Blind and Low Vision Users

When we come to accessibility of web design, we will say that accessible web design is a sign of good web design. A lot of the information on the Web is not accessible to people with disabilities because of poor design. While many web site managers and developers accommodate various browser constraints, most of them do not realize that they are developing sites that people with disabilities have difficulty in navigating, or in many cases, cannot navigate at all.

Hung, Edward. Universal Usability. Design>Usability>Accessibility>Visual Rhetoric

A Guide to Making Documents Accessible to People Who Are Blind or Visually Impaired

This document contains a comprehensive discussion about how to make print and electronic information available to people with visual impairments in a variety of accessible formats. Consumers who have limited vision or are totally blind have unique access needs. These needs depend on the amount of vision each person has for reading. Some people have usable vision, allowing them to read large print. Others choose to read braille on paper, while a third group prefers to use a computer with synthetic speech, or refreshable braille display, to read electronic documents.

Sutton, Jennifer. American Council of the Blind (2002). Design>Usability>Accessibility>Visual

Stuckness and Low Vision: How Technology and Socratic Classroom Dialogue Changed my Life

Gloria discusses her low-vision condition, the problems it poses in her life and work and the accommodation strategies she has developed.

Reece, Gloria A. Usability Interface (2003). Design>Usability>Accessibility>Visual

Surpassing Gutenberg--Access to Published Information for Blind Readers

We examine some surprising reasons to explain why electronic book publishing will become a versatile medium comprising 10% of all consumer book sales in the U.S. by 2005, estimated by Anderson Consulting at $2.3 billion. The Association of American Publishers (AAP) and the Open Electronic Book Forum (OEBF) both pin this expectation on open standards--any book, anytime, anywhere, for anyone. Electronic books will succeed, we argue, in part because they provide communicative opportunities not available in traditional, static print media. But, they will also succeed because of developments in technology for blind readers which will benefit all readers regardless of ability or disability. As evidence we offer, among other points, Microsoft Corporation's licensing of technology developed to benefit blind people for use in Microsoft Reader and mainstream publishing applications. We demonstrate, further, that technology transfer from disability to mainstream use has solid historic precedent.

Sajka, Janina and George Kerscher. American Foundation for the Blind (2002). Design>Usability>Accessibility>Visual