Accessibility for the blind
For most of us, working with computers and surfing the Web is almost a visual experience. We move the cursor on the screen, press buttons and menus, read texts and look at the pictures. But, although most of us, when working with a computer, only count on a monitor, blind and visually weak people also do not stay behind. James and Uleshka talked with Masafumi “Max” Nakane, a blind programmer, on the topic of on-line and off-line usability for those who cannot see.
Max, how is the difference between how blind people use a computer and how a sighted person does it?
The difference is not so great, you just use the keyboard, where you remember the location of each key. To receive feedback, you can use different software that can either read you aloud, what should be on the screen, or describe it to you with the help of Braille signs.
')
Would you please describe the Braille display?
This is such a box that connects to a PC, usually via USB, respectively, previously used for this parallel or serial port. I think some of the latest models use Bluetooth. Depending on your willingness to spend money, there can be from 40 to 80 Braille cells on it and each of them consists of 6 or 8 points, which together denote one Braille sign.
You have several buttons on the case of the device that you can use to give commands to the screen reader on the PC. You can display only 40 characters at a time, which is obviously not enough to view the whole screen. Then you use the buttons on the device to move the field of view around the screen, as if you are looking through a telescope , and to get the full picture, you have to put all the pieces together in your imagination.
When did you decide to use a screen reader and when did you choose Braille’s reader?
Well, it can only be said in part. I usually use Braille for programming and similar things, because it is more accurate. If I want to read a book, I do not use Braille because it is slow. Software for reading texts can be set to a very high speed of pronunciation; One volume of the book can be read in 3 hours , and it is quite fast.
Here is a record of how the Max screen reader reads this article. Note that this is not the highest speed! Max believes that this is the right speed for leisurely reading, but people for whom English is their native language prefer higher speeds.
Max, you used to do a lot of accessibility research for the W3C , and now you're working as a researcher for the Auto-ID Lab. Japan
at Keio University. Now, more than ever, accessibility is becoming a popular topic in the press, but do you think that in this area, in fact, there are any improvements? Is it easy for you to navigate most blogs?
Well, actually, yes and no. First, you need to take into account a few points:
A screen reader attempts to pull information from a web browser. Internet Explorer parsit HTML and screen reader just takes information from memory. My screen reader allows you to jump from one header to another and thus you can quickly view the page. But without the corresponding tags designating headings, the screen reader does not know where to jump. Therefore, in order to designate a line as a heading, it is better to use corresponding tags in HTML, rather than font tags, which simply make the text look like a heading, which occurs very often.
Many templates for blogs, for example, in Movabletype actively use header tags, so that such a page is quite easy to browse or find the beginning of the article. In general, bloggers, of course, should understand what the HTML page is made of, and if you encounter someone who is not particularly interested in this, who is not really a fan, you can hardly expect him to understand these details. .
Another trick is that such functions are not in every screen reader. That is, people who use a simple screen reader are forced to just listen to everything, until they reach the necessary content. To overcome all this, attention should be paid to accessibility.
Here are 3 simple things you could do to ensure that your site is at a sufficient level of accessibility:
1. Use the “alt” attribute for pictures . If you provide pictures on your site with an alternative textual description, people with visual impairments will be able to understand what is shown on them even if they enter the site using a screen or Braille reader. Just do not add an “alt“ description for images-gaps (invisible images that are sometimes used to control page layout), since the screen reader and Braille reader will read them too!
2. Use as hyperlinks expressions that contain meaning. If you make the links clear out of context, it will help those users who may not read the whole sentence or scan the page just for the sake of links. That is, instead of the mysterious “To see my photos click here”, write “Take a look at my photos from the date of birth”. You can also add a “title” attribute to the hyperlink to give the user additional information when he hovers over it.
3. Use suitable titles for pages and headings. The first thing that the screen reader will tell the user is the name of your page - and therefore, it should be as informative as possible, while remaining not too long. Then many users with visual problems will listen to the titles of the headings inside the page to determine the part that they need. If your header tags are added incorrectly, they will fail!
Simple and effective! Thank you for the advice.
What do you think about portable electronic devices? Suppose an MP3 player. Is it difficult for you to use them?
Well, some of them, yes. I couldn’t use iPod properly, because with its iTunes software it’s almost impossible to work on a PC with a screen reader. I had a player that was also used as a USB storage, that is, I don't need any special software to transfer my files to the player. In fact, I do not use many of the features that are probably not required anyway.
