對那些看不見螢幕上的控制鈕或用滑鼠點擊那些按鈕的人來說，傳統的螢幕閱讀(screen-reading)軟體和自動報讀瀏覽器(self-talking browsers)對他們瀏覽網路視訊的幫助其實不大。尤其是當他們開啟一個視訊網頁時，當頁面中的音訊自動開始播放，就會被螢幕閱讀軟體的聲音干擾。
IBM新研發的工具讓人們可採用智慧按鍵或鍵盤上的快捷鍵，而不是視覺控制板來調節音量和播放。該工具也允許使用者戶提高音量及音訊播放速度；因為對視覺受損的人來說，有時從串流視訊中發出的聲音稍嫌太慢。該工具還能讓使用者選擇不同的音源，包括螢幕閱讀器。該軟體並提供資料轉換的靈活性，如果網頁內容創作者提供了描述內容，該工具就能切換至解釋螢幕上正發生什麼的文字敘述。
該工具的開發人員主要是採用Java來編寫軟體，它支援微軟的IE瀏覽器，並通過了Adobe Flash Player和微軟的Windows Media Player的測試。「這種新的工具可安裝在普通的媒體播放器(PMP)上，」IBM's Worldwide Accessibility中心總監Frances West在接受採訪時表示：「它確實很酷，因為它是我們的一位盲人科學家發明的，這位研究人員曾經因為無法觀看串流視訊而倍受挫折。」
四位研究人員大約花了3~4個月的時間來開發該工具。West表示，這不僅是創舉，也快速演進的網路技術提供了一個新解決方案。IBM計劃不久之後現場展示該工具，並將其公佈在該公司的開放源碼聯盟(Open Source Consortium)，以進行進一步的開發。「我們希望能發揮集體和創新的力量，」West補充，IBM希望把該創新工具發展為「視障者的超級的超級工具。」
IBM並已經開發了其它針對視障者應用的技術，包括報讀瀏覽器和可幫助視力微弱者調節網頁字體大小和對比度的應用程式。West表示，IBM把易用性(accessibility)技術視為一個能回饋社會又可切入新商機的領域。這些輔助技術不僅可協助那些天生視覺受損的人，亦可幫助上了年紀的銀髮族群。
根據全球衛生組織(WHO)的統計，2002年全球有1.61億人視力受損。而WHO的數據亦指出，有82%的人在超過50歲之後遭遇視力受損的問題。West補充，大多數人到了50歲的時候都至少會有一種身體障礙──通常是視覺，而到60歲的時候會出現兩種障礙──視力加上聽力；到了80歲，則是可能連行動都會感到困難。
EE Times:
IBM scientists develop streaming video for visually impaired
K.C. Jones
InformationWeek
(03/13/2007 5:37 H EDT)
IBM announced a new tool on Tuesday that improves visually impaired people's access to streaming video and animation on the Internet.
The multimedia browsing accessibility tool hasn't been named yet but was developed in IBM's Tokyo research laboratory. Chieko Asakawa, a senior accessibility researcher at IBM who has been blind since the age of 14, spearheaded the development of the new software out of frustration with streaming video.
Traditionally, screen-reading software and self-talking browsers don't help bring online video to people who cannot see control buttons on a screen or access the buttons with a mouse. The audio, which automatically begins playing after a page opens, interferes with the sound of screen-reading software.
The new IBM tool lets people use smart keys, or shortcuts on their keyboards, instead of the visual control panel to adjust volume and playback. It also allows users to increase volume and audio speed, because audio from streaming video can seem excruciatingly slow to people with visual impairments.
The tool also allows users to single out different sound sources, including screen readers. The software provides the flexibility of metadata, which contains a text script explaining what is happening on screen, if content creators offer voice narratives.
Developers wrote the software primarily in Java. It supports Internet Explorer. It has been tested for the Adobe Flash Player and Microsoft's Windows Media Player.
"The new tool sits on top, so-to-speak, of a normal media player," Frances West, director of IBM's Worldwide Accessibility Center, said during an interview Tuesday. "It's really cool because it's from one of our own blind scientists, who got really frustrated by not being able to get access to media."
About four researchers developed the tool in three or four months. The tool is the first of its kind and offers a solution for rapidly changing technology on the Web, West said. IBM plans to demonstrate the tool soon and release it to the company's Open Source Consortium for further development.
"We hope to tap into the collective energy and the creative energy," West said, adding that IBM hopes to develop the innovation into a "super tool for the visually impaired."
IBM has developed other technologies for the visually impaired, including a talking browser and programs that help people with visual impairments adjust font sizes and color contrast on Web pages.
West said that IBM sees accessibility as an area where it can exercise social responsibility while also tapping into a business opportunity. According to the World Health Organization, more than 161 million people had visual impairments in 2002.
Assistive technologies target not only people who are born with impairments but also those who develop disabilities with age. That is a growing concern as baby boomers become senior citizens. According to WHO statistics, 82% of people with visual impairments are over age 50.
West said most people will have one disability -- usually visual -- by the time they reach 50, two by the time they reach 60 (often a hearing impairment), and mobility difficulties in their 80s.
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