Net Surfing for Those Unable to See From: Baltimore Sun - 03/16/2005 - P. 1C By: Abigail Tucker A collaborative venture between Towson University professor Jonathan Lazar and the National Federation of the Blind (NFB) is examining the many problems visually impaired people encounter when navigating the Internet. Lazar, who serves as director of the university's Computer Information Systems Undergraduate Program, notes that spam, security checks, pop-up ads, and other things that can slow down an unimpaired user's Web searches are even worse impediments for the blind. "What is annoying to a visual user becomes impossible for a blind user," he says. Screen readers or Braille keyboards that blind people use to navigate the Internet are limited in that they cannot scan or render graphical elements into a readable format. Lazar and Betsy Zaborowski with the NFB's research and technology training institute agree that the Internet is fundamentally designed for visual users. Lazar insists that the Net can be redesigned for the blind easily and cheaply, particularly if such accommodations are made in the earliest phase of Web site design; for instance, designers could add expository captions below pictures, or bypass redundant links with the addition of shortcuts. Lazar says the most important step in spurring reforms is raising awareness of the problem, which he intends to do when he releases the results of his study to Web masters and software designers in the summer. Zaborowski warns that without adequate Web accessibility, blind users will be unable to acquire Internet skills that could expand their job prospects. Read the entire article at: http://www.baltimoresun.com/features/lifestyle/bal-to.blind16mar16,1,1345515.story?ctrack=1&cset=true Links: Homepage of Dr. Jonathan Lazar http://triton.towson.edu/~jlazar/ Betsy Zaborowski http://www.mddailyrecord.com/top100w/zaborowski.html NFB http://www.nfb.org/default.htm http://www.nfb.org/nfbrti/bz_bio.htm