By taking advantage of built-in features of common operating systems and software, as well as using free versions of some software, providing access for computer users with disabilities may not be as expensive as you think!
In the Accessibility Options Control Panel:
The Easy Access Control Panel may need to be installed. Features similar to the Windows™ options described above can be found there.
Use the Universal Access System Preferences tool to enable the features listed above. The Keyboard System Preferences module enables increased keyboard access to programs and the operating system.
Reducing the screen resolution via the Display Control Panel may be sufficient for someone with low vision.
In the Accessibility Options Control Panel:
The CloseView Control Panel provides rudimentary enlargement and inverse colors.
The Universal Access System Preferences Tool allows enlargement and color switching with the Zoom tool.
ReadPlease™ (www.readplease.com) is a free text-to-speech reader that will speak items copied from the Clipboard for Windows-based computers.
The Narrator tool is accessed via the Accessibility Wizard (WindowsKey + U).
The SimpleText editor has the ability to speak highlighted text. Cut and paste text from other applications to have it spoken. Many other programs may have the option to speak selected text as well, via the Edit menu.
Within the Speech System Preferences module is a control to turn on text-to-speech. This will also announce some dialog boxes and any selected text. You can define the key to activate this feature as well. You can enable the system to speak any text the mouse goes over in this control, as well as have it announce errors or system popups.