Windows is the most popular computer operating system in the world, so a new version is always of interest. Microsoft launched Windows 8 on 25 October and there are some big changes both to the accessibility and to Windows itself.
Desktop vs App
Windows 8 has two parts which look and work quite differently.
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The Desktop is very similar to Windows 7. It has a desktop, a taskbar and a notification area. When you open a desktop application, it will look just as it always has, including a work area and menus or a ribbon from which you can select options and actions. Although you can use desktop applications with a touch screen, they are intended for use with a keyboard and/or mouse.
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Windows 8 contains a lot of new apps, and more can be obtained from the new Windows Store. When you open an app, it is full screen and contains only a small amount of information and perhaps a few button controls. Additional options are available from a toolbar which does not appear on screen at first. Apps can be used with a keyboard or mouse, but are optimised for use with a touch screen.
Where do I start?
The Start menu had been replaced with the Start screen, which you can use to either open an app like Mail, People or Calendar, or go to the desktop to use traditional applications like Microsoft Word, Excel or Outlook. The Start screen contains boldly coloured tiles which can show live information such as the Calendar tile showing your next appointment. The Start screen scrolls horizontally.
Once you're on the desktop, there is no Start button in the bottom left corner, which catches a lot of people out! But if you press the Windows key, or push the mouse into the bottom left corner and click, or swipe from the right hand edge of a touch screen, the Start screen appears.
On the Start screen, you can start typing to begin a search. Touch screen users need to swipe in from the right edge, and then select Search to get the on screen keyboard.
Magnification
Initial feedback from partially sighted users is that the design of apps is helpful, with large text and controls, and the amount of information is not overwhelming. The new design will take some getting used to, because things like getting to the toolbar of additional options is not intuitive.
For people who need more magnification than apps provide themselves, Magnifier now works on all colour themes.
On a touch screen device, Magnifier creates a touch-sensitive border around the edge of the screen which you use to scroll the screen or alter the magnification level.
Speech
Narrator, the built-in screen reader for Windows, has more human-sounding voices which are more responsive. It also has many more keystrokes, including some for moving through all the text and controls on a screen. These are very useful, for instance, for reading the Start screen information.
Narrator also contains gestures if you have a touch screen device. Navigating a screen by gesture takes practice, and being familiar with the layout of the screen helps. If you're going to do a lot of typing, a physical keyboard is going to be a benefit, and Bluetooth or USB keyboards are supported.
Speechless
There will be a special version of Windows 8 for tablet computers that use the ARM processor. This will be called Windows RT, and it will not have a Desktop. We haven't seen this yet, but our understanding is that that it will support Magnifier but not Narrator.
More
If you want to find out more, visit the RNIB Windows 8 page. And if you start to use Windows 8, we'd love to hear your opinion; please email digitalaccess@rnib.org.uk.