You mentioned that you are using a PC - do you just like a PC or the reason is that most of the existing speech software is intended only for PC and not for Mac?
In fact, for Macs, there is nothing normal. I think that Apple is now trying to develop some solutions aimed at accessibility for the blind, but I am not sure how deeply they have taken it and I don’t even think that they are doing this taking into account some languages ​​other than English.
Interesting ... How about using mobile phones?
About four years ago, Docomo released the first cellular phone with voice output. Their main audience was elderly citizens, but besides this they added some chips that could be very useful for blind users. The first model could only read emails and menus and allow you to browse the phone book using voice output.
The following model also read web content using speech output. As far as I know, AU released two models that spoke. Before these phones appeared, I simply remembered the sequence necessary to call the number.
Are there any products you use that were designed specifically for the blind?
Some things in my house can talk, for example, a clock, an air conditioner remote control, indicators of some appliances, such as that. But, in fact, they were not created specifically for the blind, because you can buy them in a regular store.
But, as for my watch, I do not think that it is made for someone other than the blind: they allow you to determine time by touch.
An example of the sound of a talking escalator at Shibuya station and the sound that the ATM makes in acknowledgment.
When I first arrived in Tokyo, I was very surprised by all these talking things, such as a musical pedestrian crossing and railway stations with different melodies, bathrooms, which say that the water is already warm ... Do these things really help or are they more furious?
Well, most of them help. Sometimes, of course, there is a bust, but you can just not pay attention. They do not create so much noise to become a problem.
Here is a small example of what sounds surround a person while he passes just 100 meters in the center of Shibuya .
Many foreigners say this when they first come to Tokyo. (smiles) In fact, when you come to another country where there are no announcements about the train or bus being there, you feel very uncomfortable, because you do not know what you need to do. If the trains arrive as on schedule as in Japan, then you can still guess, but if you come, for example, to the US and sit on Amtrak, it will be more difficult.
The sound of a pedestrian crossing in Naka Meguro.
Talking traffic lights are undoubtedly intended for the blind. As for other things like advertisements in trains, I'm not sure that they really were created for the blind. I think this is just part of the information service for all passengers.
Here are often found signs of Braille: at railway stations, on the railing, ticket machines. How useful are they? Are they informative enough?
On the railing, Braille helps a lot. If I get to the station where I have never been before, then first of all I look for a railing with Braille signs, and, as a rule, they have all the necessary info.
If these are railings that lead up the stairs to the platform, they indicate the platform number, which line and in which direction it is going. When you go up to the station, Braille signs at the other end of the railing will tell you which of the turnstiles lead to. The railing next to the steps that lead to the exit from the station will tell you its name. Sometimes they tell you what's around, what kind of street is it, or what's the main landmark, in general, you are always aware.
Are there any rules by which the designers of such things work? Who produces them at all? And are there any common standards regarding how and where to place them?
Honestly, not in the know. Someone just started doing it as an experiment, and then, I think, after many trial and error, judging by the reaction of the blind, everything fell into place, in the sense of where you need to place pointers and other things. However, the standard does not exist; Braille signs on the doors to trains, on some lines are higher than on others, and their content is also different.
What about those yellow tiles that can be seen everywhere in Tokyo? I heard that they have a lot of different options, because they are also not standardized, which really strains people who are trying to use them. How comfortable are you to use them?
Well, some of the blind rely on them much more than I do. For me, this is just a type of guide. That is, if I come to the same railway station every day, I will know that when I cross this tile, it means that I will soon have to turn, something like this is not quite what they were originally intended for. .
Obviously, the initial idea is that the blind can move along this path by touch. But if you find yourself somewhere for the first time, you will never guess where it leads. Some people think that it is easier for the blind to touch, but it is not always true and it is not always safer to define something by touch than in some other way.
It is better, of course, that they be, especially on railway platforms, where they warn me not to fall on the rails. (laughs)
And, if possible, another question; I noticed that there are also Braille signs on the packages of some drinks. What do they mean?
These marks are placed only on alcoholic beverages, so that those who do not want alcohol can take something else from the fridge. But different companies do it differently; most simply write alcohol, but on the cans of beer “Kirin”, on the one hand stands “Kirin”, and on the other “beer”. There is only room on the bank for three or four Braille signs, respectively, you do not have too much choice for what you can write there.
