CD-ROM Access
Infinity City Access Summary
Table of Contents
Product description
Screen magnification
Screen reader access
Recommendations for improvement
Details by assistive technology
Product description
Infinity City is designed to teach patterns and counting. The user can pick from a wide variety of activities, most of which require dragging and dropping objects with the mouse.
Product name: Infinity City
Publisher: Headbone Interactive
Platform (Windows, Macintosh, Multi): Multi
Copyright: 1996
Grade level: Early elementary
Subject: Math - patterns and counting
Intended use (reference, interaction, tool): Interaction
Screen magnification
It is not likely that children in the target age range for this product will possess the necessary skills to independently operate this program with a magnifier. The product's dependence on the mouse and lack of a keyboard interface adds to the challenge. Screens are filled with many small objects and identifying which are important is difficult and time consuming. Even though dragging is possible, low vision students in the target age range for this product will probably find this process to be extremely inefficient, and quickly become frustrated. There are insurmountable compatibility issues between Infinity City and LPWindows. The magnifier consistently crashes when moving from the menu screen to any activity location.
Screen reader access
Operation with a Windows or Macintosh based screen reader is virtually impossible. This product is highly graphical and few objects are available to the screen reader. As a result, macros would have to be built or pixel locations marked, which is not a viable solution for this age group. Infinity City's dependence on the mouse and lack of a keyboard interface also presents a problem. Although screen readers can perform mouse clicks, the key strokes required can often cause unintended interactions, especially in customized software. Additionally, none of the screen readers used in this analysis could identify or drag any of the on-screen objects. This product has some fun audio, but it has no impact on usability.
Recommendations for improvement
Improve contrast: Some low vision users of Infinity City would enjoy greater success in using this product if a high-contrast version of each screen, with fewer background details and better contrast of objects with the background, were available. Another option is to use the system colors defined by the user.
Enhanced keyboard access: Currently Infinity City has two keyboard commands, none of which have a direct effect on the operation of any of the educational activities included in this product. Simple keyboard commands to manipulate on-screen objects would vastly improve the usability of this software. The commands should also be documented somewhere in the software, either in a "read me" file or in product help. Please note that the current version of Infinity City does not have a product help feature.
Enhanced audio: More descriptive audio about where to find objects and what to do to meet the goals of the program would significantly impact usability.
Details by assistive technology
Click the links below for details on how a specific piece of access technology performed with Infinity City.
LPWindows version 6.1
inLARGE version 2.1
JAWS for Windows95 version 2.0
ScreenPower for Windows version 3.0 revision C
outSPOKEN for Macintosh version 1.7.5
LPWindows version 6.1
Infinity City cannot be used with LP-Windows. The magnifier crashes consistently when moving from the menu screen to any activity location. Further testing is necessary to determine the exact cause of the problem.
inLARGE version 2.1
Please note that the Macintosh version of this program was tested with Apple's CloseView and not inLARGE from Alva Access Group. One's experience running Infinity City on the Macintosh using inLARGE may differ from what is mentioned here.
This product could be run under magnification, but young children may have trouble completing the activities. In addition to the general problems encountered using this product under magnification, one major problem specific to CloseView develops when switching between magnified and unmagnified mode. Shifting between magnified and unmagnified modes causes severe color and graphical distortions that can only be remedied by selecting another activity. This could effect the user's success in completing an activity, as instructions for the activity may become inaccurate. For example, the activity directions may refer to a red sign which, after switching between magnified and unmagnified mode may actually appear lime green.
JAWS for Windows95 version 2.0
This product cannot be used with JAWS. Since the majority of the graphics could not be identified, macros would have to be built to pixel location, which is not a viable solution for this age group. Additionally, the JAWS drag feature doesn't work with Infinity City. When this feature is activated, speech and cursor control fail. Speech and cursor control return when the drag feature is deactivated.
ScreenPower for Windows version 3.0 revision C
Infinity City cannot be used with ScreenPower. The screen reader is unable to access any graphics, hence essential objects can't be identified.
outSPOKEN for Macintosh version 1.7.5
Due to the visual nature of Infinity City, this product cannot be used with outSPOKEN. The screen reader is unable to detect the presence of graphics.
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