By Emily Brewer
For millions of deaf, hard-of-hearing, blind or visually impaired computer users, Web pages with special graphics and uncaptioned audio and video features are virtually inaccessible. They may also be in violation of the Americans with Disabilities Act.
"Any organization using the Web for advertising or sharing information with the public at large, and under the umbrella of the American Disabilities Act, must make their Web page accessible to the disabled," says Allison Bowen, a disabilities issues advocate.
The American Disabilities Act requires all businesses with 15 or more employees to make reasonable accommodation for employees or potential employees with disabilities. The law allows individuals to sue their employers or prospective employers if the software they use is not accessible. The law was also recently interpreted to require commercial Web sites to be accessible, according to an e-mail from Sen. Tom Harkin, a Democrat from Iowa.
In an effort to increase awareness of the need for greater online accessibility for the disabled, numerous organizations are working to spread the word about online barriers and are suggesting ways to improve homepages and Web sites.
With some online guidance, Web developers and designers can break down virtual barriers and reach a broader cyber-audience.
"A lot of people with disabilities do use the Web, which is often their link to the public at large," Bowen says. By not making Web sites accessible, nonprofits are blocking many potential users, she says.
People without disabilities can easily scroll down a page of blinking text, attractive graphics and columns of words on a computer screen without realizing how that same screen might appear to someone with visual impairments who relies on a screen-reading device to read aloud what is on the screen.
Nor are people without disabilities likely to realize that computerized audio features they take for granted are inaccessible to the hearing-impaired.
And Web sites that are poorly organized or contain confusing directions can be especially difficult for individuals with learning disabilities, those who speak English as a second language and younger users.
"We are finding that sometimes technology can be a great barrier," Bowen says, "especially as everything gets more graphical. Web pages are becoming more accessible for parts of the community, but for others, it is getting much worse.
Richard Ford is one such person who has worked to overcome these issues.
"As a blind person," he says, "by the time I've finally worked out a new software program so that I can use it, they've come out with something different and I have to start from square one figuring out how to use it. It is a process of adjusting technology geared to the sighted to something I can use."
Lee Davis Jr., a visually-impaired systems analyst with the U.S. Postal Service, says that advances in technology have been a blessing, but technology must be adaptable to those with disabilities.
"I could not do the job I do now without computers and computer technology," says Davis. With his talking computer, Davis can send and receive e-mail, work with databases and spreadsheets, write code, surf the Internet and teach other blind people how to work with computers.
Screen readers read the computer codes, written in Hypertext Markup Language (HTML), that make up a Web site's text and design. One HTML feature, known as ALT tags, gives the reader a text description in place of graphics. But many pages do not provide descriptive ALT tags and are thus unapproachable by the blind, Davis says.
A Web designer need only go into the HTML code for a Web page and write a description on the ALT tag for the image that cannot be seen by the blind.
"Screen readers will look for any type of text, but the text in place of graphics is usually broken at best and gibberish at worst," Davis says. "Many pages are starting to use pictures instead of words to direct readers. For the visually-impaired community, this is increasing our handicap."
He estimates that roughly half of the Web sites in cyberspace are inaccessible to the disabled.
Mike Burks, a technology professor who advises groups on how to make Web pages accessible to disabled people, says economic incentives exist for making Web sites more universally friendly.
"Most disabled people are in the aging population," says Burks, who is disabled, "and they are the group that controls the majority of the nation's wealth."
Web sites that offer text-only versions can be easier for the disabled and can load more quickly onto older computers. Images can significantly slow down less powerful computers. And because many people surf the Internet from their local libraries using a text-only Web browser called Lynx, they cannot even load images, Burks says.
"If your site depends on images, you've cut off one-third of your audience," he says.
Meanwhile, Java Script, a computer language that helps Web designers make complex graphics and motion, is completely inaccessible and cannot be read by screen readers, Burks says.
"The disabled community really doesn't want things specifically made for them," says Davis of the Postal Service.
"We want to access the Web site that everybody uses, but adapted for our use also. We don't want the business industry to come out with 'handicapped products.' If you can keep it in the mainstream and help us adapt to that, that would be most beneficial."
