Accessibility Breakthroughs Broaden Web Horizons From: NewsFactor Network - 09/17/2002 By: Mike Martin Web sites are supposed to be accessible to users with disabilities per federal and international regulations, but accessibility consultant Mike Paciello says that this quality offers advantages for both handicapped and non-handicapped users. Most PCs are embedded with virtual accessibility tools, notes Dr. Scott Standifer of the University of Missouri - keyboard-based menu commands and "sticky-keys" are an alternative for users who cannot use a mouse, while screen enlargement and simple speech recognition are being incorporated into standard PCs and the XP version of Microsoft Office, respectively. Other creative solutions developed recently include a computer mouse and a wearable system for the visually handicapped. Standifer also lists examples of "accommodation software" as tools disabled people often use: Screen readers that translate on-screen text into spoken language can help the blind, while a microphone that uses speech recognition software to issue commands or dictate text can aid motor-challenged users. Standifer further notes that blind computer users, with the right skills, can process screen readers so fast that they outmatch the processing ability of their sighted counterparts. There are also inexpensive or free programs available to Web designers that support the creation and maintenance of accessible sites. Many disabled people, despite their eagerness to Web surf, are reluctant to do so out of worries that sites will be inaccessible, or will be rendered inaccessible later when enhanced features are deployed, according to the University of Missouri's Gary Wunder. Read a longer version of this story (with links) at: http://www.newsfactor.com/perl/story/19417.html Mike Paciello links: Excerpts from his book, "WEB accessibility for People with Disabilities" http://www.webreview.com/2001/03_02/webauthors/index03.shtml http://www.webreview.com/2001/03_09/webauthors/index04.shtml Scott Stanifer link: http://www.rcep7.org/staff/scotts.html Gary Wunder link: http://www.blind.net/bw000019.htm