Seeing eye guide online

SHELLEY HOWELLS finds that the net is helping blind people to reach new levels of independence.

The internet is such a visual medium that the blind and visually impaired did not exactly leap to the top of my list of likely users.

Wrong.

"The internet is probably the most exciting thing for blind people since Braille," says Jonathan Mosen, a 32-year-old internet broadcaster who is totally blind.

"Blindness is predominantly an information disability," he says.

"We now have access to huge amounts of information."

Helena Tutaeo, a 27-year-old administrator with severe visual impairment, describes the web as "a window to the world".

"It just makes life so much easier because I'm no longer confined to things that are physically accessible."

Dean Jackson, aged 22, who works in Adaptive Technology for the Foundation for the Blind, says the internet has changed his life in three main ways.

"I can buy things more easily, I can retrieve data, and I can communicate with others all over the world."

All of which leads to the greatest benefit of all, more independence.

Some daily examples: Before the net, says Jackson, he had to ask someone to look up numbers in the phone book. Now it is all there online for him to browse whenever he feels like it.

Tutaeo points out that, before the net, reading the newspaper could be a mission involving a sometimes laborious trip to the shop and getting someone to read the parts she could not manage.

Before net banking, says Mosen, the blind had to get somebody to read bank statements for them. Not everyone enjoys having to share their financial information.

"It's incredibly liberating to have to depend less on people," he says.

Although people think of the internet as a mainly visual medium, "fundamentally, the information that is available is just text. How you get there is just detail," says Mosen.

How our interviewees get there is a question of personal taste, level of disability, and budget.

Jackson uses text-to-voice technology. Tutaeo, with some sight, prefers screen-magnifying software. Mosen uses voice as well as a text-to-Braille device and Braille printer.

Speech technology is becoming more sophisticated. For example, it can tell the difference between "I have read" and "I will read" by context. Although it may mangle Maori pronunciation, it can be taught.

The technology is there, but there are accessibility issues for blind and other disabled users.

Money, for starters.

The high-tech stuff does not come cheap.

Software for the blind can cost $1500 to $2000 on top of the cost of the usual computer paraphernalia.

Not all blind people are entitled to subsidies for such technology. Many older people do not qualify, says Mosen, yet most of the blind and vision-impaired population are elderly, tend to be on a lower income and are potentially more isolated than the rest of the population.

Because many older blind people developed the problem later in life, and therefore lack the life experience of those blind at birth, they arguably have a greater need for web access.

The next issue is web page design, which can make life even more difficult for the blind or vision-impaired.

"The number one problem is with graphics," says Mosen.

In order for speech software to recognise a graphic image or link, it needs, embedded in the html code, a text description of what the graphic shows.

"Otherwise, it's just lazy design," says Jackson, who often contacts the designers of websites he has had problems with.

He says many of the online forms that need filling in have layouts that can cause real problems, and on-screen animation - especially animated text - can also upset screen readers.

Tutaeo wishes that sites were more clearly and consistently organised, and that designers would think more about their colour choices.

There are many sites on the topic for page designers to refer to, so they have no excuse.

In the United States, legislation ensures that Government departments do not buy software and hardware inaccessible to disabled users.

As major purchasers, they have serious clout that filters to users all over the world, via accessible features in commonly used software such as Internet Explorer.

Once accessibility is sorted, the net becomes fun and useful.

Jackson is into voice chat online. He talks regularly with blind friends in the US, exchanging life skills and general babble.

"Sighted people go to the same blind chat site, too," he says.

"Online chat is a way of breaking down barriers between people."

Tutaeo enjoys time-killers such as those at bored.com, and says the net has made job- and house-hunting easier for the blind.

She loves that she can now easily access newspaper classifieds.

Mosen and Jackson describe themselves as "news junkies" and often visit news sites.

They both rate the Herald and Stuff local news sites as accessible.

Jackson listens to online radio and TV broadcasts, especially World Radio Network and Jerusalem Post Radio.

He also loves to listen to the astronauts on the Nasa site.

Mosen runs award-winning ACB radio from his home in Wanganui. ACB is a network of four internet radio stations for the blind, financed by the American Council of the Blind.

It started as a part-time interest, becoming full-time last month and now employing 60 people worldwide.

When Mosen is not broadcasting, he hits news sites, uses voice chat,does his banking through the ASB, adds to his considerable music collection online and buys groceries via the web at Woolworths.

Although he has been visiting supermarkets all his life, it took the web to give him variety.

"The first time I went on the Woolworths site, I was astounded by the many varieties of bread available," Mosen laughs.

What is good for the blind and visually impaired, is good for everyone.

Developments such as the Government's plan to create an online database of legislation could mean that everyone - including the disabled - can have a say, get involved and benefit us all.

Bored.com

World Radio Network

Jerusalem Post Radio

Nasa

ACB Radio

ASB Bank

Woolworths