VB Suite offers many different accessibility and preference options.
This article describes:
- Inclusive design and preference features in VB Suite
- How to enable Accessibility Mode in VB Suite
- How to navigate key features when using Accessibility Mode in VB Suite
This article describes these options and where to find them in the software.
This video provides highlights of accessibility in VB Suite
Preferences in VB Suite
Outside of Accessibility Mode VB Suite offers various inclusive design features that make it easy for customers to adjust font size, contrast, and display language, enable text to speech, turn on closed-captioning for animations, and use keyboard short cuts instead of gestures or mouse and trackpad. Most of these are available from the settings menu.
- The Read-Aloud feature is available in the Info box.
- Other features are available in the Settings menu.
- Keyboard shortcuts that bypass mouse and gesture commands are available from any screen and described in this article.
Read-Aloud in VB Suite
VB Suite includes a Listen button that uses TTS (text to speech) technology to read aloud paragraphs of text, including definitions, common conditions, and preset view information.
The Listen button can be found next to any paragraph-length text. For example:
The Listen button supports the seven languages in VB Suite. It relies on the language set for the entire computer or mobile device to select the language and voice of the synthetic reader.*
For example, if the device’s language is set to English and you prefer the text in VB Suite to be read in Spanish, you would need to:
(1) Change the VB Suite language in settings to Spanish
(2) Check that your device's language is set to Spanish
Adjustable settings in VB Suite
The Settings menu offers various ways to adjust the VB Suite visuals and text to meet the needs and preferences of each customer. Select the VB Suite Settings menu at the bottom right of any screen to adjust the following:
VB Suite offers many different accessibility and preference options. These are in the settings menu at the bottom right of any screen.
-
Color Theme | Adjust for light
Choose from black, white, and gray backgrounds to adjust for different lighting conditions, such as low-light environments. Turn on Auto-detect to match light or dark mode to your setting preferences. -
Model | Female/Male
VB Suite features complete female and male anatomy models. This setting toggles between them. -
Reference Body | Anatomy in Context
Turn on a glass-like outline of the human body to help identify where anatomy exists in relation to the rest of the body. -
Closed Captioning | Add subtitles
This feature turns on subtitles that match the audio in animations. -
High Quality | Adjust for slower internet speeds
Turn on this feature for the best version of the 3D models. These high-quality models use more computer and internet resources. If you experience slow loading or lagging, turn off this setting. -
Font Size | Select text size
Change the font size to make the text appear larger or smaller. -
Language | Select preferred language
VB Suite supports seven different languages: English, Simplified Chinese, French, German, Italian, Japanese, and Spanish. -
Blank Tags | Quiz yourself
The tags feature adds labels to multiple 3D models. This setting removes the structure names from inside the tags, so you can create worksheets and self-study cards by adding blank labels to multiple 3D models. -
Suggest Flashcard Labels | Study with accuracy
Turn on Suggest Flashcard Labels to enable the Auto-Label option when creating your Flashcard. This feature automatically fills in the name of your selected structure when you add a label to a Flashcard. -
Controls | Select how you move models
This feature gives you the option of using a virtual joystick on your desktop. The joystick is a great option if your trackpad is very sensitive to rotation. You can also select the direction that models rotate and pan using the joystick, a mouse, or a trackpad. The Invert Pan and Invert Rotation controls let you change the rotation from right to left and from up to down when you gesture on the trackpad or use the mouse or joystick.
*About text to speech and recorded pronunciations in VB Suite:
The English structure pronunciations available when the Pronunciation button is selected are recorded with a neutral accent and reflect the pronunciation in common medical literature. The English structure name is read aloud using Accessibility Mode and the Listen button TTS technology converts text to speech. In some cases, the pronunciation of the structure available through the Listen, screen reader, and Pronunciation buttons will differ.
Enable Accessibility Mode in VB Suite
To use Visible Body Suite with a screen reader and keyboard navigation, follow these steps:
Web browser
(1) From your computer’s settings menu, enable a screen reader (such as VoiceOver for Mac or Narrator for Windows).
(2) Launch Visible Body Suite in your browser.
(3a) For VoiceOver users: Once VB Suite has finished loading, press the VO key(s) and U to open the links menu. Select “Enable Accessibility in Application (Beta)” from the links menu and a dropdown will appear as shown in the image below. Press enter to select “Enable Accessibility in Application (Beta)” from the dropdown.
(3b) For Narrator users: Once VB Suite has finished loading, press the Narrator key and F7 to open the list of hyperlinks. Select “Enable Accessibility in Application (Beta)” from the list to open the dropdown shown in the image below. Press enter to select “Enable Accessibility in Application (Beta)” from the dropdown.
Mobile device
(1) From your mobile device’s settings menu, enable VoiceOver (iOS) or TalkBack (Android).
(2) Launch Visible Body Suite.
To turn off the screen reader and keyboard navigation in Visible Body Suite, follow these steps:
Web browser
(1) From your computer’s settings menu, turn off your screen reader.
(2) Launch or relaunch Visible Body Suite in your browser.
Mobile device
(1) From your mobile device’s settings menu, disable VoiceOver (iOS) or TalkBack (Android).
(2) Launch or relaunch Visible Body Suite.
Note for Android users: tapping with three fingers can turn TalkBack on or off.
Accessibility Mode features in VB Suite
When in Accessibility mode for the web or on mobile, VB Suite supports keyboard commands and screen reader functionality for nearly all menu and asset interactions. Here are examples of interacting with VB Suite menus and features in Accessibility Mode:
To select an asset, browse the VB Suite menu screens in Accessibility Mode.
To view and select 3D models and structures in VB Suite Accessibility Mode:
- Use the keyboard navigation to move between various views of a structure
- Type in Search to locate and Select a structure, and zoom into it.
To dissect or hide structure in Accessibility Mode, there are three options:
- Use the system tray to add or remove groups of structures across systems
- Use Content Search and the Hide/Show options in the Info box
- Use the Hierarch feature to highlight and hide/show structures in the same body system
Text and labels on Illustrations and histology slides are screen reader compatible when in Accessibility Mode. This feature is available in seven languages.
Additional Accessibility Mode features that are particular to students using Visible Body in a course are available with Courseware and can be previewed in the Courseware Accessibility article.
Accessibility Roadmap for VB Suite
There are features not currently available, or with limited functionality in accessibility mode:
-
"Listen" button
This is not accessible because it overlaps with the usual VO readout using keyboard navigation and TST. Users can tab to the actual text to have TTS read it. More customer feedback on use cases is needed.
-
Muscle O/I Pin Flag
The UI is not accessible. This can be done in a later release.
-
“Hide Menus” button
This is not accessible because it removes all UI and that seemed undesired.
-
AR (augmented reality) button
This feature on mobile is not accessible because it requires multiple hand movements in combination with UI selections. More customer feedback on use cases is needed.
-
Drawing in 3D
This feature and all buttons/palettes are accessible. However users need a finger or mouse to draw. More customer feedback on use cases is needed.
-
Creating a Flashcard
This feature is accessible and so are all the buttons to mark up a Flashcard. However users need a finger or mouse to actually draw or move labels around. This limits the accessibility mode of creating a flashcard. More customer feedback on use cases is needed.
We welcome feedback on the entire accessibility feature set and the roadmap items. Contact your VB education team representative or reach out to the team at support@visiblebody.com