognition will open a new world to those with physical limitations.

With the low cost of entry-level computers today, and the features that are found in Windows Vista, those with physical challenges will more easily be able to experience many of the wonders of modern day technology. Although the technology is not quite perfected, it has certainly come a long way, and with further advances from Microsoft, and the help of third party solutions, more and more people who were previously unable to use a computer, will now be able to join the worldwide community.

Posted by jrfree1 at November 16, 2006 11:33 AM