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Re: List of Top Accessibility Tools

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From: Morin, Gary (NIH/OD) [E]
Date: Feb 7, 2012 1:21PM

As a Section 508 staff member, I'm often asked about what assistive technology to use in testing. This list is NOT official but merely a good practises offering. The US Social Security Administration (SSA) does have a similar listing as required. (http://www.ssa.gov/oag/info/SSA%27s%20Guide%20to%20Applying%20Section%20508%20Standards.pdf). HHS is looking into standardizing a listing of recommended assistive technologies.

A word of caution - how any individual assistive technology plays nicely with any other piece of technology varies (e.g., Dragon with Firefox versus Internet Explorer). For most things, I find IE better when I'm using Dragon Naturally Speaking, particularly if it's an interactive site (training, forms to be filled out, etc). your mileage may vary

Assistive Technologies to Use in Usability Testing (I believe I have included the current or most recent version available, as of March 25, 2011). This listing is largely based on what Federal employees with disabilities are provided by CAP - the DoD Computer/Electronic Computer Program<http://www.cap.mil/>;. As such, this would be appropriate for EIT with a Federal target audience; EIT for the wider public may require a 'lower common denominator' where we cannot assume that persons with disabilities have the latest, greatest and, typically, most expensive assistive technology
1. For testing
a. Screen Readers
i. JAWS 11.0 and JAWS 12.0<http://www.FreedomScientific.com>;
ii. NVDA<http://www.nvda-project.org>;
iii. Window-Eyes 7.5<http://www.gwmicro.com/>;
iv. SuperNova Screen Reader (formerly Hal)<http://www.yourdolphin.com/productdetail.asp?id=5>;
b. Screen Magnifiers
i. MAGic 11.0<http://www.freedomscientific.com/products/lv/magic-bl-product-page.asp>;
ii. ZoomText 9.1<http://www.AISquared.com>;
c. Speech Recognition Software<http://cap.tricare.mil/Solutions/ProductCategory.aspx?DisabilityID=1&;CategoryID=29&SolutionType=Products>
i. Dragon Naturally Speaking, Medical 10.0
ii. Dragon Naturally Speaking, Professional 11.0<http://shop.nuance.com/store/nuanceus/en_US/pd/productID.202411800?resid=TYDOZgoBAlcAAFLeO@UAAAAE&;rests=1300287078256>

Gary M. Morin, Program Analyst
NIH Office of the Chief Information Officer
10401 Fernwood Rd, Room 3G-17
Bethesda, MD 20892, Mail Stop: 4833

(301) 402-3924 Voice, 451-9326 TTY/NTS
(240) 380-3063 Videophone; (301) 402-4464 Fax

Section 508 coordinators: http://ocio.od.nih.gov/Accessibility/Sec508coordinators.html

NIH Section 508 Team: mailto: <EMAIL REMOVED> ?subject=Section 508 Help or, for Section 508 Guidance, http://www.hhs.gov/web/508/index.html

WHAT IF THE FIRST QUESTION WE ASKED WAS, "WHAT IS SO UNIQUE ABOUT THIS SITUATION THAT IT JUSTIFIES EXCLUSION? INSTEAD OF, "HOW MUCH DOES IT COST TO MAKE IT ACCESSIBLE?"