Archive for December, 2008

Posted By Lonn

2008 was a busy year for the Windows Live Messenger team and we’re really proud of what we accomplished.  We started the year with an important update to the previous version, and finished the year with an entirely brand new beta release (link to video showing new features), which recently received the Editor’s Choice pick from PC MAG.

“Among the big three IM apps, Windows Live Messenger is my favorite. Though it's technically still in beta, the product is mature enough to rate, and it's worth our Editors' Choice.”

This is in addition to recognition that we’ve received all over the world including being rated the top Instant Messaging application in Germany’s largest computer magazine, ComputerBild, and appearing on the front cover of Micro Magazine in France.

 

We couldn’t have done it without all the support and help from our users who continue to provide ideas and feedback on how to make Windows Live Messenger better with every release.  Thank you.

It’s also important to note that not only did Windows Live Messenger release a new version, we released new beta versions off all the Windows Live Essential applications which include the popular Windows Live Mail, Windows Live Photo Gallery, Windows Live Movie Maker, Windows Live Writer etc.  You can get all of these plus the latest Windows Live Messenger at download.live.com.

Another thing that we’re really proud of from 2008, were the results from the first full year of the IM campaign that we ran in the US.  We donated $1.3 Million to great causes from March 2007 – March 2008. This was all thanks to the generous support that all of you showed by adopting the IM icon in your user names.  It’s never too late to start supporting a great cause, and if you’re interested just take a look at the blog post that Dharmesh wrote or visit the IM campaign site.

Support one of these great causes just by updating your display name.


Here’s a video on how to do it.

In 2008 we also announced a deal with Telefonica that let’s you call people all around the world using your PC and Windows Live Messenger at very low rates, introduced the Windows Live Translator agent, and a handful of great new games for Windows Live Messenger, like World Championship Diving.

Last but not least, I wanted to let you know about the cool 3D emoticons that the Windows Live team in France just created.  Click here to go to the site, then click on ‘installez gratuitement’.  And yes, the site is only in French. :) 

Here’s what they look like in my Windows Live Messenger text area.  You can’t tell from my screen capture, but they are animated and take on a life of their own.

Of course, there are many more things that went on in 2008 but I just wanted to highlight a few of them for you.  On behalf of the entire Windows Live Messenger Team, I’d like to wish everyone a great Happy New Year and best wishes for 2009.

P.S. Here are some photos of the holiday cookies I made for the team.  They were my first ever attempt at making cookies and I may have ‘bit off more than I could chew’ (pardon the pun).  Nonetheless, a few of them did end up looking like the Windows Live buddy icon… although, as you can see, some of them also did not. :)  Next year, I’ll make a cookie cutter to improve the consistency.

Cheers,
-Lonn

Cheers!
The IE Team

When developing using the WAI-ARIA Roles and States, you need to test your code in a screen reader to ensure everything is working as you expect. As a follow up to my presentation on Developing Accessible Widgets with ARIA and in the interest of helping other developers test their code, I thought I would provide some tips on how to configure your development environment for screen reader testing.

Step 1: Install A Virtual Machine

Before I install and configure screen readers I start by installing a virtual machine. (This is mostly out of necessity because I use a Mac and the most-popular screen readers run on Windows.) Using a virtual machine provides a couple of benefits when testing with a screen reader: To start, a virtual machine provides a sandboxed environment, so I am protected if anything goes awry when I am installing and configuring each screen reader. (So as not to give the impression that screen readers are unstable pieces of software, this is definitely the exception more than the rule.)

The second benefit to using a virtual machine is that they allow you to save and restore state. This is an especially helpful feature for efficiently testing and re-testing specific pieces or states of complex web applications. So, using a virtual machine can help save you time when testing.

Which virtual machine to use? If you use Windows, you can download and install Microsoft Virtual PC for free. As a Mac user, I have found both VMware Fusion and Parallels Desktop work well.

Step 2: Install Browsers

It is important to remember that to work, ARIA requires a team effort between the browser and the screen reader. To test ARIA you’ll need to install browsers that both support ARIA and are supported by screen readers that also support ARIA. For example, Opera has support for ARIA, but is not supported by screen readers. Currently only Internet Explorer 8 and Firefox 3 have support for ARIA, and are supported by several screen readers for Windows that also offer support for ARIA.

After installing each browser, be sure to save the state of the virtual machine. That way you’ll be able to quickly revert back to a clean, working state should anything go wrong during the screen reader installation.

Step 3: Install & Configure Screen Readers

With the browsers installed the next step is to install and configure each screen reader. The two most-popular screen readers for Windows, JAWS and Window-Eyes support ARIA and work with both Internet Explorer 8 and Firefox 3. Free, trial versions of both products are available for download from Freedom Scientific’s and GW Micro’s websites. The open-source screen reader NVDA also has excellent ARIA support and currently works with Firefox 3. Knowing that most visually impaired users use more than one screen reader, I recommend installing all three for testing.

