The decreased cost, increased performance, and stable operating systems of computer workstations have helped them become a popular choice on desktops.* Most of these workstations present information using a graphical user interface (GUI), a departure from the common character-by- character or "text" fashion. A GUI shows information using not only text but also symbols, icons, windows and other visual elements. Although many accessibility solutions exist for character-by-character user interfaces, few exist for the GUI's found on workstations. Because of this, people with disabilities often have difficulty accessing workstations.
The lack of accessibility solutions is due, in part, to the variations in operating systems across different vendors' workstations. A GUI known as the X Window System has become a common interface on many vendor's workstations, however, and provides the capability for common access solutions. The Trace Center is coordinating a group of consumers, researchers, and companies known as the Disability Action Committee for X (DACX), whose goal is to develop accessibility features for workstations running the X Window System.