Windows7How

Windows 7 and people with special needs

September 12, 2009

Marginalization of people with special needs who are unfortunate enough to live with some disability is a distant history no one wants to be remembered of. The integration of these people into the society has taken on accelerated speed for ensuring conditions for normal life and work. And when we say work, we also refer to work with computers and all of their capabilities.

Since the operating system is the one that makes work on computer possible it is perfectly understandable that we should start from there. Ever since Windows 95, more precisely 1997, Microsoft has introduced some of the features that help people with special needs to easily interact with the system and the numerous applications. Although the features in Windows operating systems that were implemented for these users have been constantly improved, some third-party developers have started working on specialized software depending on the disability of the users. As a result, this may lead toward compatibility issues and users cannot take full advantage of the many features that come with the software. In order to overcome all of these obstacles, people at Microsoft decided to offer a whole set of improved tools for access to the gateway devices of the system. Though we have seen almost all of these tools in the previous versions of the Windows OS, some of their improvements are certainly worth mentioning.

We’ll start with Magnifier. This tool, when it had its first appearance many Windows OS versions before, had numerous flaws that forced many users into using some of the applications from the other developers. For example, in Vista, after the activation of the Magnifier you need to define the zoom factor and area of the window that displays the zoomed surface (usually the area surrounding the mouse pointer). So, the window was fixed and the working possibilities in this way were limited, since users’ attention had to be on that particular area. Things are better realized in Windows 7. Besides the possibility of working in full screen mode you can zoom in the elements in the active window by simple hovering of the mouse; the experience is like using a real magnifying glass.

You’ll be also able to use the onscreen keyboard in Windows 7. Now, not only does it look far better than any previous versions but it’s also been equipped with interesting, useful functions. The keyboard has been designed to look and feel like the real thing and for better experience you can also change its size. For easier entry of text and commands, an algorithm that tries to predict what the user would like to inscribe has been introduced.

And as the last interesting thing, we’d like to point out one more feature in Windows 7 that, accidentally or not, is highly praised by the people with special needs. It’s the Windows XP mode we discussed in one of our earlier articles. As we’ve mentioned from the start, many of the people with special needs work with programs developed by third-party companies. They have grown fond of these tools and their features so if they come across a compatibility issue with the new operating systems they are faced with a choice: to return to their previous system when the programs worked perfectly or to learn how to work with completely new programs. That’s why, the Windows XP mode, which comes with the more advanced Windows 7 editions, is welcomed by the users with special needs. All of the applications that worked in the XP will be running smoothly in Windows 7 as well. Well done, Microsoft.

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Tags: magnifier, windows 7, windows xp mode, xp mode