Katherine,
I can't speak to the Windows 8 Skype app as I personally have not used
it. However, just like any prgoram, it can be designed with
accessibility in mind or not at all. From what we have heard from other
Windows 8 users who have tried it, the Skype app falls in the latter
category. Window-Eyes and other adaptive technologies follow a set of
rules as spelled out by a number of organizations (including Microsoft)
and also incorporate work-arounds based on real world experience.
Unfortunately, just because a specification exists doesn't mean that
people will use it, know about it, or disregard it because they don't
feel accessibility is important. Modern UI apps are especially tricky as
their designs are geared more for touch-based hardware and not
navigation via the keyboard. Some areas of Windows 8 even don't provide
consistent keyboard navigation (hence our Windows Enhanced app). Windows
8 and modern apps are still very, very new, and we're hopeful that the
remaining issues will be sorted out as time progresses.
Regarding the older Skype client, I quote the following paragraphs from
GWConnect's own documentation:
Ever since the initial release of the Skype client in mid-2003, people
from all around the world have used it to initiate high-quality voice
and text conversations, send and receive files, and stay in touch with
one another. The visually impaired community, likewise, has used Skype
since then to facilitate equal communication with each other and their
sighted counterparts. However, as the service has grown, so too has the
program. For years, screen reader users have kept up with Skype's
ever-morphing interface either with custom patches, scripts, or apps.
While largely successful, such utilities must be constantly maintained
as any new version of Skype can, and often will, cause previously
working scripts or apps to stop functioning properly.
In mid-2011, Skype announced its Skype Kit developer program. This
service allows program developers to directly access nearly all Skype
services without the additional need of traversing its user interface.
Developers, therefore, can create their own interface to Skype and
seamlessly integrate it into their own products. And, because the
underlying Skype services are much less likely to change on a whim, GW
Micro decided to take advantage of this service and create a simple,
elegant, fully accessible interface to Skype which is designed with the
visually impaired community in mind. Having full control of the user
interface also means that unlike the official Skype client, GWConnect's
interface will not dramatically change from version to version. When you
learn how to use GWConnect today, you can be confident that your
knowledge will continue to apply in the future as new versions are released.
Thus, we have the tools to try to keep augmenting the standard Skype
client, but as its interface never remains constant we'd be playing a
never-ending game of catch up. With GWConnect, we did devote quite a bit
of time to incorporate nearly all of the Skype features provided by the
Skype Kit, but now that this task has been completed, we can focus our
resources on other innovations-- such as Window-Eyes 8. We intend to
continue providing feature updates to GWConnect, but the beauty of the
Skype Kit approach is that we don't have to release an augmented app
update every few days just to keep up with Skype's ever-changing user
interface.
Regards,
Steve
On 11/6/2012 10:30 PM, Katherine Moss wrote:
Not to scare anyone, but since I am a technical person, I’d like to know
the details preventing WE from working with the metro Skype app; after
all, I bought Windows 8 so that I could join this new world of apps;
this has not happened yet. What is really going on here? But anyway,
what exactly is it that prevents WE from working with even the regular
Skype Client? Steve, you mentioned that it’s something on Skype’s end.
I would assume that it’s the custom control used in the application, for
if it were just a matter of things not being labeled, then that could
have been fixed via a WE script a long time ago. Am I right about
that? Or are their true limits to how far WE scripts can take us?
*From:*Loy [mailto:[email protected]]
*Sent:* Tuesday, November 06, 2012 2:49 PM
*To:* gw-info
*Subject:* Re: How's the support coming for Modern interface apps on
Windows 8?
Can't read mail on the Windows 8 Mail app and I can't find anyone who
can tell me how.
----- Original Message -----
*From:*Katherine Moss <mailto:[email protected]>
*To:*[email protected] <mailto:[email protected]>
*Sent:*Tuesday, November 06, 2012 1:42 PM
*Subject:*How's the support coming for Modern interface apps on
Windows 8?
Hello all,
I am a user and lover of Windows 8. That’s not to say that WE 8
doesn’t seem to have it’s problems though. I have noticed this
mostly on the metro side of things. For instance adding an account
to People is impossible using WE because WE doesn’t read things
properly in the dialog that comes up when you click add another
account. I’d appreciate it if this were fixed. I also have trouble
seeing everyone on the messaging app as well as answering and
writing messages because I cannot tell whether a message was sent or
not. The edit field never clears. Also Skype doesn’t work either
with WE 8, and it would be nice to be able to use the official Skype
client with no need for scripts or alternate clients.
--
Stephen Clower
Product support specialist & App Development
GW Micro, Inc. * 725 Airport North Office Park, Fort Wayne, IN 46825
260-489-3671 * gwmicro.com
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