- From: Jon Gunderson <jongund@staff.uiuc.edu>
- Date: Tue, 17 Nov 1998 10:57:44 -0600
- To: w3c-wai-ua@w3.org
There has been alot of focus on the blind and linearization of tables. If that was the only group that would benefit from linearization I would have a hard time supporting direct implmentation since screen readers could do the conversion for the user and those users would need to use a screen reader, although I would still rate it as priority 1 item since it is needed by the user. But there are other groups that will not be using screen readers to access dcouments with tables that could benefit from linearization. Like people with visual impairments and people with some types of learning disabilities. It is most likely that these groups will not be using any type of assistive technology that could do the conversion. In a study we did here at UIUC with low vision students. We found the most difficult task we asked them to perform was to find some information in a simple data table (3 out of 4 visually impaired students could not complete the task). So how do we address the needs of these disabilities related to table linearization? Jon Gunderson, Ph.D., ATP Coordinator of Assistive Communication and Information Technology Division of Rehabilitation - Education Services University of Illinois at Urbana/Champaign 1207 S. Oak Street Champaign, IL 61820 Voice: 217-244-5870 Fax: 217-333-0248 E-mail: jongund@uiuc.edu WWW: http://www.staff.uiuc.edu/~jongund http://www.als.uiuc.edu/InfoTechAccess
Received on Tuesday, 17 November 1998 11:59:59 UTC