Using Accessibility Features in Arbortext Editor on Windows

Many features in Arbortext Editor on Windows make the software more accessible to users with disabilities.

• You can turn on accessibility enhancements for screen reader software using the set accessibility option. It's available from Arbortext Editor by going to Tools > Preferences, clicking the Advanced button, and choosing set accessibility from the list. This option allows screen readers to read menus more easily, and the edit cursor displays as a line one pixel thick.

For screen reader software such as JAWS, this type and size of cursor provides the most precise location information. You can change the cursor thickness using the set caretthickness option.

You can also set it in an ACL script loaded from the Arbortext-path\custom\init directory or from the command line (available if Full Menus is checked in the Tools > Preferences > Window dialog box).

• Arbortext Editor is also accessible to screen reader software such as JAWS. Refer to Using JAWS with Arbortext Editor on Windows for more information.

• You can configure settings for accessible PDF (via PTC APP engine) and HTML outputs in an Arbortext Styler stylesheet. Refer to the following topics for further information:

• Keyboard shortcuts in Arbortext Editor assist users who may have difficulty using a mouse.

You can enlarge the display font size in Arbortext Editor using the View preferences dialog box. (Go to Tools > Preferences > View and set Font Scaling at: up to 500%.)

• You can enlarge the cursor size independent of the font size using the set caretthickness option (go to Tools > Preferences > Advanced and choose caretthickness from the list).

• The color of the cursor can also be changed in Arbortext Editor using the set caretcolor option, also available from the Tools > Preferences > Advanced dialog box.

• Arbortext Editor is compatible with the High Contrast settings of Display Color Settings in the Windows Accessibility Wizard.

• In the HTML Help for Arbortext Editor, graphics descriptions are provided for screen readers.

You can change the way the Arbortext Editor HTML Help is displayed in the Microsoft HTML Help Viewer. The HTML Help Viewer display characteristics are controlled by the Internet Options preferences dialog box that is available through the Options menu in the Help Viewer. For instance, you may want to change the appearance of colors and fonts. These preferences apply to the HTML Help Viewer.

Any of the set command options mentioned in the previous list can also be placed in a startup .acl file in the custom\init subdirectory (to load the settings automatically at startup).

For more information about Arbortext products, accessibility, and Section 508 compliance, visit the Arbortext Support Center on the PTC support site.

The Windows operating system has several built-in accessibility features that you can use to enhance your user experience, such as a screen magnifier, a narrator, sticky keys, an on-screen keyboard, and High Contrast settings. Please consult your Windows operating system online help for more information about enabling these accessibility features.

Accessibility support is not provided to screen reader software for the following areas:

• In the Arbortext Editor HTML Help, table descriptions use the table title if available. General table data descriptions are not provided.

• Arbortext Editor documents in PDF format have not been optimized for accessibility in Adobe Acrobat Reader.