Slashdot Mirror
Do the Blind Deserve More Effort on the Web?
dratcw writes "An article was posted this week to ComputerWorld, detailing the frustrations faced by blind people struggling to use the Web. The piece shows how little progress has been made and the inadequacy of solutions such as Microsoft's Narrator screen reader. While the article generated many positive comments, one reader said the disabled should 'get a grip' and maintained they 'have no more right to demand that others provide for their needs than I, as a diabetic, have a right to demand that sugar no longer be used.' Should Web sites and software makers do more, or does the reality of today's economics dictate that the blind/disabled will continue to struggle and learn to live with it?"
Ding! See what Janus recently did to their front page. Because it uses Flash, not only can't the blind get to their accounts, but they have now forced people to use an insecure interface to access their account. Brilliant!
The same applies for those links you see. Click on 'Institutional Cash'. See what happens?
This is why, Flash must die!
We will bankrupt ourselves in the vain search for absolute security. -- Dwight D. Eisenhower
On any number of projects where I've provided a web interface, I've been told in no uncertain words that I was to make pages that were tailored for exactly the browser and screen that the project's manager uses.
Thus, I've often been told that the pages must be forced via things like width= attributes to be exactly N pixels wide, even when there's nothing in a page that is dependent on any particular width. I've been ordered to present some data in pictorial form, even when simple text data was easier to understand and took less screen space.
So very often, managers explicitly order their developers to produce web pages that are inaccessible to anyone other than people exactly like them.
There are some ways that one can fight this. In a few cases, I've found that I can "go over the boss's head" by showing a higher-up something that they find useful. I happen to know that they have a Blackberry or a Treo that they love and use all the time, and my boss's declared page structure won't work on their machine, so eventually orders come down to make the web interface usable on the higher-ups' favorite little handheld gadget. While doing this, I can also sneak in things that make it more accessible to the disabled.
But this is a passive-resistance approach, and it's not always successful. I like to also try to get across the idea that you, yes you, may find yourself handicapped by this time next week, in a way that you can't predict. The sensible thing would be to guarantee that your minions' efforts are usable even after that accident or medical emergency has left you restricted in what you can see or read.
But few managers are willing to take such a long-term view of the situation. So all too often, my pages aren't as accessible as I know how to make them.
It would be nice to learn of other ways that we developers can fight such management intransigence.
Those who do study history are doomed to stand helplessly by while everyone else repeats it.
Oh, say does that Star-Spangled Banner entwine / The myrtle of Venus with Bacchus's vine?
I have looked into developing for screen readers in the past, but the biggest problem I've run into is the software being used by the disabled.
1) there are great disparities between how the screen readers interpret things.
2) the most popular screen readers are expensive, and offer no free versions for developers.
The Microsoft Narrator didn't hit my radar. I don't know anything about it, but if it's free and of high quality, that's a major step forward.
You forgot that
- People use different versions of Flash.
- People have different resolutions. Normal font can be very tiny on some screens.
- Some people don't have Flash at all.
So there goes your control.
I was going to post something about how mad it made me as a kid when I was told I couldn't take peanut butter sandwiches to school, the ONLY thing my mother could put in a sack that I would eat. Seriously, I know I'm being picky, but how is someone else's allergy my problem? I've rewritten this twice to make it less offensive, but isn't there something (no matter how inconvenient, the problem is on your end after all) that you or your daughter could to to shield her from the peanut particles? It isn't like anyone is force feeding her peanuts -- is there anything short of a hazmat suit, or just staying at home, that would keep her from dieing without infringing on anyone else?
A little inaccuracy sometimes saves tons of explanation.
Since this article hits on both, conveniently I am both diabetic and have vision problems (I can see, but I have a horrid prescription to do so, and even then cannot see anywhere near 20/20).
:-) ), I am (almost rabidly) opposed to the idea of government enforcement to do so. The quickest way to ruin something good is to add government intervention.
While I think its nice if businesses accommodate those who are visually impaired, and I think its in their own best interest to do so (just because I have trouble seeing doesn't mean I don't spend money
There are a number of websites, both commercial and not, that I have trouble reading. Know what I do? I go browse somewhere else.
What are we going to require next? Special keyboards at public internet stations for those who are prone to hangnails?
If I had a commercial website and someone or some government entity *demanded* or *required* that I arrange my page a certain way, etc, quite frankly I'd tell them to go get fucked.
I want a new quote. One that won't spill. One that don't cost too much. Or come in a pill.