I thought that this letter might interest you,
especially those of you who attended last Saturday's
meeting.
David Andrews
With the permission of the Massachusetts Commission for the Blind, I
am sharing the following letter it received last week from
Microsoft Corporation.
Jamal Mazrui
jamal@ksgdfs.harvard.edu
-------------------------
February 13, 1995
Commissioner Charles Crawford
Commonwealth of Massachusetts
Commission for the Blind
88 Kingston Street
Boston MA 02111-2227
Dear Commissioner Crawford:
Thank you for participation in the recent conference call between
Microsoft, the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, the National
Council on Disability, the American Foundation for the Blind and
other key individuals involved with accessibility. I have
received a summary of the conference call and would like to follow
up with a letter confirming our commitment to making computing
easier for everyone, including individuals with
disabilities.
As explained by my team handling accessibility, Microsoft is
totally committed to ensuring we do our best to address
accessibility issues with Windows 95. Specifically, we are
working on the following product related items:
To ship before or at the same time as Windows 95:
o The necessary APIs and libraries to allow ISVs to develop
high quality screen readers.
o Windows 95 documentation in an accessible format (compressed
ASCII text).
To ship as soon as possible after Windows 95:
o A set of utilities, including a screen enlarger, tutorial
for blind users, on-screen keyboard, and Dvorak single- handed
keyboard.
Work being developed for future Windows releases:
o Capability to turn text to speech, and use voice to command
a computer.
o Support for OLE Accessibility mechanism for providing high-
level information to accessibility aids.
In addition, we are seriously investigating developing a standard
off-screen model, from which ISVs can then create their own blind
access utilities with less work, greater robustness and fewer
system dependencies. You will hear more from us on this over the
coming months.
We are continuing to staff up our team, including adding
individuals with disabilities, as well as programmers with
extensive and successful experience developing state of the art
accessibility aids.
As you know from conversations with my accessibility team, we are
also working hard to ensure we thoroughly understand all the issues
surrounding accessibility. We are planning on the following support
activities:
o Issue a Microsoft Corporate Accessibility Policy to ensure
the entire company, not just the Personal Systems Division,
is fully chartered to address accessibility.
o Create an Accessibility Advisory Council, in conjunction
with the National Council on Disability. This council will
include representatives from major disability organizations to
ensure we thoroughly understand the needs of disabled people.
o Publish our draft APIs and hold an ISV accessibility summit
by April 15, 1995.
o Create an on-line forum for both developers and consumers
with disabilities alike so we have a direct line of
communication in place.
o Develop an internal research team, bringing in computer
users with disabilities to conduct thorough usability tests as
Windows 95 accessibility features get developed.
o Investigate the feasibility of enhancing our existing
accessibility guidelines, in partnership with accessibility
ISVs and consumers with disabilities, to form an
"accessibility standard" with measurable evaluation
criteria.
As you can see, we're moving forward with a clear focus on
ensuing Windows 95, and all of Microsoft, addresses accessibility
issues in the most efficient manner possible. I would like to
personally meet with you and your staff so we can have a chance to
discuss accessibility in more detail. A member of my
accessibility team will contact you shortly about arranging a
mutually convenient time to meet.
Sincerely,
Brad A. Silverberg
Senior Vice President
Personal Systems Division
CC: William H. Gates, Microsoft Corporation
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