Two essential accessibility tools for us visually impaired computer users are the magnifier and text-to-speech. Personally, I use the Magnifier/zoom feature to navigate around, but I lean heavily on text-to-speech when “reading” anything on websites, PDFs, or other documents. Both Windows and macOS offer these tools, and they’re virtually the same across platforms.
I’ve had an easier time using them on macOS because I use a trackpad where a three-finger swipe combination zooms the screen in and out. This is very smooth, and I can control it precisely. Windows, on the other hand, relies on keyboard shortcuts to enable the Magnifier. You typically press the Windows key and the plus key to zoom in or the minus key to zoom out. The problem? It’s very clunky. I’ve always had to press the Windows key and repeatedly tap the plus or minus key to reach my desired zoom level. A workaround was to get a configurable mouse like the MX Master series and map the mouse keys to zoom in and out more easily. Well, apparently one of the latest Windows 11 updates has changed this.
Most of us have a preferred zoom level we like to work at comfortably, but we do need to zoom out occasionally to get our bearings. In the past, it was especially annoying to repeatedly press a key to zoom out in steps. This new update apparently allows you to press Control + Tab, then use the plus or minus keys to zoom in and out very quickly. You zoom in to whatever level you want, then press the key combination to zoom out all at once with the minus key or return to your zoom level by pressing the plus key.
The other improvement involves the text-to-speech voices. If you’ve ever heard anyone use text-to-speech or use it yourself, you know the voices tend to be pretty robotic. I have to say, they are getting better, especially if you’ve been using these voices for a while. They were horrible before and are pretty good now, although they still don’t sound completely natural. Well, Microsoft, along with other companies, has started working on that. In this Windows 11 update, there are new voices that sound more natural and are more comfortable to listen to, especially for the longer articles you might come across.
This YouTube video below, by The Blind Life, walks through both of these updates in more detail. If you or someone you know uses these features and would benefit from watching it, please share.
#Accessibility #AssistiveTech