WEB BROWSING FOR VISUALLY IMPAIRED
Availability of information is no longer an issue. The internet is a vast resource where details relating to any subject are available almost instantaneously; however availability does not equal accessibility. The internet is a highly visual medium and users with visual disabilities including blindness and print impairments have no choice but to use sub-standard screen readers or expensive Braille displays. Poorly designed web pages that do not conform to accessibility standards or have complex layouts are bewildering and users have difficulty in distinguishing between useful and irrelevant information. This paper presents a system which allows visually impaired users to interact with a computer in a more effective manner. The system employs speech synthesis as an inexpensive and portable method of output and uses text analysis methods to case the process of navigation. The system's usability and learnability are demonstrated through end-user testing.
web browsing accessibility user interfaces