Webanywhere: enabling a screen reading interface for the web on any computer

People often use computers other than their own to access web content, but blind users are restricted to using computers equipped with expensive, special-purpose screen reading programs that they use to access the web. WebAnywhere is a web-based, self-voicing web application that enables blind web users to access the web from almost any computer that can produce sound without installing new software. WebAnywhere could serve as a convenient, low-cost solution for blind users on-the-go, for blind users unable to afford another screen reader and for web developers targeting accessible design. This paper describes the implementation of WebAnywhere, overviews an evaluation of it by blind web users, and summarizes a survey of public terminals that shows it can run on most public computers. Categories and Subject Descriptors K.4.2 [Social Issues]: Assistive technologies for persons with disabilities; H.5.2 [Information Interfaces and Presentation]: User Interfaces General Terms Design, Human...

• Type: Conference
• Year: 2008
• Where: WWW
• Authors: Jeffrey P. Bigham, Craig Prince, Richard E. Ladner
• Keywords: Blind Users, Blind Web Users, Internet Technology, Self-voicing Web Application, WWW 2008