As Your World Changes A Vision Loser's Perspective on Web Accessibility

Susan L. Gerhart, "As Your World Changes" blog and apodder.org, easy view software and vision-related podcast library

Background Perspectives

• Software research and management career
• Life-long myopic degeneration, legally blind 2 years
• Technology choices:
  • Versatile tablet PCs,high contrast display, Firefox
  • TTS environment: TextAloud from Nextup text converter, Neospeech and ATT natural voices
  • Open source nvda screen reader
  • APH bookport TTS library with DAISY (XML) books from Bookshare.org, also large HTML, PDF, DOC
  • Levelstar Icon PDA RSS Client , gmail, newspapers, simple browsing
  • Self-training from podcasts: ACB Radio Main Menu industry and user reviews and Blind Cool Tech and Podzinger audio searches
• Blog experiences for baby boomer Vision Losers off the rehab grid
• Vision Limitation Reality:
  1. Enormous learning curve across 100s of websites using new tools
  2. Web use consumes precious physical and mental energy
  3. Never know what you haven't "seen"
  4. Web is a dangerous NEIGHBORHOOD - identity theft ... ,

Simple, pervasive, fixable problems

1. Click here, Learn more, PDF, 6.2 MB, here--
   waste energy, Read Pages Out Loud
2. No headings for page sections, --
   Need H1, H2, to explore page
3. Piles of links obscure content ---
   Choose templates with consideration
4. social media overkill, popular, new, dig, rate --
   -- interfere with use cases >
5. TXT trapped in DOC or PDF --
   launches app that reads differently

Nastier, harder to change challenges

1. Security - audio/graphic CAPTCHAS, secret questions, updating password recovery, registrations --
   too much energy for reward
2. Form-o-phobia, optional fields, entry format, validation notices --
   tedious and hard work, see Jon Udell's blog on citizen data management <
3. Patently inaccessible components ---
   Google book search unreadable page images and inaccessible chat clients except for Accessible World Talking Communities chat rooms
4. Sheer complexity, entire enterprise on home page --
   Show designed use cases<

Demo 1: Buying a book at Amazon

1. Accessible, mobile friendly amazon.com has stream-lined use case, page structure for mobile screens, but unknown missing functionality
2. Classic amazon.com has social media overkill, muddles accounts with products

Demo 2: Exploring Fidelity Investments funds

1. Fidelity Investments enterprise
2. Muddle current markets, current/future investors, recurring/new visitors, mobile re-design

Technology Trends

1. Missing, muddled use cases are " compounded by technical accessibility issues
2. Open Source is challenging conventional Assistive Technology industry
3. Mobile redesigns are opportunity for accessibility
4. Screen reader dependence considered harmful: fragile industry, wrong architecture,, self-voicing more versatile than GUI