As a sighted person I disable a couple of features of each screen reader and change some configurations so that I can test more efficiently. For example, most screen readers are configured to startup automatically when you start your computer. This is obviously not desirable when you have multiple screen readers installed, so I turn off that feature. Additionally, every screen reader uses a different keyboard shortcut for toggling the virtual buffer on and off. To avoid having to remember the keyboard shortcut for each screen reader, I configure them all to be the same: Ctrl + Shift + Space. (For more on the virtual buffer, read Making Ajax Work with Screen Readers.)

The following sections provide step-by-step instructions for configuring JAWS, Window-Eyes and NVDA.

Configuring JAWS

Changing The Virtual Buffer Toggle Keyboard Shortcut

1. Open the “Keyboard Manager” dialog by selecting “Utilities” -> “Keyboard Manager” in the JAWS application menubar.
2. Select the “default” profile in the left, “Profile” pane.
3. In the right pane, sort by the “Script Name” column, then find and select the item named “VirtualPCCursorToggle”.
4. Open the “Change Keystroke” dialog by either right clicking on the “VirtualPCCursorToggle” item, or by pressing Ctrl + H.
5. In the “Change Keystroke” dialog, choose the new keystroke by pressing the desired keys. (I use Ctrl + Shift + Space.) JAWS will warn you if the keystroke you choose in already in use.
6. Press the “OK” button to close the dialog.

Disabling JAWS From Starting Automatically

1. Open the “Basic Settings” dialog by selecting “Options” -> “Basics” in the JAWS application menubar.
2. In the “Basic Settings” dialog, make sure the checkbox labeled “Automatically start JAWS” in not checked.

Configuring Window-Eyes

Changing The Virtual Buffer Toggle Keyboard Shortcut

1. Open the “Browse Mode Hot Key Definitions” dialog by selecting “Hotkeys” -> “Browse Mode…” in the Window-Eyes application menubar.
2. In the “Browse Mode Hot Key Definitions” dialog, scroll down to the item named “Browse Mode” in the scrollable “Keys” list.
3. Select the “Browse Mode” item and then press the “Capture Key” button.
4. Press the keyboard combination you want to use. (I use Ctrl + Shift + Space.)
5. Press the “OK” button to close the dialog.
6. Save the configuration by selecting “File” -> “Save” -> “Set File and All Dictionaries” in the Window-Eyes application menubar.

Disabling The Mouse Voice

By default Window-Eyes will speak in response to some mouse gestures. For example, when you press the left mouse button, Window-Eyes will say “left”. As a sighted person I find this feature unnecessary, so I disable this feature.

1. Open the “Mouse Voice” dialog by selecting “Mouse” -> “Voice” in the Window-Eyes application menubar.
2. Select the “Off” item.
3. Press the “OK” button to close the dialog.
4. Save the configuration by selecting “File” -> “Save” -> “Set File and All Dictionaries” in the Window-Eyes application menubar.

Disabling Window-Eyes From Starting Automatically

1. Open the “Startup Options” dialog by selecting “File” -> “Starup Options…” in the Window-Eyes application menubar.
2. In the “Startup Options” dialog:
   • Uncheck the checkbox labeled “Run Window-Eyes at the Login Screen”.
   • Uncheck the checkbox labeled “Run Window-Eyes after login for all users”.
   • Select the radio button labeled “Never” under “After login for Current User, Run Window-Eyes”.

   

3. Press the “OK” button to close the dialog.
4. Save the configuration by selecting “File” -> “Save” -> “Set File and All Dictionaries” in the Window-Eyes application menubar.

Configuring NVDA

General Settings For Efficiency

1. Uncheck the checkbox labeled “Show this dialog when NVDA starts” that pops up the first time NVDA starts
2. Disable the confirmation dialog that pops up when you exit the application:
   1. Open the “General settings” dialog by right clicking on the NVDA system tray icon and selecting to “Preferences” -> “General settings” in the context menu.
   2. In the “General settings” dialog, uncheck the checkbox labeled “Warn before exiting NVDA”.
   3. Right click on the NVDA icon in the system tray and select the “Save configuration” menu item in the context menu.

Disabling the Mouse Voice

Like Window-Eyes, by default NVDA will speak in response to some mouse gestures. For example, when you move the mouse NVDA will play tones to help the user track the position of the mouse. As a sighted person I find this feature unnecessary, so I disable this feature.

1. Open the “Mouse settings” dialog by right clicking on the NVDA icon in the system tray and selecting “Preferences” -> “Mouse settings” from the context menu.
2. In the “Mouse settings” dialog, uncheck both “Report text under the mouse” and “play audio coordinates when the mouse moves”.
3. Right click on the NVDA icon in the system tray and select the “Save configuration” menu item in the context menu.

