IBM has made a tool for Web browsers that will <A HREF="http://news.zdnet.com/2100-9588_22-6166491.html?tag=nl.e550">help the blind and visually impaired</A> access streaming multimedia on the Web.

The tool, which works with Microsoft's Internet Explorer or Mozilla's Firefox Web browser, is designed to handle any file that is embedded in a Web site, including Adobe Flash or Windows Media files.

The tool, which IBM plans to make open source, will be showcased at next week's 2007 Technology & Persons with Disabilities Conference.