Like many of you, I was surprised when upon trying to log into the A T Show this evening, I was told that I needed to upgrade to version 5 of the Ivocalize software. Version 5 is a Java version which in my opinion, is not very accessible. After having installed Java and the Java access bridge, a program that makes many Java applications work with screen readers, I found that a great deal of the new version 5 remains inaccessible. I was not notified via Email, or in any other way that this upgrade would be mandatory.

So, what is a Java program anyway? Java is basically a way to write programs, so that they can run on a number of operating systems. Rather than make a Windows version of something, a Mac version, a Linux version and so forth, one can make a Java version which should run on, well anything that can run Java programs. On the Macintosh, the ability to run Java programs is built in, however, on Windows, the Java platform must first be installed. As Java is being used more frequently, your computer manufacturer may have pre-installed Java for you. Assuming you get Java installed, you can then use the new version 5. Unfortunately, screen readers have a heck of a time reading most Java programs because of the way objects are “classified.” What I mean is that screen readers often can’t tell that a button is a button, a check box a check box, a pull-down list a pull-down list, etc… as normally it gets that information based on the way the object is coded. To simplify this a great deal, a programmer, when he adds a button, list box, edit field, or some other element to a program tells Windows what the object actually is i.e. this is a button. This is a check box, etc…. That information gets passed on to the screen reader which passes it along to, well to us screen reader users. In the case of Java programs, however, programmers follow a different set of rules and hence, the screen reader doesn’t get this very important and vital information. The solution is something called the Java Access Bridge which intercepts a Java program, interprets objects and creates the information which Windows needs in order to tell the screen reader what’s going on. Think of it as an interpreter of sorts between the universal Java program and the not so universal way that Windows talks to the screen reader. In theory, it should be easy to get the Java access bridge installed, however, I had a heck of a time even finding the download. After googling it, the official Java site didn’t seem to have any information, I found a download page. I then had to agree to terms of service, tell it I didn’t want to use its automatic downloader which would have been yet another thing to install, then had to find a download link which was sort of hidden — it definitely wasn’t an easy task at all and I wouldn’t want to put anyone else through it. Assuming you were up to the challenge and jumped through all these hoops, you would be able to read most, yet not all of the new Ivocalize 5 software. One of the areas which would remain inaccessible, however, is the web browsing portion of the screen, a feature we use quite regularly.

So, now the question is what to do. Obviously, I need to find another voice conferencing solution that will provide the same functionality as what’s being provided now. Over the next week, I’ll be testing a few solutions, however, I’d love to hear from you. If you have, have heard of, have used, or know of someone who has a brother, who has an uncle, who has a dog, who has a friend, who has an in-law who has used a voice conferencing solution similar to Ivocalize, definitely let me know either by Emailing me, or by commenting to this post.

I’m sure a new solution will soon be found and that I can again bring you the Assistive Technology Show. I apologize for the difficulty you may have experienced when trying to log in this evening and thank you for your understanding.

Steve