International Business Machines Corporation

Frances C Brown

Richard Scott Schwerdtfeger

Peter Gustav Fairweather

Samuel Roy Detweiler

Beth Rush Tibbitts

Susan Crayne

Vicki Lynne Hanson

Lawrence Frank Weiss

Sharon Mary Trewin

Stephen Paul Farrell

A method and system that provide browser-based functions by injected into a web page a control button, form text field or similar browser-based function control such that both the browser controls and the content of the web page can be transformed for accessibility. A proxy machine retrieves a web page for a user, and then injects the user selected browser function controls into the web page itself. The injected browser controls are supported by web-based application services, preferably resident in an intermediary proxy machine, for producing web content that is representative of that function. The web page is transformed into a style that is accessible for that particular user, such as magnifying the page, reformatting background schemes, etc. The user can select which browser function buttons are injected into the web page, and as the web page is transformed for accessibility, the browser controls on the page are likewise transformed.

Method and system for providing browser functions on a web page for client-specific accessibility

A method and system that provide a central repository for client specific accessibility applications to a user from an accessible server. The repository is updated on a periodic basis with new solutions provided by the service provider, who also manages licensing agreements between the user and the owner of the accessibility application. Accessibility programs, such as page magnification, screen readers, background changes, input modification, etc., are downloaded into the client device being used by the user customer by clicking link buttons from a web page generated by the service provider's server. The accessibility programs downloaded are then resident on the client device until changed by the user. In a preferred embodiment, the service provider also provides a universal transcoding service to apply the user selected accessibility transformations to any type of client device used by the user.

Method and system for providing a central repository for client-specific accessibility

A method and system using for establishing an intermediary connection between a client device and a secure website using a web proxy machine. In the preferred embodiment, a secure connection is established between the web proxy and the secure content server. A response from the content server, typically in HTML format, is sent to the proxy machine through a secure connection. The proxy machine is then able to manipulate the secure response from the secure server, in ways such as transcoding the response to a format readable by the user device, storing sensitive financial data in cookies in the proxy machine, and to return a response from the content provider to the client device with or preferably without cookies.

System and method for transcoding support of web content over secure connections

A system for removing and saving in an intermediary web server Internet cookies being transmitted from a web content server to a client device. Internet cookies, being persistent client data for a specific user and a specific content provider, typically contain sensitive data, including a history of past purchases or financial information about the user such as a credit card number. To protect the security of the cookies, and to allow an authorized user to use the cookies from multiple devices, such as different desktop computers, PDA's or cellular telephones, the cookies are removed from the data response from the web content server and stored in an intermediary web server, where they are accessible to the user.

Method and system for remotely managing persistent state data

A method and system that provide an accessibility gateway to the Internet through the use of a web intermediary server, which may belong to a different domain than the web content server. The web intermediary server includes server-generated applications for modifying accessibility settings for supported client devices, registering the user for authority to use the intermediary server services, and generating web-based, user-specific browser service replacements such as history lists and bookmarks. A request for any web page is sent from the client device to the intermediary server. The intermediary server retrieves the requested web document, and applies user-defined transformations to the web document, which is then sent back to the user device's user agent. If the web document is from a secure web page, the intermediary server functions as a proxy for the user device to establish the requisite secure connection with the web page.

Method and system for delivering accessibility using a distributed environment

A method and system using directive script in a web intermediary proxy machine that provides the function of a transcoder. The intermediary machine's transcoders are controlled by directive script that directs the order and properties of transcoder operations executed on one or more transcoders in the intermediary machine. These directive scripts are stored in an on-the-fly modifiable directive database accessible to the web intermediary proxy machine. The user's client machine browser passes an HTTP request to the web intermediary machine, which passes the HTTP request to a web content server, which returns an HTML response back to the web intermediary machine. This HTML response is sent to at least one transcoder that resides in or is at least accessible to the intermediary proxy machine. The transcoder identifies the type of device being used by the client from the HTTP request. The user's preference transcoding settings are retrieved in the form of directives from a directive script, preferably in XML format, retrieved from a settings database, and applied to the transcoders. The tailored transcoded response is then sent back to the user's client machine.

Method and system of use of transcode directives for distributed control of transcoding servers

Several different methods for presenting (e.g., displaying) a hierarchical structure are presented. The hierarchical structure includes multiple elements, and defines hierarchical relationships between the elements. The hierarchical structure may be embodied within an electronic document such as a Web document, an interactive application program, or a map divided into sections. Each element has a &ldquo;presentation property&rdquo; which may be a value or a function. A single one of the elements has &ldquo;focus&rdquo; (e.g., in accordance with the coding of the document by an author, by default, etc.). A &ldquo;view depth&rdquo; method includes forming a model (e.g., a tree structure) of the hierarchical structure. The model includes multiple levels ranked with respect to one another, multiple nodes representing elements, and at least one branch.

User interface management through view depth

A system, method, and program allow the execution of a different response of an application extension manager without modifying the default response of the application extension manager. The application extension manager resides in system memory. The application extension manager allows an execution unit to execute a task or a series of tasks in an ordered list associated with an event. A task is a set of executable instructions associated with an event that may be executed by the execution unit. When an event occurs, the application extension manager acquires the task on top of the ordered list. The acquired task then becomes selected to be executed by the execution unit. The selected task returns a value which indicates whether the application extension manager should proceed to the next task. If the value indicates to proceed to the next task, the next task becomes the selected task and the above stated process is repeated.

System, method and program for producing a customized response

Systems and methods for presenting (e.g., displaying) a hierarchical structure are presented. The hierarchical structure includes multiple elements and defines hierarchical relationships between the elements. The hierarchical structure may be embodied within an electronic document such as a Web document, an interactive application program, or a map divided into sections. Each element has a &ldquo;presentation property&rdquo; which may be a value or a function. One of the elements has &ldquo;focus&rdquo; (e.g., as created, by default, etc.). A &ldquo;branch isolation&rdquo; method includes forming a tree-like model of the hierarchical structure having multiple nodes and at least one branch. Each node represents one of the elements. One node is a root node and occupies a highest level in the hierarchical structure. A given branch connects a first node in a first level to a second node in a level directly below the first level. Each branch represents a hierarchical relationship between connected nodes. A &ldquo;focus node&rdquo; represents the element receiving focus. A &ldquo;path&rdquo; in the model from the root node to the focus node is determined. The presentation property of the element represented by the root node is selectively presented. The presentation property of each element represented by a node, other than the root node, along the path from the root node to the focus node is also presented. The presentation property of each element represented by a node in a subtree is also presented, wherein the focus node is a root node of the subtree.

User interface management through branch isolation

A data processing system and method providing for the sharing of inputs and outputs between a first assistive technology application and a second assistive technology application. An input/output manager in the first application is used to manage inputs to and outputs from the second application. An input method in the first application sends input to the second application. An output method in the first application receives output from the second application. A channel is formed between the input/output manager and the input and output methods to pass input and output that allows assistive technology applications to share user interface devices.

Data processing system and method for sharing user interface devices of a provider assistive technology application with disparate user assistive technology applications

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Austin, TX, United States of America

Frances C Brown