Accessing Cyberspace

By Michelle J. Schoffro

Internet mania seems to have hit many Canadians. Currently, there are more than 700 books on the topic, and the Internet section of many magazine stores is overloaded with old and new periodicals alike competing for your attention.

Every day, countless "newbies," or people new to the Internet, log on to see what cyberspace is really all about. Many experts even suggest that the world hasn’t seen this type of advancement in communications technology since the creation of the printing press almost 500 years ago. They add that we’ve only begun to see the cultural effects of the Internet.

People who encourage the use of the Internet often look to it as the great "equalizer" of information. They suggest that it provides a forum to anyone who has interesting information to share with the world, that no longer does it require huge sums of money and expensive printing equipment to let the world hear what you’ve got to say.

But how true is that for people with disabilities? Will the Internet create opportunities, or will it serve to isolate them?

So far, discussion about the ’Net has emphazised its exponential growth, with far less emphasis on making it accessible to everyone. This has become increasingly true as more and more corporations begin to use the Internet as a marketing tool. Unintentional as they may be, there are a number of problems that need to be addressed while the Internet is still in its infancy.

Many sites present loads of graphics but no accompanying text descriptions. People who use screen readers because of visual disabilities require text in order to read the information easily or translate it into Braille.

The same issue arises when sites present links that incorporate words into the graphic, without an accompanying text description. People who are blind are not able to go further into the site to find the information they’re looking for.

Then there are audio clips that are not accompanied by transcripts. Anyone with a hearing loss misses all the information presented here.

Also common on websites are background graphics that are very busy or detailed. Many visual, learning or cognitive disabilities can make it difficult for people to read text that is situated over heavy graphics.

Links that sit closely together on the screen present difficulties to some people with physical disabilities, since the slightest twitch or movement can send the mouse off to another part of the screen and onto the wrong link.

There are numerous other barriers encountered every day by Internet users with disabilities. Considering that over 15 per cent of Canadians have some form of disability, that limits an incredibly high number of people.

Making websites more accessible is actually quite simple. Now is the time to do it, while the Internet is still young. And that’s exactly what a number of different organizations have set their minds to. Associations, government departments, groups and individuals are all working to make the Internet accessible to everyone, not just people without disabilities.

Dr. Gregg Vanderheiden is a prominent researcher on the topic of accessibility to information. In his study, Universal Access to the National Information Infrastructure (NII), he says: "Currently, many individuals are excluded from access to information because of an inability to handle printed material." But he adds that "electronic dissemination of information has the potential to overcome many access barriers."

One group that is working hard on improving Internet accessibility is the Public Service Commission of Canada. The commission’s Diversity Management Directorate offers assistance to anyone creating a website.

The directorate created the Web Site Self-Evaluation Test, which lists 20 key areas that need special attention. These "problem areas" should be checked to improve a site’s access. They include graphics, links, background design, audio clips and more. The test offers a thorough look at often-overlooked problems. It is intended to help web developers pinpoint weak elements in design structure, downloadability, use of input forms, photos, links, and audio and video clips.

Peter Field, a Program Officer for the Public Service Diversity Management Directorate and co-creator of the Website Evaluation Test, says: "Anybody developing a website can go in and evaluate how they’re doing against 20 key accessibility features that we’ve outlined." The test is free and can be read on-screen or can be downloaded.

During the creation of the test, Peter says, the directorate "came up with the term "technology-assisted diversity," which he describes as "finding solutions which enable everyone."

Some software packages make it easier for users to access Internet information. Microsoft’s Internet Explorer software offers the option to enlarge text to 18 points. For anyone with low vision, this feature is definitely useful. What’s more, the software is free and downloadable from Microsoft’s website.

Another major web tool developer, SoftQuad, is working to create a web browser with built-in access features. The product is scheduled for release by the end of this year.

WGBH, a public television station in the Boston area, offers an experiment in solutions for people with hearing and visual disabilities. The experiment involves, for example, a giant "D" placed before all graphics on its site. Clicking on the letter displays a two- to three-sentence description of the graphic that can be heard using a screen reader.

There are other solutions as well. Linda Petty of the Adaptive Technology Resource Centre at the University of Toronto suggests that "another method of dealing with all these various needs is to have various alternative [web] pages." She explains that you can provide a text-only site that downloads quickly, and another one that is complete with graphics, "so if you have a literacy problem and can’t read as easily, you can go to a very picture-filled site."

Advocacy is another important step in creating a more informed public, and therefore a more accessible Internet. E-mailing suggestions to webmasters for making their sites more accessible to people with disabilities may help. Many of them don’t even realize they’re cutting off a large portion of the population from accessing their sites.

So, is the Internet the great "equalizer"? Does it level the playing field for all Canadians, with or without disabilities? Those questions probably can’t be answered yet, as the Internet is still new. But perhaps that’s a hopeful situation: It is far easier to start making the Internet accessible to all people now, before it goes further.

(Michelle J. Schoffro is founder of Schoffro Communications & Consulting: a writing, media relations, and communications consulting firm in Ottawa. She can be reached by telephone
at (613) 235-7639 or by e-mail at michelle@communications.on.ca.)

CHECK OUT THESE WEBSITES:

http://indie.ca
The Integrated Network of Disability Information and Education (Indie) maintains a comprehensive directory of Internet-based information resources related to disabilities. The information is available in French or English, graphical or text-only.

http://www.psc-cfp.gc.ca/dmd/access/testver1.htm
The Public Service Commission’s Web Site Self-Evaluation Test is located on their homepage.

http://www.microsoft.com/
Microsoft’s Internet Explorer software, which enlarges text to 18 points for people with low vision, is free and downloadable from their site.

http://trace.wisc.edu/
TRACE Research & Development Centre at the University of Wisconsin, Madison, offers further information and accessibility solutions.

http://www.boston.com/wgbh/pages/ncam/captionedmovies.html
National Center for Accessible Media

http://www.gsa.gov:80/coca/
Center for Information Technology Accommodation

http://boston.com/wgbh/ pages/access/accessinstructions.html
WGBH offers information on how it set up its website to make it more accessible to people with visual and hearing disabilities.