You can write “Kirin”, but it’s impossible to write “Sapporo” there!
Thank you very much for the conversation, Max!
Max, how is the difference between how blind people use a computer and how a sighted person does it?
The difference is not so great, you just use the keyboard, where you remember the location of each key. To receive feedback, you can use different software that can either read you aloud, what should be on the screen, or describe it to you with the help of Braille signs.
')
Would you please describe the Braille display?
This is such a box that connects to a PC, usually via USB, respectively, previously used for this parallel or serial port. I think some of the latest models use Bluetooth. Depending on your willingness to spend money, there can be from 40 to 80 Braille cells on it and each of them consists of 6 or 8 points, which together denote one Braille sign.
You have several buttons on the case of the device that you can use to give commands to the screen reader on the PC. You can display only 40 characters at a time, which is obviously not enough to view the whole screen. Then you use the buttons on the device to move the field of view around the screen, as if you are looking through a telescope , and to get the full picture, you have to put all the pieces together in your imagination.
When did you decide to use a screen reader and when did you choose Braille’s reader?
Well, it can only be said in part. I usually use Braille for programming and similar things, because it is more accurate. If I want to read a book, I do not use Braille because it is slow. Software for reading texts can be set to a very high speed of pronunciation; One volume of the book can be read in 3 hours , and it is quite fast.
Here is a record of how the Max screen reader reads this article. Note that this is not the highest speed! Max believes that this is the right speed for leisurely reading, but people for whom English is their native language prefer higher speeds.
Max, you used to do a lot of accessibility research for the W3C , and now you're working as a researcher for the Auto-ID Lab. Japan
at Keio University. Now, more than ever, accessibility is becoming a popular topic in the press, but do you think that in this area, in fact, there are any improvements? Is it easy for you to navigate most blogs?
Well, actually, yes and no. First, you need to take into account a few points:
A screen reader attempts to pull information from a web browser. Internet Explorer parsit HTML and screen reader just takes information from memory. My screen reader allows you to jump from one header to another and thus you can quickly view the page. But without the corresponding tags designating headings, the screen reader does not know where to jump. Therefore, in order to designate a line as a heading, it is better to use corresponding tags in HTML, rather than font tags, which simply make the text look like a heading, which occurs very often.
Many templates for blogs, for example, in Movabletype actively use header tags, so that such a page is quite easy to browse or find the beginning of the article. In general, bloggers, of course, should understand what the HTML page is made of, and if you encounter someone who is not particularly interested in this, who is not really a fan, you can hardly expect him to understand these details. .
Another trick is that such functions are not in every screen reader. That is, people who use a simple screen reader are forced to just listen to everything, until they reach the necessary content. To overcome all this, attention should be paid to accessibility.
Here are 3 simple things you could do to ensure that your site is at a sufficient level of accessibility:
1. Use the “alt” attribute for pictures . If you provide pictures on your site with an alternative textual description, people with visual impairments will be able to understand what is shown on them even if they enter the site using a screen or Braille reader. Just do not add an “alt“ description for images-gaps (invisible images that are sometimes used to control page layout), since the screen reader and Braille reader will read them too!
2. Use as hyperlinks expressions that contain meaning. If you make the links clear out of context, it will help those users who may not read the whole sentence or scan the page just for the sake of links. That is, instead of the mysterious “To see my photos click here”, write “Take a look at my photos from the date of birth”. You can also add a “title” attribute to the hyperlink to give the user additional information when he hovers over it.
3. Use suitable titles for pages and headings. The first thing that the screen reader will tell the user is the name of your page - and therefore, it should be as informative as possible, while remaining not too long. Then many users with visual problems will listen to the titles of the headings inside the page to determine the part that they need. If your header tags are added incorrectly, they will fail!
Simple and effective! Thank you for the advice.
What do you think about portable electronic devices? Suppose an MP3 player. Is it difficult for you to use them?
Well, some of them, yes. I couldn’t use iPod properly, because with its iTunes software it’s almost impossible to work on a PC with a screen reader. I had a player that was also used as a USB storage, that is, I don't need any special software to transfer my files to the player. In fact, I do not use many of the features that are probably not required anyway.
You mentioned that you are using a PC - do you just like a PC or the reason is that most of the existing speech software is intended only for PC and not for Mac?
