METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR PROVIDING EXTENSIBLE DOCUMENT ACCESS TO ASSISTIVE TECHNOLOGY PROVIDERS

• US 20080177715A1
• Filed: 03/31/2008
• Published: 07/24/2008
• Est. Priority Date: 10/27/2005
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Catherine K. Laws, Joseph D. Aaron, Samuel R. Detweiler
• Original Assignee: Catherine K. Laws, Joseph D. Aaron, Samuel R. Detweiler
• Inventors: Laws, Catherine K., Aaron, Joseph D., Detweiler, Samuel R.
• Granted Patent: US 8,219,568 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 707/3
• CPC Class Codes: G09B 21/007 using both tactile and audible presentation of the information

Abstract

A method, system, and computer program product for providing an access engine that functions as an intermediary between a specific object and a renderer.

Claims

1. A method of rendering document objects to individuals with vision impairment, the method comprising the steps of:

creating an access engine;

transmitting navigation commands to the access engine during the navigation of a document object;

receiving information related to the document object from the access engine in response to the transmitted navigation commands; and

rendering the received information.

2. The method of claim 1 further comprising the step of:

querying the access engine for supported navigation actions of the document object.

3. The method of claim 1 wherein the step of rendering the received information includes:

providing the received information audibly.

4. The method of claim 1 wherein the step of rendering the received information includes:

providing the received information in Braille.

5. The method of claim 1 wherein the step of creating an access engine includes the step of:

instantiating the access engine in response to a predetermined event.

6. The method of claim 1 wherein the step of creating an access engine includes the step of:

instantiating the access engine when a new process begins.

7. The method of claim 6 wherein the method further comprises the step of:

querying the access engine for supported navigation modes of the document object.

8. An apparatus for rendering document objects to individuals with vision impairment, the apparatus comprising:

means for creating an access engine;

means for transmitting navigation commands to the access engine during the navigation of a document object;

means for receiving information related to the document object from the access engine in response to the transmitted navigation commands; and

means for rendering the received information.

9. The apparatus of claim 8 further comprising:

means for querying the access engine for supported navigation actions of the document object.

10. The apparatus of claim 8 wherein the means for rendering the received information includes:

means for providing the received information audibly.

11. The apparatus of claim 8 wherein the means for rendering the received information includes:

means for providing the received information in Braille.

12. The apparatus of claim 8 wherein the means for creating an access engine includes:

means for instantiating the access engine in response to a predetermined event.

13. The apparatus of claim 8 wherein the means for creating an access engine includes:

means for instantiating the access engine when a new process begins.

14. The apparatus of claim 13 wherein the apparatus further comprises:

means for querying the access engine for supported navigation modes of the document object.

15. A computer program product comprising a computer usable medium having computer usable program code for rendering document objects to individuals with vision impairment, the computer program product including:

computer usable program code for creating an access engine;

computer usable program code for transmitting navigation commands to the access engine during the navigation of a document object;

computer usable program code for receiving information related to the document object from the access engine in response to the transmitted navigation commands; and

computer usable program code for rendering the received information.

16. The computer program product of claim 15 further comprising:

computer usable program code for querying the access engine for supported navigation actions of the document object.

17. The computer program product of claim 15 wherein the computer usable program code for rendering the received information includes:

computer usable program code for providing the received information audibly.

18. The computer program product of claim 15 wherein the computer usable program code for rendering the received information includes:

computer usable program code for providing the received information in Braille.

19. The computer program product of claim 15 wherein the computer usable program code for creating an access engine includes:

computer usable program code for instantiating the access engine in response to a predetermined event.

20. The computer program product of claim 15 wherein the computer usable program code for creating an access engine includes:

computer usable program code for instantiating the access engine when a new process begins.