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wwww.microsoft.com/presspass/features/2008/jun08/06-18imagineaccess.mspx


For many years I’ve had a friendship with a blind person who is now in his second year of college at Trinity University in Deerfield IL. Since he is studying Radio Broadcasting, it’s important for him to have access to the World Wide Web at all times. I asked him how he was able to learn how to access the Internet, and what type of resources are available for blind students. He informed me that the most valuable tool for computers, and Internet accessibility are screen-readers.

One such program is called WebAnywhere. This is a web-based screen reader for the Internet. WebAnywhere is designed to replicate the web functionality of screen readers in a way that can utilize all public and private computers, requires minimal permissions, and starts up quickly without requiring a download before the system can be used.

This program allows users to navigate through the Web in many ways. Users can simply let the screen reader read everything from top to bottom, one line at a time, or by using the tab button they can jump from link to link. Most blind users will know the basic keyboard layout and controls needed to maneuver around based on experience with other screen reader programs. Students learning to access the Internet can learn simple keyboard commands to control the information they are verbally receiving. Since the visually impaired don’t generally use a mouse, there are simple keyboard commands he or she may, or may not already know.

* CTRL-L - move the cursor to the location box where you can type a URL to visit.
* Arrow Down - read the next element on the page.
* Arrow Up - read the previous element on the page.
* CTRL-H - skip to the next heading.
* CTRL-I - skip to the next input element.
* CTRL-R - skip to the next row by cell when in a table.
* CTRL-D - skip to the next column by cell when in a table.
* Page Down - read continuously from the current position.
* Home - read continuously, starting over from the beginning of the page.
* CTRL - silence WebAnywhere and pause the system.

It’s been reported that less than 1 percent of the 38 million blind people in the world have a screen reader to read the contents of a computer screen. But since WebAnywhere is free, there is not costly software to be installed, and allows users of ages to access the Internet form any computer as long as it has a sound card. This means that students can use computers in schools and public libraries.

Drawbacks to WebAnywhere:

The application cannot describe images. The only way that a screen reader can communicate the meaning of an image is by reading text in the document.
Also, this program can’t evaluate the whole Web page as sighted people do. A sighted person can look at a web page and quickly understand how the page is laid out, can narrowing in on the most important piece of the subject matter. Screen readers are not able to do this. They read the screen one word at a time.

It’s exciting to think about the possibilities that exist with this free technology. It gives the visually impaired confidence, and allows students to access the World Wide Web independently.






MicrosoftPress. “Imagine Cup 2008: Web-based Screen Reader WinsTop Accessibility Prize.” 12 Sep 2008. www.microsoft.com/presspas/
features/2008/jun08/06-18imagineaccess.mspx.
Student Jeff Bigham wins Microsoft's 2008 Accessible Technology
Award article.

WebAnywhere. “WebAnywhere Alpha Release!” 12 Sep. 2008
http://webanywhere.cs.washington.edu/wa.php.
WebAnywhere informational tutorial that teaches people with visually impaired disabilities how to access the internet.