Hi Barbara,

I checked out the Alliance Library web page, and I have the following to say:

I use voice output (Window Eyes 3.1), IE 5.5 and Windows95 for software
when browsing the Internet.

The hardware I use is as follows:  high speed DSL Internet Connection,
pentium 200mhz, 64mb RAM, 14gb harddrive, and Artic Transport voice
synthesizer.

As voice output is linear, I find it somewhat annoying to go through the
same links on every page when going to many different pages on the web
site.  My annoyance is a result of already knowing the navigation bar
contents, and I cannot bare to hear them again.  This annoyance is
something I have been dealing with on hundreds of web sites.

Some pages have a skip the navigation bar link just before the menu bar is
provided, but I cannot get the link to work with my versions of software.
Not only that, even with the speedy Internet connection, I must wait
several seconds before the voice output software analizes the page and
starts reading again.

One way of avoiding this linear problem is to have the side bar menu on the
right hand side and the page content on the left and middle.  or one could
just keep the menu choices somewhat limited.  I must admit that the
Alliance bars were not all that bad as the bars were not as lengthy as some
other web sites.

The alternate text tags were very explanatory so it was easy to figure out
where I wanted to go.  In general, I found the web site quite accessible
for someone who is blind and has a wealth of experience.  I also discovered
an interesting program I can mention to the Province of Manitoba Library
Services department (I am on the Library Board for the province).
Ross Eadie
Voice:  (204) 339-5287