Personalization of user accessibility options

• US 7,554,522 B2
• Filed: 12/23/2004
• Issued: 06/30/2009
• Est. Priority Date: 12/23/2004
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing LLC (Microsoft Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Microsoft Corporation
• Inventors: Subramanian, Ramkumar, Reid, Paul, Winser, Michael Edward Dulac, Perkins, Gilma Annuska, Sinclair, Robert E. II
• Primary Examiner(s): Mengistu; Amare
• Assistant Examiner(s): Rainey; Robert R
• Application Number:
  US11/021,415
• Publication Number:
  US 20060139312A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,650 Days
• Field of Search: 715/865, 715/866, 715/744, 715/747, 706/11, 345/156
• US Class Current: 345/156
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2203/04801 Cursor retrieval aid, i.e. visual aspect modification, blinking, colour changes, enlargement or other visual cues, for helping user do find the cursor in graphical user interfaces
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0481 based on specific properties of the displayed interaction object or a metaphor-based environment, e.g. interaction with desktop elements like windows or icons, or assisted by a cursor's changing behaviour or appearance

Abstract

A computing environment can dynamically respond to user preferences and personal abilities by enabling computer users to configure their computing experience by implicitly gathering information about the users'"'"' needs. The system can detect users'"'"' issues during the natural course of interaction with the system and offer to make adjustments to make their tasks simpler and more enjoyable. The system can allow for the configuration of settings that can impact users'"'"' abilities to receive important information from the system or provide input to the system.

Claims

1. A computer-implemented method for personalizing user accessibility options, comprising:

monitoring interaction of a computer user with at least one electronic device, wherein the at least one electronic device is electronically coupled with a computer system, wherein the monitoring is performed by the computer system, and wherein the monitoring comprises monitoring selection of larger fonts in multiple applications or documents;

inferring that the computer user is having difficulty viewing a screen by way of the monitoring selection of larger fonts in multiple applications or documents, wherein the inferring is performed by the computer system; and

configuring at least one system-wide accessibility setting comprising a font size setting, wherein the configuring is performed by the computer system based on having inferred that the computer user is having difficulty viewing the screen, and whereby font size on the screen is automatically increased.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein configuring the at least one accessibility setting comprises adjusting visual settings.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein adjusting visual settings comprises changing at least one setting from the group consisting of resolution, color, font weight, cursor size, cursor blink rate, animation settings, transparency, and alarm notifications.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein configuring the at least one accessibility setting comprises adjusting audio settings.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein adjusting audio settings comprises changing at least one setting from the group consisting of volume, sound schemes, Text-to-Speech (TTS) settings, captions, and text equivalents for audio notifications.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein configuring the at least one accessibility setting comprises adjusting input settings.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein adjusting input settings comprises changing at least one setting from the group consisting of typing assistance, specialized input devices, pointer assistance, input hints, and timeout intervals.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein configuring the at least one accessibility setting comprises adjusting cognitive settings.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein the monitoring comprises actively detecting at least one accessibility issue that arose during the interaction.

10. The method of claim 9, wherein the configuring comprises presenting to the user at least one recommendation regarding an accessibility setting that can be changed to address the at least one accessibility issue that arose during the interaction.

11. The method for personalizing user accessibility options of claim 1, wherein the monitoring comprises monitoring the use of magnification mechanisms by the user in applications executed on or in documents being viewed by the electronic device.

12. One or more computer-readable media having computer-executable instructions for performing a method for personalizing user accessibility options, comprising:

monitoring interaction of a computer user with at least one electronic device, wherein the at least one electronic device is electronically coupled with a computer system, wherein the monitoring is performed by the computer system, and wherein the monitoring comprises monitoring selection of larger fonts in multiple applications or documents;

inferring that the computer user is having difficulty viewing a screen by way of the monitoring selection of larger fonts in multiple applications or documents, wherein the inferring is performed by the computer system; and

configuring at least one system-wide accessibility setting comprising a font size setting, wherein the configuring is performed by the computer system based on having inferred that the computer user is having difficulty viewing the screen, and whereby font size on the screen is automatically increased.

13. An adaptive computing environment, comprising:

a computer system with which a user interacts, wherein the computer system comprises a screen;

a monitoring service that tracks user behavior during interaction of the user with the computer system, wherein the monitoring service is configured to monitor larger font size selections in a plurality of applications or documents to infer that the user is having difficulty viewing the screen, and wherein the monitoring service executes on the computer system; and

a personalization wizard executing on the computer system, wherein the personalization wizard configures at least one system-wide accessibility setting of the computer system comprising a font size setting based on information from the monitoring service indicating that the user is having difficulty viewing the screen, whereby font size on the screen is automatically increased.

14. The adaptive computing environment of claim 13, wherein the personalization wizard notifies the user that the at least one system-wide accessibility setting can be changed based on the information from the monitoring service.

15. The adaptive computing environment of claim 13, further comprising a user profile, wherein the user profile is based at least in part on the information from the monitoring service.

16. The adaptive computing environment of claim 15, wherein the user profile can be modified by the computer system, modified by the user, saved to a file, and transported inside and outside of the computer system.

17. The adaptive computing environment of claim 13, wherein the monitoring service is configured to monitor use of magnification mechanisms.