Online workshop: universal web design for better communication
Prof Norm Coombs
. . given entirely over the internet starting Feb. 16 for 6 weeks.
Who is your audience?
What is your message?
Are you sure that your web page design permits all of your audience to get
your message?
Millions of new users connect to the internet every day, and more and more
they are not the typical, young techy type. Seniors are the fastest
segment of internet users. You may need to broaden your image of those
coming to your page.
There are over 50 million Americans with disabilities and they are also
avid internet users. When a computer with synthesizer can read the page to
someone who is blind, low vision, learning disabled or getting blurry
vision from age, it provides access to print materials for them like never
before. When you can't hold a book or newspaper, but you can read it on a
monitor connected to the web, you have entered a new world.
However, you can design web pages that make life harder for these users and
deny them access to the information they so badly need.
If you are an educational institution, you are required to provide access
to your programs and information, and the web, properly designed, can be
the most inexpensive and easiest way to do this.
You can learn more about EASI's online workshops including a syllabus for
EASI-WEB and also get registration costs and information
http://www.rit.edu/~easi/workshops.html
or you can write me:
Norman Coombs, Ph.D.
Chair of EASI at nrc...@rit.edu
EASI (Equal Access to Software and Information) is part of the TLT Group,
and the Teaching, Learning, and Technology Group is an affiliate of the
American Association for Higher Education
Students and professionals with disabilities must have
the same access to information and resources as everyone else!
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deos moderator
Professor Coombs made reference to computers with synthesizer for blind
people, when he was talking about designing web pages.
I have a blind friend for whom I bought Golden Dragon Speaking. However the
learning time to get use to the voice is quite long. So far she has not
used it.
Are there any better relatively inexpensive systems for blind people to be
able use and "read" the computer?
Thanks
Chuck Albritton
Charles E. Wright
When discussing Screen Reading Programs vs Speech Input Programs--they are two
distinct and separate programs; Dragon Dictate provides a vehicle for input as
a substitute for the keyboard. The Screen Reading Program (of which there are
several) allows the user through the use of keyboard commands to scan and read
the page--control can be a character at a time, word, sentence, etc. up to a
full document.
Screen Readers work by building a buffer to "collect" the information being sent
to the screen via video--this is called an off-screen monitor. The information
is then sent to the speech synthesizer which then reproduces the sound in a
synthesized speech (most systems now utilize the sound card and software to
reproduce the speech).
You can find information regarding adaptive technology at a number of sites; I
usually recommend going to : http://www.duxburysystems.com and then going to the
related links to do a preview of the various vendors, organizations, etc.
specific to this disability and access to the WWW.
Chuck Wright, Program Coordinator
Western Regional Graduate Program
University of Northern Colorado
McKee Hall
Greeley, CO 80639