Photosynthesis Explorer Demonstration (PhotoDemo)

The Photosynthesis Explorer Demonstration (PhotoDemo) shows educators and software developers how an interactive simulation educational software application can be made accessible to all students, including those who have disabilities. PhotoDemo was written in accessible Java and uses the IBM Self-Voicing Kit (SVK) to create an audio interface for users who are blind or visually impaired. PhotoDemo was built with JFC/Swing components that take advantage of the default accessible interfaces. PhotoDemo is spoken automatically by the SVK. The SVK allows developers to customize the interface when the default information will not meet the user's needs.

The original Photosynthesis Explorer is an educational simulation program published by Logal Inc. based on a mathematical model of the chemical processes in photosynthesis. The original educational software simulates many types of experiments related to the utilization and storage of energy by plants. This accessible demonstration, however, does not contain the full mathematical model. The output may not be accurate and the demonstration is not suitable for teaching about photosynthesis.

This demonstration was created by the CPB/WGBH National Center for Accessible Media CD-ROM Access Project. Funding for the CD-ROM Access Project is provided by the National Science Foundation.

Download and Install the demo
Using the demo
Help
Credits

Download and Install the demo

In order to try out this demo, you will need to download photodemo.zip, the Java Development Kit Version 1.3 (JDK) and IBM's Self-Voicing Kit (for Java (SVK).

Before installing the Photosynthesis Explorer Demonstration, you will need to first install the Java Developer's Kit and second install the IBM Self-Voicing Kit for Java.

Using the demo

You can run the PhotoDemo from a MS-DOS prompt by changing to the photodemo directory that was created in the install step above, and then launch the program by typing:
java photodemo

When you launch the photodemo program and the IBM Self Voicing Kit (SVK) is installed, the focus will be on the SVK "I/O Monitor Window" and it will begin automatically speaking. Pressing the standard Java [Alt-F6] key will switch you to the Photosynthesis Explorer Demonstration application. You'll be placed in the opening "Photosynthesis" menu screen. Explore the list of choices by pressing the [Tab] key on the keyboard. Press [spacebar] to make a selection. Since this program is a demonstration, only one activity has been enabled: "Explorations". When you tab to buttons for sections which are not available, you will hear "inactive" at the end of the button's name. Other active controls on the opening "Photosynthesis" screen include Help and Quit. Press the [Tab] key until you select the "Explorations" button. Pressing the [spacebar] will place you on the second "Explorations" menu screen.

From the second "Explorations" menu screen, press the [Tab] key until you select the "Light" button. Pressing the [spacebar] will place you on the third "Light Exploration" interactive simulation screen.

From the third "Light Exploration" screen you can interact with the simulation by selecting and changing the input control "Light Intensity". First, press [Alt-S] to start the simulation. Then press [F3] to turn on both Sugar and Oxygen output. By pressing the [Shift-Tab] keys several times you can backup to the input control "Light Intensity". The [PgUp] and [PgDn] key will move the "Light Intensity" slider up or down. As the "Light Intensity" is changed, the SVK will automatically announce the changes in Oxygen and Sugar production as the simulation graph is drawn. Pressing [Alt-S] again will stop the simulation.

Help

Help on using the demo is available from the Photodemo Help Page.

Please e-mail any questions or comments about this prototype to madeleine_rothberg@wgbh.org.