How easy is it to browse the internet.(self.Blind)
submitted 8y ago by awerawerawerawer
How do people who are blind or visually impaired use computers and access the internet? Are there any websites that are particularly hard to understand or navigate with current technology? If so, what are some examples?
johnnytai2 points
Websites with alot of text, like wikipedia, very easy. Websites with constantly flashing /refreshing gimmicks= extremely annoying. Website with alot of graphics and graphic buttons= nearly impossible.
To break it down further: Book research, online banking, emails, reading stories/books= quite easy.
Finding movies, watching youtube, shopping, looking for downloads= slightly harder but still within reason. Facebook, reddit, other online social medias= can be very frustrating but with a bit of patient and maybe a smashed computer or two, can be done.
Google map, image search, capcha entries= forget it, it's not going to happen soon.
Nighthawk3211 points
Nod, well said.
narfarnst2 points
We use special software to either zoom the screen way in and/or read stuff out loud (look up Zoomtext, JAWS, NVDA for examples).
Lots of websites don't (completely) work with these software because the software uses the HTML tree of the site to read things in the right order. And a lot of web devs just simply don't put in the right HTML code the software needs to navigate totally correctly.
I_HVIII_Slow_People2 points
It would be allot easyier if it were like the old internet. Here is a good explanation http://www.hobo-web.co.uk/design-website-for-blind/. There is too much going on and screen readers have a tough time navigating it. My SO uses a program called JAWS to navigate the internet, email, word and other programs but allot of times JAWS fights with everything and it can get very frustrating.
Nighthawk3211 points
Ask your SO if he or she has tried using NVDA, the commands are very similar and NVDA is free and is much faster than jaws.
Nighthawk3211 points
Very easy these days. There are several programs that can allow a blind person to use the internet. Many blind people use the popular JAWS. I use NVDA, a free version that does more than JAWS. In my opinion, better than JAWS.
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