In fact, for Macs, there is nothing normal. I think that Apple is now trying to develop some solutions aimed at accessibility for the blind, but I am not sure how deeply they have taken it and I don’t even think that they are doing this taking into account some languages ​​other than English.
Interesting ... How about using mobile phones?
About four years ago, Docomo released the first cellular phone with voice output. Their main audience was elderly citizens, but besides this they added some chips that could be very useful for blind users. The first model could only read emails and menus and allow you to browse the phone book using voice output.
The following model also read web content using speech output. As far as I know, AU released two models that spoke. Before these phones appeared, I simply remembered the sequence necessary to call the number.
Are there any products you use that were designed specifically for the blind?
Some things in my house can talk, for example, a clock, an air conditioner remote control, indicators of some appliances, such as that. But, in fact, they were not created specifically for the blind, because you can buy them in a regular store.
But, as for my watch, I do not think that it is made for someone other than the blind: they allow you to determine time by touch.
An example of the sound of a talking escalator at Shibuya station and the sound that the ATM makes in acknowledgment.
When I first arrived in Tokyo, I was very surprised by all these talking things, such as a musical pedestrian crossing and railway stations with different melodies, bathrooms, which say that the water is already warm ... Do these things really help or are they more furious?
Well, most of them help. Sometimes, of course, there is a bust, but you can just not pay attention. They do not create so much noise to become a problem.
Here is a small example of what sounds surround a person while he passes just 100 meters in the center of Shibuya .
Many foreigners say this when they first come to Tokyo. (smiles) In fact, when you come to another country where there are no announcements about the train or bus being there, you feel very uncomfortable, because you do not know what you need to do. If the trains arrive as on schedule as in Japan, then you can still guess, but if you come, for example, to the US and sit on Amtrak, it will be more difficult.
The sound of a pedestrian crossing in Naka Meguro.
Talking traffic lights are undoubtedly intended for the blind. As for other things like advertisements in trains, I'm not sure that they really were created for the blind. I think this is just part of the information service for all passengers.
Here are often found signs of Braille: at railway stations, on the railing, ticket machines. How useful are they? Are they informative enough?
On the railing, Braille helps a lot. If I get to the station where I have never been before, then first of all I look for a railing with Braille signs, and, as a rule, they have all the necessary info.
If these are railings that lead up the stairs to the platform, they indicate the platform number, which line and in which direction it is going. When you go up to the station, Braille signs at the other end of the railing will tell you which of the turnstiles lead to. The railing next to the steps that lead to the exit from the station will tell you its name. Sometimes they tell you what's around, what kind of street is it, or what's the main landmark, in general, you are always aware.
Are there any rules by which the designers of such things work? Who produces them at all? And are there any common standards regarding how and where to place them?
Honestly, not in the know. Someone just started doing it as an experiment, and then, I think, after many trial and error, judging by the reaction of the blind, everything fell into place, in the sense of where you need to place pointers and other things. However, the standard does not exist; Braille signs on the doors to trains, on some lines are higher than on others, and their content is also different.
What about those yellow tiles that can be seen everywhere in Tokyo? I heard that they have a lot of different options, because they are also not standardized, which really strains people who are trying to use them. How comfortable are you to use them?
Well, some of the blind rely on them much more than I do. For me, this is just a type of guide. That is, if I come to the same railway station every day, I will know that when I cross this tile, it means that I will soon have to turn, something like this is not quite what they were originally intended for. .
Obviously, the initial idea is that the blind can move along this path by touch. But if you find yourself somewhere for the first time, you will never guess where it leads. Some people think that it is easier for the blind to touch, but it is not always true and it is not always safer to define something by touch than in some other way.
It is better, of course, that they be, especially on railway platforms, where they warn me not to fall on the rails. (laughs)
And, if possible, another question; I noticed that there are also Braille signs on the packages of some drinks. What do they mean?
These marks are placed only on alcoholic beverages, so that those who do not want alcohol can take something else from the fridge. But different companies do it differently; most simply write alcohol, but on the cans of beer “Kirin”, on the one hand stands “Kirin”, and on the other “beer”. There is only room on the bank for three or four Braille signs, respectively, you do not have too much choice for what you can write there.
You can write “Kirin”, but it’s impossible to write “Sapporo” there!
Thank you very much for the conversation, Max!
Source: https://habr.com/ru/post/30930/
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