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An inaccessible Web site appears stranger than (science) fiction to visually impaired users.
by Mark D. Stewart
Welcome to [image]. [link]. [link]. [image]. [link]. . .
This is how a Web page is "heard" by a visually impaire user navigating the Internet with the help of a translation program. Imagine if you had to navigate the Internet without a mouse, or with the screen turned off. How would you do it? How successful would you be? As the above example demonstrates, an inaccessible Web site appears stranger than (science) fiction to visually impaired users.
As Web editor, Jenni Swenson has worked extremely hard this year conceiving and implementing the design of the new Technolog Web site (http://www.it.umn.edu/itbp/technolog) so that it would meet accessibility standards and ensure that everyone has access to the Technolog online. No other student-run technical magazine can say the same of its Web site.
The current standard in Web design is to create a text-only parallel site to the "main" site aimed specifically at impaired Internet users and the translation software that might be in use. Swenson believes, however, that this is no longer appropriate.
"Although text only parallel sites allow impaired users access to content, the quality of that content is often lacking," Swenson says. "Society has acknowledge the need for providing equal access in a physical space; we must acknowledge this need in cyberspace as well."
I agree. The standard should be to incorporate considerate design elements into the "main" site so that impaired and non-impaired users alike can access the same Web document. This is not unlike wheelchair-accessible ramps and Braille-translated signage that can be found in the physical world. Still not convinced? Over 35 million individuals in the U.S. alone suffer from a visual impairment, and this number does not include the millions who suffer from motor, cognitive, or auditory impairments. This is too large a section of the population to simply ignore online.
Web designers are often undervalued or marginalized by those not familiar with HTML and other Internet standards and protocols. When this occurs, Web design is left to computer support technicians because they "know" computers. While Web sites created by technicians may be technically flawless, these sites often lack the considerate design elements needed for access by all Internet users. Truly professional Web sites -- that is, Web sites that represent top-notch organizations and publications such as the University of Minnesota, the Institute of Technology, and the Minnesota Technolog -- cannot be simply placed on the World Wide Web without deep consideration of content, audience, and usability.
Ann Hill Duin, vice provost for instructional technology and University partnerships, teaches Rhetoric 5111: Message Design, which addresses issues involved in the design of online environments. She believes Web designers need to draw from many disciplines, including graphic design, media studies, and cognitive psychology.
"A new generation of 'interactive designers' will need to be well versed in audience analysis, document and message design, and usability testing," Duin confirms.
"We need designers who can rethink the processes of communication, exploiting the capacity of the digital environment to be more responsive to human needs," agrees Janet Murray, a senior research assistant at MIT and author of Hamlet on the Holodeck: the Future of Narrative in Cyberspace.
This is not to say that Web designers should not be technically trained. Of course, they should. But Web design has evolved to include a new set of responsibilities that cannot be fulfilled by a purely technical approach. the problem is that considerate design is not intuitive to HTML and other Web design tools.
But until changes are made on the technical side of Web design tools, Web designers need an awareness of the problems impaired Internet users face and the techniques to successfully overcome the deficiencies of the Internet.
According to Julie Sweitzer, director of equal opportunity and affirmative action at the University of Minnesota, her office is working closely with Information Technology and Disability Services, to create comprehensive guidelines for Web pages and software used by the University.
"We know that planning ahead is simpler and more effective than retrofitting -- and the right thing to do," says Sweitzer.
