Here's my take on it (in addition to E's): If you're creating a site for the blind or physically disabled, then navigate and use the site using the tools they use (screen readers and Dragon, for example) when you are designing or upgrading the site.
My favorite is to get web designers to view their pages using lynx, and navigate it with voice commands via Dragon instead of with a keyboard or mouse. That puts them a little closer to my world. It's sure obvious when all those javascripts and aplets don't work, all the image links have no labels so you have no idea what the heck they are, and that pretty table they put in is just scattered text that makes as much sense as a random explosion inside a Gutenberg bible!
Judy s. cherryjam@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx E. wrote:
I am concerned about top down idea generation. I am also concerned that bookshare may lose "sight" (dare I pun on the word) of their audience. Recordings for the Blind did in my opinion. They went from an organization which served blind consumers to an organization who served anyone with a print disability and their teachers care givers and rehab counselors. Something a teacher who can see thinks is cool can mess up my system. We know what happened to quality when RFB became RFBD. Let's learn from flash wiz experiences of the past to create tools which are truly useful to the blind comsumer and particularly useable by blind deaf folks.Here are some ideas.1. I have a personal downloaded tool which I can configure. It runs when I envoke it and not in the background taking up resources which normally are used by my speech package (JAWS Window-eyes whatever).2. I can configure this application to download daily those periodicals I am interested in from bookshare. I can also configure the tool to batch download a series of books.Blind folks like tools which make working on the computer faster for us. Faster is different if you cannot see than if you can. Tools which are useful in some situations may be less useful in others depending on individual disability, computer configuration and personal preferences.E.
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