Creating Web Workstation for people with disabilities

[Michael Dargan]

Not all vision problems are the same and magnification isn't always the 
answer.  You might contact your state's commission for the blind and ask 
for advice.  Believe it or not, some blind patrons might be better served 
with a 14" monitor on one of those spring loaded A-arms which allows the 
height and distance to be adjusted for different patrons.  

(Forty-year-olds fighting their bifocals might also appreciate this.)

I believe that Frankfurt, KY has a large blind population.  It might be 
interesting to contact their public library to see how they are 
accommodating patrons who are visually impaired.

---
Michael J. Dargan                               office: 319 291 4496
Technical Systems Administrator                    fax: 319 291 6736
Waterloo and Cedar Falls Public Libraries         Waterloo, IA 50701

On Wed, 11 Feb 1998, Robert Sullivan wrote:

> >I'm looking for information from those of you who have created Web
> >Workstations designed to permit those with a variety of disabilites to
> >access the Internet.  The most obvious obstacle is for those with visual
> >impairments and so far I have heard that these users would benefit from:
> 
> >1) Large (20"+) Monitors with large fonts enabled for those with limited
> >vision.
> 
> Rather than equip a few stations with expensive monitors, we chose to order 17"
> monitors for all of our new computers.
> 
> >2) pwWebSpeak or some other type of screen reader that will "read" web
> >pages for those without any vision.
> 
> This is not a screen reader, but would be useful for the disabled.  The March
> 1998 issue of Windows Sources arrived today, and page 146 contains a review of
> of a beta version of Conversa' Web (pronounced Conversay), which lets you speak
> to your Web browser.  At the moment, it supports Windows 95 and NT 4 and
> Internet Explorer 4, with a Netscape version coming.  The review is favorable,
> although it notes the beta did not support forms or frames.  The program is
> $29.95 from http://www.conversa.com.
> 
> Bob Sullivan                               scp_sulli at sals.edu
> Schenectady County Public Library (NY)     http://www.scpl.org
>