Computers can be ‘maddening’ for users who are blind
April 18th, 2008From Computerworld.com:
For the 1.3 million Americans who are blind, using computers can be beyond difficult. Screen reader software, which describes the activity on the screen to the user, can be both expensive and ineffective. Inputting data is doubly challenging when people can’t see to use the mouse. Keyboard shortcuts are helpful, but there aren’t enough of them and they keep changing.
And using commercial websites can be “maddening,” said Jay Leventhal, editor of AccessWorld Magazine, produced by the American Foundation for the Blind in New York. Worst of all is security software that requires customers to input a password displayed in a moderately distorted image that screen readers can’t read. A class-action lawsuit is pending against Target Corp.
The story includes tips for making websites accessible.
Computer folk debate the story at slashdot.org.
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on Friday, April 18th, 2008 at 9:22 am and is filed under NOT2BEMISSED, News_2_Use, accessibility, blindness, technology.
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