Changing The Virtual Buffer Toggle Keyboard Shortcut

1. Shut down NVDA - right click on the system track icon and choose “Exit” from the context menu.
2. Navigate to the path “C:\Program Files\NVDA\appModules”.
3. Open the file named “_default_desktop.kbd”.
4. Find the line: “NVDA+space=toggleVirtualBufferPassThrough”.
5. Change to: “Control+Shift+space=toggleVirtualBufferPassThrough”.
6. Save the file.
7. Restart NVDA.

Step 4: Restart Windows & Save State

With all of the screen readers installed and configured, restart Windows. Once Windows is restarted, take another snapshot of the virtual machine’s state. If you are using the free, trial versions of JAWS and Window-Eyes they will require you to restart Windows after using either product for ~30 minutes. Using the virtual machine, you can revert back to using JAWS and Window-Eyes more quickly than you would if you had to restart Windows.

Steps Summary

That’s it. The steps for configuring your development environment for testing using a screen reader can be summarized as follows:

1. Install virtualization software
2. Install browsers & take a snapshot of that state
3. Install and configure screen readers
4. Restart the virtual machine & take a snapshot of that state

Resources & Further Reader

• Developing Accessible Widgets with ARIA
• An Introduction to Screen Readers
• Roles for Accessible Rich Internet Applications (WAI-ARIA Roles) Version 1.0
• States and Properties Module for Accessible Rich Internet Applications (WAI-ARIA States and Properties) Version 1.0

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Thanks!
The BOSS Team

After a great turnout this year, we are continuing our monthly online Expert Zone chats with the IE Team in 2009. Here is our schedule for the first half of next year:

January 22^nd

February 19^th

March 19^th

April 23^rd

May 21^st

June 18^th

 

All our chats start at 10.00 PST/18.00 UTC.  These chats are a great opportunity to have your questions answered and hear from members of the IE product team.  In case you miss the chat, a transcript will be published afterward and available online. Previous chat transcripts can be found here.

See you in the new year!

Allison Burnett
Program Manager

A new year is right around the corner so I shared some of our observations from 2008 and my predictions 2009 for what will be affecting airfare pricing. The three main factors that will lead to a lot of volatility in 2009 that I highlight on the Farecast Blog are consumer demand, oil prices and capacity cuts. Looks like 2009 will be a good year for travelers, particularly through winter and spring.

2008 Year in Review — Part I

2008 Year in Review — Part II — 2009 Predictions

Mike Fridgen, Farecast, Director of Product Management

How are you preparing to celebrate New Year’s Eve? I’m planning to greet the New Year with good friends at a wine tasting party. Whether you’re spending the New Year with friends, family, or Dick Clark, here are some fun ways to usher in the New Year.

Countdown to the New Year

It’s not too late to plan a get-together to celebrate the New Year for just a small circle of friends or family. Make merry by throwing a party with simple potluck appetizers and drinks.

Making merry wouldn’t be right without raising a glass of sparkling cider, champagne, or some festive holiday cocktail. To find recipes for the latter, check out Webtender’s Recipe Exchange Forum.

For a daily list of delicious appetizer and snack recipes, check out All Recipes Daily Recipes for Appetizers and Snacks for their droolworthy tidbits.

Enjoy!

Helen
-My Yahoo! Editorial

Earlier this month, I had the pleasure of talking about the next iteration of Yahoo's performance tool YSlow at a conference organized by CSDN in Beijing. While YSlow 2.0 is still under development, it was a great opportunity to share the excitement about the upcoming release and also talk to people who are actually using the current version in their daily development life. We wanted to get a sense of whether we're headed in the right direction.

CSDN stands for China Software Developers Network: a vibrant online community with over 3 million members who create about a million forum posts and 50,000 technology articles, every month. The network runs on an in-house community platform allowing members to join discussions and forums, run blogs, chat, get personal hosting, personalized search and recommendations. The community recognizes and honors contributions through a rating system that rewards the best content with greater visibility. In addition to the online community, CSDN has a book publishing house, prints China's authoritative IT technology magazine Programmer, and provides training and talent recruiting services.

In addition to the YSlow talk, I also gave one about JavaScript, you can check out the slides on Slideshare:

1. YSlow 2.0
2. Object-Oriented JavaScript

Needless to say it was a great experience to meet and talk to the Chinese developers and answer their challenging questions about YSlow and OOJS. And then again, how can you not like a conference that opens in the spirit of the 2008 Beijing Olympics - with cheerleaders!

Stoyan Stefanov
Performance guy / YSlow 2.0 architect

The intermittent FTP publishing problems over the past few days have now been fixed. We are sorry for the inconvenience.

Update: the problems recurred but have now been fixed again, and should not recur.