The combination of the Internet and computer screen reader software means blind people now have more access to written information than ever before. But bad Web design is making accessibility difficult.
A folded white cane lies next to piles of papers and coffee cups on computer programmer Günter Christmann’s desk. He is blind and can’t actually see the written text on the computer screen in front of him.
Christmann opens up his Internet browser using the keyboard curser and types in the name of the site he wants to visit — the tap of his fingers accompanied by a fast-talking robotic voice that fastidiously reads every single character displayed on the screen.
Given the amounts of advertisements, pictures, links and headings on a single Internet page, it can sometimes take a while for a blind user to find the actual text that they want. But according to Christmann, even if it does take him longer to find what he wants, it’s worth it.
Information on the Net
Formerly, if Christmann required to read a newspaper, he had to wait for it to be scanned into Braille, which meant the reports were already days old.
“Nowadays, with Internet, I can go to the newspaper or magazine and I can read the newspaper directly,” he said.
The Internet has an even more useful side. Before the advent of the Net, Christmann had to wait for an important person to scan in his computer manuals so he could do his work.
“Now, I can search with Google and find the whole thing I need,” he said. “I can find more information that I ever dreamt of.”
There are several types of screen reader software that Europe’s 2.7 million blind people can use if they have computer access. Most of these programs can easily switch between the major European languages written in the Roman script.
Source : http://www.dw-world.de/
September 22, 2007 at 11:17 am |
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