Re: A recommendation on customized web pages for blind users

Hi, Gregory

I'm not quite sure what to say about the issue of customized web pages.
If the technology exists to let a user specify how the web pages should
appear for such preferences as colors, layout, content, etc, why not
allow for the page to be structured so that it easier to use also?

I guess the first question I will go back to is whether the demo
customized web page that I've put on the web has features which makes it
easier to use?  If you haven't done the comparison of the two formats,
it might be interesting for you to check it out.

The economic counter arguement can probably be made for for both
adapting general web pages for blind users and for customizing web pages
for blind users.  The trade-off probably depends on the nature of the
pages.  For a rather simple web page with little use of layout, it may
not be that much harder to make it easier to be used by blind users.
However, if a dynamically generated web page has a very sophisticated
graphic layout using nested tables, etc, it might be less time consuming
to produce another page with the same information in a format which is
easier for blind users to work with.  (I doubt that many graphic
designers will give up they believe is appropriate for a web page in
order to accomodate blind users.)  However, in either case, there will
need to be additional work done to accomodate a blind user's needs.  I
suspect that it will rarely happen without such effort.

Is stripping out graphics enough to make a web page easier to use?
Again, depends on the page.  A web page presenting information and links
in catagories or groups information can improve the efficiency of blind
users.  For example, blind users often prefer the most important
information to be towards the beginning of the web page.  Removing
graphics doesn't accomplish that.

I'll bypass the question on what does blind mean.  (How about a web page
whose structure has been known to improve the efficiency of some
individuals whose use of vision is in some way other than typical?)

In terms of the cyberghetto, sighted people will be making decisions for
blind people.  For example, web designers may follow the guidelines and
still end up with web pages which can be difficult to navigate by blind
people, e.g.  two forms one above the other can appear to be one.  Also,
if guidelines can be developed for a general web page, guidelines can
also be developed for customized web pages.

With regards to your concern of one-size-fits-all, the same concern can
be applied to guidelines for general pages too.

The technology for generating customized web pages is actually not that
hard to do, especially since customized web pages for blind users can be
much simpler than for sighted users since the layout is much more
linear.  With the right architecture, it can be as little as an hour or
two.

It isn't so much an issue of disseminated technologies, but the
architecture of the software.  If the software is already set up to
generated information in a variety of formats, this would be just
another format.

There probably shouldn't be any extra charge, but that of course depends
on the provider.  Some companies will use any reason to add in an extra
charge.

What the user would need to do to get a particular format depends on how
the site is organized.  For example, if the web site is a portal where
the user is provided options when they sign up, this page format could
just be another option.

The overhead for generating the page would depend on the architecture of
the software.  For the browser, it's just another web page.

Blind people and sighted people work with web pages in different ways
which will require compromises when presented in the same web page.  The
adavantage of a sophiticated layout for sighted users create navigation
problems for blind users.  The advantages of information grouped
together for blind users may lead to less visually interesting web pages
for sighted users.  (Compare the two types of web pages I've put up.)
Providing for customized web pages lets each user gets the type of web
that he/she wants.

How many less than sophisticated blind web users will know to choose
"serial access"?  Will many assume that it has something to do with a
serial port?  Will braille readers understand they should select for
voice output?

Scott

 

> Scott Luebking wrote:
> quote
>   I'd like to suggest that the guidelines include a section on
>   customized web pages for blind users when the web pages are
>   generated dynamically, e.g. search engines, catalogs, etc.
> unquote
> 
> aloha, scott!
> 
> while i sincerely respect and admire the work and energy that you are putting
> into the effort to ensure blind users (like myself) fully equal access to
> web-based content, i am troubled by the term quote customized web pages for
> blind users unquote...
> 
> my objections fall into 3 categories: philosophic, practical, and perceptual...
> 
> first, the problem of perception  -- or, more sensibly put, the connotations of
> "tailoring for the blind"...  asking people to customize output specifically
> for the blind is likely to evoke one of the following 2 reactions (despite the
> case that can be made that an ever-increasing number of jurisdictions are
> developing policies that mandate that certain categories of web-based content
> be made accessible)
> 
> 1. the economic counter argument: the blind population is too small for my
> company to justify the expense
> 2. the i've already done it argument: we have a stripped down low graphics
> version of our output slash site already
> 
> of course, the stripped down low-graphics versions of such sites still tend to
> use authoring practices slash markup that decreases or interferes with access
> to the page's content, but that's another topic for another emessage...
> 
> another perceptual problem is quote what does blind mean? unquote  does it mean
> no usable vision?  some usable vision?  severely impaired vision?
> 
> ok, onto my philosophical problems...
> 
> 1. the cyberghetto -- i don't want to be shunted into a cyberghetto, where
> someone else is deciding for me what constitutes content customized for a blind
> user...
> 
> 2. the one-size-fits-all syndrome -- i wasn't produced by the plastic-mold
> injection process (although i know that that assertion will come as a surprise
> to several of the WG's members!) and what makes sense and works for me (as
> someone who was fully sighted for the first 20 years of my life and has been
> totally blind for the past 11) may not make sense or work for someone who has
> been blind since birth, or who was not as fortunate as i to have had some
> (extremely limited) exposure to the graphical user interface before becoming
> blind...
> 
> practical problems:
> 1. what sorts of technology are you relying on to produce customized web pages
> for the blind?
> 2. how well disseminated are the technologies you would advise a web-content
> producer to employ?
> 3. how expensive will it be for the end user?
> 4. will the end user have to jump through hoops in order to get the technology
> running on his or her machine (as is the case with getting the Sun Java VM and
> the Java Access Bridge for Windows up and running correctly on a 32-bit
> MS-Windows box)
> 5. what is the overhead entailed in utilizing the technology
> 
> ok -- enough carping...  what i want to stress is universal design strategies
> that -- to the greatest extent possible -- eliminate the need for alternative
> versions of a site or a site's output...  but, if you are going to push for
> what you have termed "content customized for blind users" i'd advise you to
> change the semantics a bit and ask for "content customized for serial access"
> and/or "content customized for voice output"...
> 
> just my ha'penny's worth,
>         gregory.

Received on Thursday, 18 November 1999 01:09:46 UTC