Accessible Skype by Summer 2006
With injury, age, disease, 
or an accident of birth, our abilities shift from the norm. Reasonable people understand it is useful to have everyone participate in society, especially in public spaces. So we make curb cuts in sidewalks for wheelchair access. Traffic signals and elevators chirp or announce their status. We accomodate to include.
I propose Skype and the Skype developer community set a goal:
Skype accessibility for the visual and hearing impaired by Summer 2006.
Some of the challenges:
- Technical Compatibility. How well does Skype work with today's screen readers? What can we do to make it work naturally?
- Relay service. Human relay services that help the visually impaired to hear a chat (reading the chat aloud) and the hearing impaired to have voice calls transcribed in real time and video calls closed captioned in real time. Programmers: consider relay initiation.
- Captioning. When Skype introduces video calls and conferences, how will we caption video from those using sign languages?
- Controls. What features will help a blind person navigate her Skype address book, search for a Skype user, be notified of voice mail? How will this differ from computer platforms to mobile ones?
- Alerting and notification. Other tools, including many not connected to a computer, are used to notify the deaf and blind of incoming calls. How should Skype work with them?
- Other concerns. While the Skype UI is simple, it is overwhelming for some with other cognitive modes like types of attention deficit or mild autism, for others with motor disabilities, and yet for others with sensory concerns like color blindness.
There are technical and business justifications. These new features will lend themselves to other applications. The challenges will strengthen the Skype API. The accessibility will extend the market. And the programme responds to PSTN/mobile telco lobbying.
But that's not why we must do it.
We can leave no Skyper behind.
It is the right thing to do.
Comments
I am a blind skype user who is thrilled to see this post. please, if anyone is serious about this, send me an email or comment here. I want to help. I'm majoring in IT right now and would be willing to do whatever I can to help. skype name: chriswestbrook
Posted by: Chris Westbrook | May 10, 2005 03:42 PM
You can download JFW scripts for Skype right now.
JAWS
is "The most popular screen reader worldwide" and "JAWS also outputs to refreshable Braille displays". You can always check out SummitCircle.com to find a Skype phone, add-on or community.
We have over 200 categorized links to Skype related "stuff" so far!
Posted by: Louis Philip | May 10, 2005 08:43 PM
Some of the resources I think would be helpful are the National Federation of the blind at http:/www.nfb.org, the blind programming mailing list at http://www.blindporgramming.com, and possibly the websites for the two major screen reader manufacturers GW Micro at http://www.gwicro.com and Freedom Scientific at htp://www.freedomscientific.com. The NFB's website won't have anything in the way of technical knowledge probably but if you call their national office they can probably point you to some people that could tell you some things...
Posted by: Chris Westbrook | May 10, 2005 09:05 PM
all tho I like skype becoming accessible in 2006. skype should have been more accessible from the start.
software makers (and website makers) should be more aware of creating accessible programms (and websites).
just read this article on useit.com:
return on investment for usability.
two even worse accessible programms on my zaplist:
- blinkx.com
- ifinger.com*
* accept cookies in fixefox or opera, because the refuse to work.
Posted by: pheloxi | May 11, 2005 05:46 AM
While Skype should have been made more accessible, saying that now won't help much. Lets do all we can to push forward and make an accessible skype!
Posted by: Chris Westbrook | May 11, 2005 10:17 AM
It seems that Skype might actually be sliding backwards on accessibility. The latest beta version 1.3.0.29 removes the Call > Call Contact submenu! Learn more at http://www.blindaccessjournal.com and let Skype know, in no uncertain terms, that they can start in the right direction by resurrecting the Call > Call Contacts submenu!
Posted by: Darrell Shandrow | June 4, 2005 04:24 PM
I support this very important initiative! I am hearing impaired and it would be very useful for me to have to possibility to transcribe spoken text into written text.
Posted by: Dominik | June 16, 2005 03:57 AM
Skype and all VoIP (and all software, websites, etc.!) should be made more accessible.
It's important to keep in mind that accessibility is really many things to many people. It depends on what you're trying to do, and what functional limitation you have. But the main principle is clear: increase the number of successful users by paying attention to user needs.
I will be presenting to VON Fall 2005 on accessibility, and will be demonstrating some specific accessibility features that we are developing using the Skype API.
For those who want some background on VoIP accessibility, please look at a site we developed for the FCC Summit on VoIP accessibility held May 2004:
Inclusive Technologies VoIP background
Posted by: Jim Tobias | July 24, 2005 04:43 AM
I do not have a significant sensory impairment myself, but am very interested in improving access to communications for disabled people. I was pleased to see this strand opened in the Jouranl.
Experimenting with Skype using a mixture of text and spoken conversation, I found the first limitation which stikes me is the fact that Chat messages are sent on completion. I understand that Deaf people who use text phones to receive communication but have good speech and want to voice their end of a conversation like to receive text messages character by character so that they know the person as the other end is responding to what they have said. How difficult would it be to develop character by character chat?
I would be interested to know whether the same applies to those want to have 2 way text convesrations.
Others have already raised the need for access to text relay service if VoIP telephony is to be a full alternative to POTS for deaf people
I am trying to persuade deaf and hearing impaired colleagues to try Skype.
Posted by: Bob Twitchin | August 5, 2005 05:01 AM
We have developed a (free) character-by-character text chat program, interfacing to Skype. Please try it and let me know what you think.
www.skypetelex.com
Posted by: rusting | June 16, 2006 04:15 PM
We have developed a (free) character-by-character text chat program, interfacing to Skype. Please try it and let me know what you think.
www.skypetelex.com
Posted by: rusting | June 16, 2006 04:20 PM