Dan,
My point is that he was blaming the web for the problem, when the
problem may not have had anything to do with the web. We need better
accessibility tools in general, not just for the web. The web is just
one environment where a person with a disability must operate. You need
access to all environments.
Denis Anson, MS, OTR
Computer Access Specialist
College Misericordia
301 Lake St.
Dallas, PA 18612
email: [log in to unmask]
Phone: 570-674-6413
> -----Original Message-----
> From: * EASI: Equal Access to Software & Information
> [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Dan Comden
> Sent: Wednesday, October 31, 2001 5:03 PM
> To: [log in to unmask]
> Subject: Nielsen's accessibility report (was Re: Accessible Society E-
> Letter 10/30/2001)
>
> While it's true that many people with disabilities may take longer to
> complete tasks, I think the alarming number that's mentioned in the
report
> overview is that only 12.5% were able to complete the four tasks. Even
> more amazing is the 78% figure for the control group. It's not clear
that
> task completion is separate from the time issue, or if there were time
> limits to complete the tasks.
>
> Even if web resource providers ignore accessibility, do they really
want
> to lose a potential 12% of customer's requests? This indicates a
serious
> usability problem that Nielsen continues, rightly, to bring up.
>
> I'm curious if anyone on this list has plunked down the $190 for a
copy of
> the report and read it. Was there a time limit to complete the tasks?
>
> -*- Dan Comden [log in to unmask]
> Adaptive Technology Lab
http://www.washington.edu/computing/atl/
> University of Washington http://www.washington.edu/doit/
>
> On Tue, 30 Oct 2001, Denis Anson wrote:
>
> > While the results of this report are important, I'm not sure that
they
> > are entirely pertinent. A typical able-bodied typist can generate
text
> > between 35 and 55 words per minute. (This is an average range, some
are
> > much faster, some slower.) Even high performance users of
alternative
> > text input methods seem to peak out at about 25 words per minute.
That
> > means that a person with a physical disability will likely spend up
to
> > twice as long on a typing task a TAB (temporarily able bodied). Does
> > this mean that computers are inaccessible? No. It just means that
a
> > person with less motor ability takes longer to produce the same
amount
> > of work. A motor delay means you move slower.
> >
> > Similarly, people with low-vision or no-vision don't have the
ability to
> > scan an entire page at once and zero in on words or icons that lead
> > immediately to their task. It's not a question of web
accessibility, or
> > any other kind of accessibility, it has to do with a feature of
vision
> > that makes the sighted able to locate certain stimuli quickly in the
> > visual field. If you have a restricted visual field (low
vision/screen
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