illiteracy & internet

Thank you for mentioning the "lower-literate" category.  By the definition
given in
> http://www.useit.com/alertbox/20050314.html
everybody who tries to read a text in a language one can just about
get by in is in this category :-) For example I'm "lower-literate"
in Russian...
Of course this is a difficult case to deal with - there is no "dumbing
down" CSS,  it's up to the author to use a simple language and layout
(which is a Good Idea in any case).

As to distinguishing illiterate and disabled people... well,
I never though it would be necessary to state explicitly that 
I DO (and DID) understand the difference.
I mentioned the same technique (text-to-voice) because I think I could
beneficial to both groups.

> illiterate people
> in the real world can live easily, that includes e.g. being able to go
> to the doctor and describe their symptoms. So i'm sure that through e.g.
> the use of voice, or through the use of  potentially animated icons, it
> would be possible to design systems that help people, without requiring
> them to be literate. 
Yes, humans lived as illiterates for millennia,  and they communicated quite 
happily using voice & gestures only, thanks for reminding us.
So for a two-way internet use there is an obvious role for a voice 
recognition system (also of interest to some disabled).  

How all that (text-to-voice and voice-to-text)  is to be included in a cheap
mobile phone  isn't obvious :-(

Janusz Lukasiak

Received on Monday, 30 June 2008 17:11:44 UTC