In Second Life, we are all 26 years old forever, but in real life the ravages of time will catch up with us and we will need extra help doing things we once did without struggle. And some of us need assistance right now. Luckily, a basic form of most every assistive tool  we will ever need is built right into Windows and Mac OS.

Assistive Technology (AT) expert Edmondo Barbosa (Pictures 1, 2, & 3) gave a lecture in Second Life (SL) today that revealed this world of hidden AT tools. On Windows, many of these tools are accessible through Start Menu -> All Programs -> Accessories -> Windows Accessibility Programs (or "Ease of Access" on Vista). Tools there include: On Screen Keyboard, Narrator, Magnifier, and Speech Recognition, all built in.
Most of the other AT settings are accessed through the Start Menu -> Settings -> Control Panel. See the controls for Mouse, Keyboard, Sounds, and Display.

In picture 4 front, Gentle Heron, founder of Virtual Ability Island (VAI), and 2009 Linden Prize WInner, provided simultaneous transcription of Edmondo's lecture. I found the material a little hard to follow, as we kept flipping back and forth between Mac and Windows settings. Also, there is really a lot to this, like dozens of settings on both boxes. On Windows Vista, there is an Accessibility Wizard in the Accessories folder. Edmondo is working on another accessibility wizard for keyboard settings, which you can download for free from: http://www.kpronline.com

In Picture 9, VAI organizer Brock Levee mentioned some tools he bought that help his SL experience: "I use both technologies the Dragon which is voice to text and the EVA which is a text to voice reader it's greatly improved my ability to communicate in Second Life."

There are hundreds of AT tools available for purchase such as: magnifiers, screen readers, speech recognition.
and hardware trackballs, trackpads, joysticks, head operated controls, eye gaze controls, and one-button-does-it-all single switch controls. Special keyboards, different sizes, and some keyboards even use Morse Code.

In Picture 8 right, Samantha Glume, mentioned that she is working on very specialized AT tools for SL users, some of which can control avatars and reduce the need for movement by 90%. Picture 8 center is DJ Linden, a Linden Research employee who attended Edmondo's talk. He was very interested in how we were using AT in SL, and mentioned that Section 508 compliance is on the radar screen.

Edmondo recommended the work of AT Research Institute scholar Dennis Anson of Misercordia University to dive deeper into the research aspects. A bibliography of Dennis' research is at:
http://atri.misericordia.edu/ATResearch/ATResearch.php

Get alot more information about AT on notecards at Virtual Ability Island: http://slurl.com/secondlife/Virtual%20Ability/56/169/23