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?"

Comments

Shitty web design is not a "blind" problem

[seanadams.com]

If we work on the broader problem then we get better web sites for everyone, especially the disabled, without even making any particular effort for them. For example:

- A link to download a file should just go to the file, not some clever javascript crap that tells you to please wait while you're redirected, your download should start in a few moments etc.

- Quit breaking stuff up into dozens of tiny bite sized pages. My scrollbar works just fine thank you very much, and it lets me scan all of the content in an instant instead of having to click through it all. Yes, I know that some people do this to goose their ad revenue, but you see it other places too.

- Don't use clever little graphics and pop-ups for every link, text works much better.

- I don't need links to "print this page" or "email it to a friend".

- You don't need to know what region of the world I'm in before I can download a damned printer driver.

- Don't use ridiculous URLs that query stuff from a CGI with a zillion arguments just to serve up a static page.

I could go on all day... fixing any of those design problems would automatically improve accessibility, not just for blind users but for mobile devices as well.

Thankfully we've mostly gotten rid of the horrible "splash pages", flash animations, and musical home pages. I'm sure in due time people will get their head around some of the other basic issues I've mentioned, but unfortunately people keep coming up with dumb new ideas much faster than that.

Re:Shitty web design is not a "blind" problem

[shrikel]

Thankfully we've mostly gotten rid of the horrible ... musical home pages.
Are you kidding? Those at least can be enjoyed by blind and seeing people alike!

Re:Shitty web design is not a "blind" problem

[What Would NPH Do]

Unfortunately, though, more and more companies are making their pages entirely flash based. I think that's a far more of an egregious problem than the stuff you mention. Why the fuck I need to waste my time loading fucking flash movies to navigate a page when it works better in plain HTML is beyond me.

Re:Shitty web design is not a "blind" problem

[Aquaseafoam]

I find it highly insensitive that you have overlooked the deaf community. Surely they also wish to enjoy such magnificent web pages.

Re:Shitty web design is not a "blind" problem

[piojo]

I find it highly insensitive that you have overlooked the deaf community. Surely they also wish to enjoy such magnificent web pages. So you're saying that when I add the soundtrack to my home page, I should have the musical notes going by in a flash animation?

Re:Shitty web design is not a "blind" problem

[longLiveTheShell]

Those anoying videos and songs are the reason as a blind computer user I refuse to use myspace, there's nothing more anoying then trying to view someones page and having mili sirus pop up drownding out your speach software.

Do the Blind Deserve More Effort on the Web?

[Jswalden86]

I can't see why not.

Re:My philosophy

[CyberData4]

Stop being a drama queen. I have peanut butter allergies too. I just don't eat the shit. Problem solved.

Re:Alt Tags for Images

[elecmahm]

I disagree -- and if you've ever used a screen reader you'd understand how nearsighted (no pun intended) that comment is.

1. = Alt tags, yes. But also:
2. = Long desc on images that are content-heavy or pertinent to the content
3. = Using a proper hierarchy of header tags (H1/2/3/4/5)
4. = Using lists (UL, OL, DL, etc.) properly
5. = Placing the content BEFORE the navigation, or at least providing an internally linked "skipnav" link (use CSS to hide it)
6. = using title properties on links
7. = Creating non-flash versions of key items
8. = Using Javascript as an additional convenience, but not a key element. (I *still* see sites that use window.href onclick events instead of just using an "A" tag.)

That's just the beginning. Not using alt tags doesn't "break the web" for screen readers, it's just less helpful. But not using semantically accurate tags can make it nearly impossible to read or navigate a page. The screen reader JAWS (what I was trained on) can jump through a page by header tags, so having a proper hierarchy is crucial to them being able to quickly locate the information they need.

If your site breaks with all plugins, javascript, and CSS turned off, then blind people will effectively NOT be able to use it.

...pages entirely flash based...

[HTH NE1]

Two words. Sing them with me:

Flash! Aaa-aah!

Speaking as one who has both problems

[davmoo]

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).

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 :-) ), 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.

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.