Sinter: low-bandwidth remote access for the visually-impaired

Abstract

Computer users commonly use applications designed for different operating systems (OSes). For instance, a Mac user may access a cloud-based Windows remote desktop to run an application required for her job. Current remote access protocols do not work well with screen readers, creating a disproportionate burden for users with visual impairments. These users' productivity depends on features of a specific screen reader, and readers are locked-in to a specific OS. The only current option is to run a different screen reader on each platform, which harms productivity. This paper describes a framework, called Sinter, that efficiently and seamlessly supports remote, cross-platform screen reading, without modifying the application or the screen reader. Sinter addresses these problems with a platform-independent intermediate representation (IR) of a remote application's user interface (UI). The Sinter IR encapsulates platform-specific accessibility code on the remote system, facilitates development of additional accessibility features, and is simple enough to be reconstructed and read on any client platform. In the example above, Sinter allows a Mac-only reader to read remote Windows applications. Sinter supports low-bandwidth, remote access to a wide range of applications, including Microsoft Word and Apple Mail, with both Windows and OS X clients and servers, as well as a web browser client. Sinter's IR-level programming model facilitates development of accessibility features and other enhancements, transparently to the remote application and reader. Sinter's latency is low enough for practical use, even over a relatively slow network connection.