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| Opening the web to the disabled
There are 750 million to 1 billion people with disabilities around the world. And many of their impairments prohibit or limit their use of the Web, an activity that most people take for granted | |||
| 3 Aug 2006
: There are 750 million to 1 billion people with disabilities around the world. And many of their impairments prohibit or limit their use of the Web, an activity that most people take for granted. “The ‘digital divide’ applies to more than minorities and lower income groups — it also affects those with disabilities,” said Frances West, director, IBM Human Ability and Accessibility Center. IBM is working with governments to overcome that divide. In China, the company is helping reach the goal of “promoting a culture of accessibility.” In the Middle Kingdom, that means embedding captions in video and audio files to reach deaf Web users and screen reader applications that read information aloud for the blind. And people with low vision, color blindness or age-related vision problems can read more easily by increasing the text size or changing the color contrast of pages at more accessible Web sites In Italy, the Senate took a confusing and often out-of-date Web site and transformed it into perhaps the most accessible and user-friendly government agency site in Europe. The redesigned site now offers free use of IBM Home Page Reader and IBM Easy Web Browsing to make it easier for senior citizens and people with disabilities to access content. And in the United States, Travis County, Texas, where some 13 percent of the population has disabilities, has made it easier to register to vote and access county services. With the enhanced site, which goes live on August 14, residents can more easily register to vote, track taxes, gather information and interact on their own behalf wherever and whenever they access the Internet. “Every individual in this county is important.” said Nelda Wells Spears, tax assessor/collector for Travis County. “Allowing all our citizens to interact with government with ease and speed on their own behalf is a goal attained.” |
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