
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.
| selected citations These citations are derived from selected sources. This is an alternative to the "Influence" indicator, which also reflects the overall/total impact of an article in the research community at large, based on the underlying citation network (diachronically). | 12 | |
| popularity This indicator reflects the "current" impact/attention (the "hype") of an article in the research community at large, based on the underlying citation network. | Top 10% | |
| influence This indicator reflects the overall/total impact of an article in the research community at large, based on the underlying citation network (diachronically). | Top 10% | |
| impulse This indicator reflects the initial momentum of an article directly after its publication, based on the underlying citation network. | Top 10% |
