January 23, 2005
It’s now easier than ever to test Web site accessibility. IBM Home Page Reader 3.04 - a new version of the popular talking Web browser - has arrived. Originally created to help users who are blind or have low vision access the Internet, Home Page Reader also gives Web developers and designers the tools they need to test the accessibility and usability of Web sites.
Download it today and experiment with Home Page Reader’s new functions, including:
- Ability to read accessible, tagged Adobe Reader 6.0 PDF documents and accessible Macromedia Flash Player 7 content.
- Inclusion of a desktop reader with keyboard navigation and speech output for a number of Microsoft Windows applications, including the Windows desktop and selected system applications such as:
- Help
- Control Panel
- Notepad
- Media Player
- Settings
- Start Menu
- Taskbar
- Windows Explorer
- WordPad
- Improved features for users with low vision, including the highlighting of controls and images in the Graphics view as they are spoken and simple page magnification using either the Zoom setting within Home Page Reader or the Magnifier tool in Windows.
- Enhancements in accordance with the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) Specifications and Guidelines that can help Web developers increase accessibility of their pages
- W3C HTML 4.01, WCAG 1.0 and UAAG 1.0
- Provision of a Developer’s Help document that outlines helpful hints, tips and techniques for Web developers who use Home Page Reader to test their Web sites for accessibility. The document also offers suggestions for fixing accessibility flaws.