Talking Sense - Volume 43, No 1, Spring 97
Philip Gafga focuses on the impact personal computers and the Internet have had on the accessibility of information for people with special needs - particularly for those with Usher Syndrome
Easy access to information through traditional media - such as books, newspapers, magazines, television and radio - is often taken for granted unless you happen to have some kind of sensory impairment which makes using these routes more difficult. Overcoming problems of accessibility to traditional media will, of course, depend on the type and degree of sensory impairment. Many well known solutions exist. Low vision aids such as closed circuit televisions to magnify text and the provision of information in braille for the visually impaired. Subtitled television programmes and the use of communication support services for the hearing impaired come to mind.
For those with limited vision, interacting with today’s personal computers can be a challenging undertaking. Whilst today’s and tomorrow’s technology promises improved access to information, it becomes very clear that more co-ordination between the providers and special needs users of such technology will be necessary before they can claim success.
Personal computers as we know them today, have the ability to process and present copious amounts of information in whatever form we wish and, in a lot of cases, have enabled individuals to accomplish tasks that would normally have been delegated to specialists. For example, we routinely produce professional looking documents from our desktops which would have taken several people (such as editors, typesetters, printers, and so on) weeks to produce using traditional methods. With the advent of the Internet, that vast world-wide computer network, it only takes a moment to disseminate information that using traditional distribution methods would involve high overhead costs. The major combined effect of personal computers and the Internet is to produce prodigious amounts of information inexpensively and to a shorter time scale.
Personal computers
For people with special needs, personal computers can provide many tangible benefits. Computers are particularly adept at the quick retrieval of information which is of great value to visually impaired end users. For instance with today’s technology, you can access the Encyclopaedia Britannica either from compact discs or through an online service over the telephone.
Since information stored electronically can be manipulated into many forms, it should, in principle, be possible to present that information in the easiest format for the end-user to interact with. Obvious examples include translations from English into other languages for non-English speaking people, the reading out of information through voice synthesiser systems for the benefit of the severely visually impaired and presenting information through alternative interfaces such as Braille tactile devices. Of most interest to those who may have enough residual vision to use a monitor, is the question of how to enhance the presentation of information to make it easier to read. This question has been my main concern.
Co-ordination between providers and users is needed
In 1985, when the personal computer was only a fledgling, it was relatively easy to view information - using simple text based displays you could control everything from the keyboard. With the advent of the Windows graphic interface, using computers became a serious nightmare. The switch of control from keyboard to rodent via the mouse, caused problems for users with a limited field of vision who had trouble in locating and following the mouse point on the screen. The strong emphasis on true WYSIWYG (What You See Is What You Get) by using white backgrounds to display black print caused major headaches for those who suffer from eye conditions such as Retinitis pigmentosa, since the glare made it very difficult to read the text on screen. These problems were further compounded by the over-enthusiastic use of pictures (known as icons) to represent objects on screen. In their eagerness to introduce new technology and concepts, software developers paid scant attention to the plight of people with special needs.
Mainly in response to a strong anti-discrimination lobby in the United States, major software developers started adding accessibility features into their software packages. A notable example of this was the launch of Windows 95 by Microsoft, which offered options to enhance the accessibility of the operating system. Of most interest to visually impaired users was the ability to configure the appearance of the system through high contrast colour schemes complemented by more readable screen text, with facilities for adjusting the size of the mouse pointer. For hearing impaired users, there are limited visual warnings on screen if the computer has beeped an aural warning. In certain software packages, there are facilities for magnifying screen text, although their implementation leaves a lot to be desired.
Even with these new features, the majority of software developers appear to be quite oblivious to end users with special needs. A particularly notorious example is the invisible ink phenomenon. Software developers often assume the end user will be using the default colour scheme of Windows (black text on white background). When they compile the program code into the finished product, the default colours get fused into the appearance of the software and can have unexpected and unfortunate results should the end user opt for more comfortable colour configuration. For instance, when the High Contrast Black colour scheme is chosen in Windows 95 to show white text on a black background, some programs end up showing black text on a black background or white text on a white background - hence the invisible ink effect. Obviously, we need to make software developers aware of the effects of such inconsiderate programming techniques.
The Internet is the buzzword these days and it continues to captivate many people with its endless possibilities for communication and the exchange of information. Some national newspapers such as The Times and the Daily Telegraph even produce Internet editions that closely mirror the mass-circulated paper editions. This gives visually impaired readers the opportunity to browse these newspapers in large print through their computer screens once it becomes economically feasible.
However, one cannot help but observe striking parallels between the development of the Internet and that of personal computers, and feel that history is about to repeat itself. To begin with, the Internet used to be mainly text based which usually meant simple text displays. Now, with the growth of the World Wide Web, graphics have taken hold causing difficulties for people with visual problems. To cap it all, publishers of information on the Web usually like to exercise full control over the appearance of their pages with the inevitable risk of invisible ink should the end user choose to view the information through more comfortable colour schemes.
The Future
Information technology continues its rapid progress and we are already starting to see the beginnings of voice recognition systems with the potential for speech to text conversions which would appeal greatly to the hearing impaired. One can envisage a time within the next two decades when computer technology should be able to provide subtitling on the fly for all kinds of audio-visual situations and assist with telephone conversations without having to rely on relay services. Whilst these future developments may look very promising, one cannot be sure that everyone with special needs will be able to reap the full benefits unless there is full co-ordination between the providers of technology and those with special needs. For instance, voice recognition systems could be used to provide subtitling for multimedia presentations on the computer for the hearing-impaired, but the subtitles can also be accessible to those with multi-sensory impairment by ensuring they can be displayed in large print and alternative colours (without running into the invisible ink phenomenon, of course!)
The best way to ensure co-ordination would be for a committee to draw up standards for the computer industry to follow, making their products and services truly accessible and allowing the end user full control over how he/she interacts with the computer. An example of a software package that goes some way to meeting these criteria is a browser for exploring the Internet called Opera, which allows you to magnify information up to 1,000 per cent of original size and gives full control of the keyboard.* Once the computer industry gets round to adopting accessibility standards, then I would feel confident in saying that the world truly is at your fingertips.
Philip Gafga
* the Opera Web browser is available in English for evaluation from the Internet at http://www.fou.telenor.no/opera/. Alternatively, you can contact Opera Software at Rosenlundgt 8, 0474 Oslo, Norway, Telephone 1:+47 63 84 86 34, Telephone 2: +47 63 84 83 84, Fax: +47 63 81 00 76, E-mail: opera@fou.telenor.no.
