IBM helps visually impaired people watch videos online

IMB is preparing to launch a new multimedia browser that can help visually impaired people access audio and video.

A-Browser (A stands for Accessibility) will allow blind and visually impaired people to manage multimedia content like normal people. IBM said the software will reach users this year.

The author of the A-Browser code-named software is Dr. Chieko Asakawa, a Japanese expert at IMB's laboratory in Tokyo, and also a blind person. Her idea comes from the feeling of disappointment when you have to miss countless web content. Asakawa said the team is focusing on compatible content with Real Player and Windows Media Player.

Dr. Chieko Asakawa

Screen readers and automated browsers cannot help manage videos and animations. Some of them will automatically run the video as soon as the site is loaded. With A-Browser, a person makes marketing possible to manage multimedia content with predefined shortcuts instead of using the mouse to select buttons on the menu like ordinary people.

The browser also has the function of increasing - slowing down the speed of video playback and inserting a description or narrative audio track that is often used in movies as well as television shows so that blind people can understand. Users can also add audio clips from independent sources - for example, the main audio channel, description and sound, etc.

' We are starting to approach accessibility as an important part of business .' Mr. Frances West, director of IBM's Center for Human Accessibility and Accessibility, said.

IBM said it plans to turn the browser into open source software so that more people can participate in construction, and users will not have to pay. It is estimated that about 160 million blind and visually impaired people in the world will benefit from this browser.

Hoang Minh