Venice Arts is committed to ensuring that this website is accessible to everyone. Some assistive technology and other accessibility features come bundled with all operating systems, but typically these applications provide only a minimal level of accessibility, not the full set of features that many users require for equal access to the OS and its applications. The following are common built-in accessibility features across all operating systems:

• Keyboard customization allows users to adjust keyboard behavior so they can (a) press one key at a time in place of multikey combinations, (b) use the keyboard to control mouse movements, and (c) change the length of time it takes for a keystroke to be registered.

• Display customization allows users to control the display contrast, font style and size, size of icons, and other display characteristics.

• Multimode alerts provide system alerts visually for users who can't hear auditory alerts.
In addition to these basic accessibility features, both Windows and Mac OS include basic screen magnification software (Magnifier and CloseView, respectively). Windows additionally provides a basic screen reader application called Narrator, and Mac OS includes limited text-to-speech capabilities through its speech recognition feature, PlainTalk. Each of these products provides a basic level of access, but these applications fall far short of the more fully featured screen magnification and screen-reading applications that are available for Windows via third-party developers.

Resources:

Microsoft Windows: Information about Microsoft Windows accessibility is provided on the Microsoft  Accessibility website. This site includes detailed descriptions of accessibility features in current and previous releases of Microsoft Windows, step-by-step tutorials, and guides for users with specific disabilities.

Mac OS: Additional information about Mac OS accessibility is provided on the Apple Accessibility website. This site includes specific steps for activating and using the accessibility features of Mac OS System 7.x and higher.