Close your eyes. Place your hands on the keyboard and try to find the mouse. You want to use Yahoo! Messenger, but you’re not sure where to go, how to type, or where to click…
For a moment, you just sat in the seat of a visually impaired user who cannot rely on a mouse or look at the screen the way sighted users do. So how would you use Yahoo! Messenger if you were visually impaired?
I spent some time recently with Victor Tsaran, a program manager on our Accessibility team here at Yahoo!. The team’s charter is to work with product teams, including Messenger, to make our technologies as accessible as possible for disabled users.
With the help of screen reader software, a visually impaired user can enjoy the Internet and products like Yahoo! Messenger. This kind of software responds to a user’s key commands. It scans the page or application and reads the content aloud. In this way, visually impaired users can “hear” where they are on the screen. There are several major screen reading programs available. Job Access for Windows with Speech (JAWS) is a popular one that works well with Yahoo! Messenger.
Because it reads the words aloud, a screen reader can sound wordy to people unaccustomed to listening to it. But the visually impaired user who is adept at listening to the reader can set the audio playback at a lightening pace. When Victor demonstrated how he uses Yahoo! Messenger with the JAWS screen reader, it sounded to me like supersonic gibberish. Thankfully, he used a command to slow down the audio so my less nimble ears could decipher it.
With a screen reader, visually impaired users can enjoy most of the communication features in Messenger. Watch this video to see how Victor uses Yahoo! Messenger with the JAWS software:
Victor also has developed several scripts for JAWS that make it more compatible with Yahoo! Messenger. One script reads aloud the alert pop-ups that come up from the taskbar, such as when a friend comes online or when a new Mail message arrives. Messenger has built-in sound alerts for these, but Victor’s script also reads aloud the content so he knows which friend has come online or what the subject of his new email message is.
Other scripts make it possible for him to click the links that friends send in an IM (remember, he doesn’t use a mouse!) and let him use some of the plug-ins like Weather and News.
Victor’s scripts aren’t just for his personal use. As he develops them, they are included in releases of the latest JAWS software. Thanks to Victor, Yahoo! Messenger is even more accessible for visually impaired users on JAWS.
Thanks, Victor for sharing your unique perspective on using Yahoo! Messenger.
Were you glued to ESPN last Sunday? Do you find yourself whistling your school’s fight song and organizing your wardrobe by your school’s colors? Then it’s official: March Madness has begun.
To help you channel your hoops zeal, we’ve filled Yahoo! Messenger with everything you need to keep up with the games, show your school pride, and taunt your friends as their school’s dreams vanish. See everything we’ve cooked up to help you keep your IM on the ball.
Start the NCAA Basketball IMVironment during your IM conversation and both you and your friend will get real-time scores along with the latest news from the tournament and your favorite teams. Try the NCAA Basketball IMV now
Let’s not forget taunting, one of the most important skills that a tournament veteran possesses. Use the new NCAA Basketball Audibles to play referee, root for the underdog, and to tell a friend what you really think about a team’s defense. To find the new Audibles, click the button in the IM window, click the “More Audibles” button, and then go to the “See All Audibles” menu. Try the NCAA Basketball Audibles now
And even if your team doesn’t make it far in the tournament, Yahoo! Avatars has NCAA uniform jerseys for over 30 teams. Changing allegiances is as easy as changing your shirt.
Here’s just a few items that I wanted to mention today…
We’ve made more Phone In numbers available for the United Kingdom and France. The Phone In service lets you purchase a phone number so you can receive calls from friends right in Yahoo! Messenger (plus free voicemail). Get a Phone In number
Think you’re pretty good with the keyboard shortcuts for emoticons? Test your skills with a fun game called EmotiBlaster over at WackyB. Sort of like Space Invaders meets Memory. The game was originally created by Chris Szeto on the Yahoo! Messenger team.
CNET’s Download.com editors gave Yahoo! Messenger a 5 out of 5 stars back in December. Yeah! Note that the download.com listing refers to the version 8.1.0.209 but when you download from there or the Yahoo! Messenger site, you’ll always get the latest version which is currently 8.1.0.239.
People tell me all the time how much they love the emoticons in Yahoo! Messenger. I think they’re cute too but when you read how these two users have channeled their emoticon passion, you too will believe.
Laney’s story couldn’t stop me from grinning. She sent us a picture of a Yahoo! Messenger “big grin” emoticon that she has tattooed on her leg. That’s a permanent, forever, not-going-anywhere tattoo!
Laney tells us she got the tattoo because it captures her bubbly personality and symbolizes the relationships she has enjoyed because of Yahoo! Messenger. She met her son’s adoptive family online and got to know them using Yahoo! Messenger and Mail. She also chats with close friends in faraway places like England, Greece, Turkey and Africa. Laney said “The ‘big grin’ was the best symbol I could find to represent my general love of the internet.”
We originally discovered a user named Darius from a blog comment he posted about his latest creation, the “emoticoncert”. Using text, Yahoo! Messenger emoticons and a catchy tune, Darius creates music videos with his IM window. Check out his emoticoncert “Mistaken” with music by Save Ferris:
He’s made six emoticoncerts so far using both English and Romanian tunes. Response to his creations has surprised even Darius, capturing media attention in his home country of Romania, flooding his accomplice Paula with many new friends, and even prompting a video parody from an appreciative viewer. View all of Darius’ emoticoncerts
Thanks to Laney and Darius for showing their dedication to everyone’s favorite little emoticons.
It’s great fun to change the clothes, backgrounds and accessories on your Avatar. But when you sign out of Messenger, that’s the end of your Avatar until next time, right? Nope! You can display your Avatar on a personal web page, blog or even MySpace page using the handy export tools on the Avatars site.
To get started, visit the Export your Avatar page (you may need to sign in first). You can choose to export a small (48×48 pixels) or large (150×235) version of your Avatar in JPG or PNG graphic format. Then just copy the snippet of HTML code that’s provided and drop it into your blog, MySpace page or other webpage to display your Avatar. When you update your Avatar on Yahoo!, it will automatically update on your page too.
You can also save the image of your Avatar to send in email, upload to your Yahoo! 360 profile, or even to use as a display image in another IM program. Visit the Download your Avatar page to get started.
One drawback to the exported or downloaded Avatar – it’s a static image that doesn’t animate with the facial expressions and moods that you normally see when you’re using Yahoo! Messenger. But leave it to our friends at WackyB to tackle that challenge and find a solution! Check out the WackyB article “I’ve borrowed my Yahoo! Avatar” to find out how to embed an animated version of your Avatar into a webpage.
If you’ve got your Avatar appearing on your website or blog, drop us a note in the comments with the web address so we can check it out!
Close your eyes. Place your hands on the keyboard and try to find the mouse. You want to use Yahoo! Messenger, but you’re not sure where to go, how to type, or where to click…
Were you glued to ESPN last Sunday? Do you find yourself whistling your school’s fight song and organizing your wardrobe by your school’s colors? Then it’s official: March Madness has begun.
Use the new NCAA Basketball Audibles to play referee, root for the underdog, and to tell a friend what you really think about a team’s defense. To find the new Audibles, click the 
button in the IM window, click the “More Audibles” button, and then go to the “See All Audibles” menu. 
Hi everyone,
People tell me all the time how much they love the 
