CD-ROM Access
Analysis Findings
On this page, you'll find links to a summary of findings specific to each product included in our access analysis. The summary contains details about how screen readers and screen magnifiers performed with the software and recommendations for how software developers could improve access to their products. Unfortunately, most of the programs we tested had serious usability flaws for people who rely on a screen reader for access. Screen magnifier users will generally enjoy more success in accessing multimedia software. Please keep in mind that multimedia software often changes substantially from version to version and our comments are therefore only applicable to the version listed. New releases may be more or less accessible.
We are grateful to the companies who provided us with software titles for inclusion in our research. An analysis of the current state of multimedia is vital to the development of meaningful access guidelines, without which software companies won't have the know-how to produce accessible products. We hope that the guidelines and support that emerge from this project fill that need and bring an increased awareness of the importance of designing educational software which is user-friendly for all learners.
In order to use the capabilities of a range of screen readers and magnifiers, each piece of software was tested with three screen readers: JAWS for Windows 95 version 2.0, Screen Power for Windows 95 version 3.0 revision C, outSPOKEN for Macintosh version 1.7.5; and two screen enlargers: LP Windows version 6.1, and inLARGE version 2.1 for Macintosh. While we tried to use each program as fully as possible, we may not have used all possible features. Our comments should not be understood to compare the access technologies to each other. Each product mentioned was the most current version available when our testing began.
Most barriers to access in educational software are common to all the software we tested, but the way that they surface varies depending on the type of software involved. Read about these variations in our summary of barriers in different types of software. We are also investigating possible solutions to these problems. Read about that in our page on solutions for access to multimedia.
The access analysis research was carried out by Madeleine Rothberg and Tom Wlodkowski of NCAM, Rick Ely of In-Vision, Northfield, MA, and Brenda Loughrey of Pittsburgh Vision Services, Pittsburgh, PA.
Products Tested
Elementary products:
The Cruncher (Davidson and Associates)
How the West Was One + Three x Four (Sunburst Communications)
Infinity City (Headbone Interactive)
The Way Things Work 2.0 (Dorling Kindersley.
Secondary products:
Astro Algebra (Edmark)
Explorations in Cell Biology and Genetics (Wm. C. Brown Publishers)
Photosynthesis Explorer 3.0 (LOGAL Software, Inc.)
SimAnt (Maxis)
StudyWorks for Schools (MathSoft, Inc..
Post-secondary products:
ActivPhysics (Addison Wesley Interactive)
MathView (Waterloo Maple, Inc.)
Minitab Release 10 Xtra (for Mac) and Release 11 (for Windows) (Minitab, Inc..
Reference products:
Compton's Interactive Encyclopedia 1997 Edition for Windows (The Learning Company)
Encarta '97 Encyclopedia (Microsoft)
Encyclopaedia Britannica CD '97 (Encyclopaedia Britannica)
1997 Grolier Multimedia Encyclopedia (Grolier Interactive Inc..
