FOLLOWING ARE DESCRIPTIONS of the accessibility software available at the eight accessible computing sites, resident on the 'campus backbone' LAN. MS-DOS versions of all programs are available now, and Microsoft Windows versions are coming on-line now through the beginning of next semester. All of these applications run simultaneously with other software.

- HandiKey and HandiShift (augment tactile skills). These innovations allow users to depress keys sequentially rather than all at once, helping them to execute dexterity-intensive commands, like the illustrious 'Control-Alt-Delete.' At some locations, sticky 'track balls' will replace mice, significantly enhancing users' control over pointer and cursor placement. According to Leavitt, the next upgrade of UNIX will also include sticky-key and sticky-mouse capabilities.

- HandiWord (word prediction software). Along the bottom of the screen, it displays a menu of frequently-used words, indexed by number. The menus appear as the user enters the first letters of the intended word. If the software correctly anticipates 'Did_' from the user's inputted 'D,' she selects 'Did_' by number, resulting in a net savings of two keystrokes. Over the course of a document, the average number of keystrokes is reduced by half. The software is customizable, so it gets better and better at predicting an individual's prose the more it is used.

- Magic and ZoomText (screen enlargers). These applications magnify the entire screen from two to eight times. They allow the user to smoothly pan across a vastly increased field of view (especially when the software is used in conjunction with a 20-inch monitor, as at many of the sites).

- Vocalize (voice simulator). This software reads text aloud using a synthesized human voice. Users may listen to text that they have written as well as text that they have scanned, as from a textbook, newspaper or telephone directory.