Assignment 2

I received a phone call from my friend asking for my help. Her son is visually impaired and she explained that he has trouble using the software on his computer in its default setup.

I am going to minimise the ribbon so that it will only appear when the user clicks on the menu name.

Before ribbon is minimsed

After ribbon is minimised

I am going to add Font Style to the Quick Access Toolbar.

Choosing more commands for the quick access toolbar

Adding Font Style to QAT

Font Style added to toolbar

I am going to rearrange the icons on the desktop.

Before icons are rearranged

Icons arranged

Icons made larger



I am going to show printscreens of using the magnifier, the lens and the dock.

Opening the magnifier

Using the magnifier

Opening the Lens

Using the Lens

Opening the Dock

Using the Dock



I am going to change the default display to a higher resolution.

I am going to open the Narrator and setup the voice settings

                                                                  Opening the Narrator

Using the voice settings on the Narrator



The changes I have made to MS Word, the desktop and the display will help my friend’s son to see the screen more clearly and make using a computer a lot easier for him with less hassle.

By minimising the ribbon he now has less to try to look at and there is nothing confusing him as to what he has to click on.

By adding Font Style to the Quick Access Toolbar it means he only has to look at the one place to change the style of the font. As he is visually impaired this means he does not have to strain to look for it along the ribbon.

By rearranging the icons and making them larger can help him see them more clearly.

Using the magnifier is great for visually impaired people this magnifies the words and the screen to a level that suits the individual. It provides a minimum level of functionality.

The lens are also of great benefit as when he scrolls over words or pictures they will appear beneath the lens at a much larger size. Unlike the magnifier if he just wants to look at a certain paragraph or a certain picture he can do so placing the lens over that picture or paragraph.

When he uses the dock this will make the screen larger and will largen the ribbon so it is more clearly for him to choose the options on the ribbon for example the colour of his font or if he wished to insert a picture or graph.

Changing the default display by opening the narrator and using the voice setting will highly benefit him as when he is really struggling to see the screen and understand what he is looking at or he has trouble seeing what he wrote and wished to spell check it the narrator will say the words and sentence to him.

Computer software can be used to display bright attractive moving images which can encourage children with visual impairments to make effective use of their vision.

There is a wide range of software and hardware devices that can help the visually impaired. Purpose made portable Braille computers and Braille input and output devices for standard computers are one of the many electronic devices specifically designed for someone with a visual impairment.