Author: Sinclair, Norah M

Web stories revisions – Leena

Ms. Laitinen, Accountant with blindness
Ms. Laitinen is the chief accountant at an insurance company that uses web-based documents and forms over a corporate intranet. She is blind and does not read Braille, like many other blind computer users.
More about Ms. Laitinen
Ms. Laitinen uses her desktop computer and mobile phone to access the Web. On her computer she uses:
•	screen reader software that interprets what is displayed on the screen and generates speech output;
•	web browser with keyboard support to help use websites without a mouse.
She uses the keyboard to navigate websites, often by jumping from heading to heading to get an overview of what is on a web page. Her screen reader indicates the structural information on a webpage such as headings, column and row headings in tables, list items, links, form controls, and more. She has become accustomed to listening to speech output at a speed that her co-workers cannot understand at all. However, when websites are not coded correctly and do not include structural information, Ms. Laitinen would have to read every web page from top to bottom to find the information that she needs, which is unmanageable. She avoids such websites where she can, both for business and for leisure. 
Her company uses tables to organize much of the information on the intranet documents, which can sometimes be difficult to read by people using screen readers. However, since the tables in these documents are marked up properly, she readily orients herself to the information in the tables. The materials also include alternative text for images, labels for form elements, and other navigational cues that are interpreted by the screen reader.
As one of the more senior members of the accounting staff, Ms. Laitenen must frequently train employees in different locations using a virtual learning environment. This includes video conferencing, document and slide sharing, as well as a live chatroom. It was a challenge to find a tool that is accessible to her and other employees with disabilities, but in the end, this proved to be more beneficial for most of the staff.
Draft proposed revision-
Leena, Senior staff member who is blind

Leena is blind. She is the chief accountant at an insurance company that uses web-based documents and forms over a corporate intranet and like many other blind computer users,
she does not read Braille. 

Leena uses a screen reader and mobile phone to access the web. Both her screen reader and her mobile phone accessibility features provide her with information regarding the device’s operating system, applications, and text content in a speech output form.

When accessing web content, the screen reader indicates aloud the structural information on a webpage such as headings, column and row headers in tables, list items, links, form controls, and more that enable her to better navigate the page, complete and submit forms, and access information in an effective manner. She is able to listen to and understand speech output at a very high speed. Leena encounters problems when websites are not properly coded and do not include alt text descriptions on images. These sites are unnavigable and require large amounts of time to read text from the top of the page to the bottom without navigation cues. Occasionally she finds herself trapped in areas on a webpage unable to move to another area and must abandon the page altogether.

As a senior member of her organization, Leena provides training to employees in online environments through the use of video conferencing applications, document and slide sharing applications as well as chat rooms. Leena and her staff evaluated a number of training tools before finding an effective application with accessibility features that meet the needs of a diverse staff with diverse abilities.

For more information on implementing techniques that remove barriers for Leena, see the following resources: