Reading+in+the+Dark+-+Web+2.0+Accessibility

Having access to the web is something that most of us take for granted. Those of us who have full use of our faculties are very likely to take the opportunity to use the internet on a daily basis. We do not fully grasp the challenges that people with disabilities face when they try to access the web. Many tools have been developed to help those with disabilities. Being blind certainly poses a challenge. However, awareness has brought attention to the issue and web developers are working to give everyone access to the internet.

Because of Microsoft’s large share in the computer industry, many developers gear their development to Windows operating system; therefore, for the blind any other software may be troublesome. Progress is being made in this area. Aaron Leventhal, IBM Web Architect, recognizes that accessibility needs to be taken into account when developing web sites. Screen reading programs that previously benefited the blind were now having problems deciphering information. It was suggested that parts of a web page could be encoded with certain terms as “rude,” “assertive” and “polite.” The software would then be programmed to read the “polite” information at anytime and read the “assertive” information less frequently. At the time that the article “Reading in the Dark – Accessibility and Web 2.0” was written, some 80 percent of Web sites had accessibility problems.

The issues of accessibility will continue to exist. However, as issues are recognized, work is being done to address such issues.

Resources: Reading in the dark - Accessibility and Web 2.0 by Kestrell