Re: Illustrating Guidelines

Marti,

	Back in the days of DOS, I taught LD and CD children to use the computer
for daily lessons, and helped them use the Internet for weekly lessons.
Most of the time, I read the incoming e-mail to the students, although some
did learn to handle their correspondence independently. When most were
writing replies the method was that they would tell me what they wanted to
say and I'd feed it back to them word by word as they typed it. 
If I didn't feed it back, many of them were unable to remember what they
wanted to write long enough to type it... Teaching children to use the
Internet with a GUI interface, cuts off a lot of the difficulties. None of
the dyslexic members of my family used computers before GUI. 

	Happy Mother's Day to all ...

					Anne

	


At 05:53 AM 5/13/01 -0400, Marti wrote:
>Lisa,
> Thank you for providing a lot of useful information that has greatly
>enhanced my understanding of  these conditions.
> I don't think anybody is saying we should not try to include guidelines
>that help people with LD, CD etc, rather we are stuggling with just how to
>do that.  In particular how to do that without making things harder for
>other groups at the same time.  It is unfortunate, but a fact, that what
>helps one group may make life more difficult for others.  An example in the
>"real" world is curb cuts. Absolutely needed for wheelchairs, loved by
>mothers with baby strollers and somehting generally liked by everybody once
>they got accustomed to the idea but ...
>Did you know they are a problem for the blind? Did you know that a curb cut
>makes it hard for many blind people to find the curb edge so they can line
>up to cross streets properly?
>
>What seems to be happening here is we have needs that conflict with each
>other, what makes it more accessible to one group interfers with the access
>of another and the requirements may discourage people from even trying to
>make things more accessible.
>I venture to guess that not so many years ago, before the GUI, those with
>LD, CD etc did not use computers at all.  Now, with the GUI everywhere, and
>multi-media growing by leaps and bounds things are so tantalizingly close it
>must be a major frustration.
>I believe we fall back on the TEXT answer because we know the most about it,
>it was here before the GUI.  Alt text and things like it are, after all only
>meant to provide access in a manner that exsisted before the GUI.
>What we are reaching for now is really new ground, and the more
>understanding we have of the needs of these groups the better chance we will
>have of developing good answers.
>Marti
>
>
>
>
Anne Pemberton
apembert@erols.com

http://www.erols.com/stevepem
http://www.geocities.com/apembert45

Received on Sunday, 13 May 2001 09:02:37 UTC