A few weeks ago VIPACE received a number of e-mail messages following the
publication of an article in the Pittsburgh Post Gazette. Unfortunately,
we had no electronic version to share and only one person at the last
VIPACE meeting had heard it read on the radio reading service.
A few minutes ago, I came upon http://olc.library.cmu.edu/ while looking
at some library pages. This is the URL for a database which allows
searching of several years of the Post Gazette. I entered the following
into the search field : "Willie Wilson blind computer user" and was able
to read the March article!
Oddly, the page could not be saved as a lynx bookmark. I imagine it is
created on the fly and has no persistent URL.
The material is Copyrighted by PG Publishing, but I'm sure that they
would be glad to know that those mentioned in the story can now read it
independently.
---- without further delay ---
TITLE: WANTED: EQUAL ACCESS
BLIND PEOPLE, MICROSOFT SEEK SOLUTION TO ICON-BASED COMPUTER SOFTWARE
THAT LEAVES THE SIGHT-IMPAIRED BEHIND
AUTHOR: BY KELLY D. BURGESS
SOURCETAG: 9703130245
PUBDATE: 970313
TDATE: Thursday, March 13, 1997
EDITION: SOONER
SECTION: LIFESTYLE
PAGE: D-1
ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO
CAPTION: PHOTO: Darrell Sapp/Post-Gazette: While William Wilson, who
is blind, was working on his computer bulletin board, his dog
``Leroy'' tried to get some attention.
MEMO: Kelly Burgess is a free-lance writer who lives in West Deer.
LEAD: You're cruising the Internet when you see the cyber equivalent
of orange cones ahead:
``WARNING! There are blind people driving on the Information
Superhighway! Proceed with caution!''
REST:
It is a startling first glimpse, for those who can see it, of the home
page for the Visually Impaired Pittsburgh Area Computer Enthusiasts,
or VIPACE. For those who can't see it, the warning is almost more
compelling, delivered in the flat, urgent ``voice'' of a speech
synthesizer.
In the early years of the home-computer revolution, speech
synthesizers gave blind and sight-impaired people access to bulletin
boards and other services, thanks in part to VIPACE. People like Jerry
Berrier, 44, of Dormont, who has been blind since birth, discovered
that computers could make him much more productive, leveling the
playing field for him and co-workers at Bell Atlantic of Pittsburgh.
``I can't even begin to express what computers have done for my life.
I went from being a marginal performer to being a key player,'' he
said. ``They have made me employable.''
But almost as quickly, Berrier and others have found that computers -
or more correctly, icon-based software like Microsoft Corp.'s Windows
- are leaving them behind. To put it bluntly, as VIPACE founder
William Wilson does, blind people can't point and click.
Instead, they have to learn DOS, the often-intimidating,
character-based operating system that Windows was created to simplify.
Windows did this so well that it has begun to make DOS programs
obsolete. This is great for the average user, but bad news for the
sight-impaired.
``Back in the days of DOS, a blind computer user could operate nearly
as well as a sighted user, sometimes better,'' said Wilson. ``Now,
there's no way we'll be able to compete because we have no technology
that even approaches being able to click on a little picture with an
arrow. Speech synthesizers can't read pictures, so how in the heck can
we figure out where that little picture is?''
Microsoft acknowledges the problem. In fact, it has created a division
devoted exclusively to developing specialized programs for users with
various disabilities. Next week, it will introduce a product that aims
to make graphic-based systems work with speech-compatible systems. But
even its creators acknowledge that it's not a complete solution.
In addition to being nearly untested, Microsoft Active Accessibility
is not designed for the blind computer user. It must be adopted by
other software manufacturers whose products work with Windows and by
makers of the screen readers used by blind people.
``It's hard to get a solution out there for the end user,'' said
Luanne LaLonde, accessibility product manager for Microsoft's personal
systems business group. ``Part of what we need to do is to encourage
everyone to be aware of the problem. Hopefully everyone involved in
the manufacture of these products will realize that providing a
standard is the right thing to do.''
The product is a software developers kit that exposes the text
information buried under the layers of graphics that sighted computer
users see. This allows screen readers to ``read'' the text and convert
the information for speech-compatible applications.
Microsoft is still testing the product and says it won't be for sale
until mid-May. It will be released as version 1.0 software, which
means that there will be a lot of room for improvement. It may take
quite a while before Windows accessibility even approaches DOS
accessibility.
That worries Wilson of VIPACE. He says Windows is taking computer
access away from sight-impaired people much more quickly than
speech-synthesized technology is giving it back.
``Blind people are falling farther and farther behind,'' he said.
``This is going to have a negative effect on the employment picture
for us, especially as the younger people try to become competitive in
a world where computers are now a necessity for everyone.''
When Wilson, 45, of Bellevue, founded VIPACE in 1988, he was already
considered a pioneer in the new world of computer-linked
communication. He had lost his sight in 1978 as a result of diabetes,
and he discovered computers while retraining at the University of
Pittsburgh.
``I got my first computer in 1986, when talking IBM computers really
started hitting the market,'' he said. ``Someone had suggested I get a
modem, and somewhere along the line I decided to start using it. The
first place I called was CompuServe, and one day I accidentally
discovered a list of bulletin boards in the Pittsburgh area.''
The first bulletin board he explored was called Sounding Board. He
immediately recognized how this technology could benefit blind
computer users, so he left a message for the systems operator to call
him to discuss starting his own bulletin board. As he was hanging up,
his computer started speaking to him.
``At first I couldn't figure out what was going on, but I finally
realized that someone was typing to me from the other end,'' he said.
``It was the systems operator telling me that he couldn't call me
because he was deaf.
``I thought that was amazing - here was a deaf guy talking to a blind
guy. How else would you do that? I knew then I would definitely be
putting up a bulletin board.''
He created BlinkLink, the first bulletin board for visually disabled
computer users. In its heyday, BlinkLink handled hundreds of calls and
messages a day. That has since dropped to a handful as the Internet
encroaches on territory traditionally covered by bulletin board
systems.
But BlinkLink still has the largest available collection of
downloadable speech-friendly software in the world. It is housed on
FidoNet, a worldwide network of bulletin boards.
BlinkLink had been up and running for a year when the director of
disabled services for the University of Pittsburgh asked Wilson to
give a presentation to teach other visually impaired students how to
use the service. Much to Wilson's surprise, more than 30 people showed
up for that initial meeting. That was the impetus for Wilson and
several others to make it a regular event. Now, the group meets
monthly at the Pitt student union, averaging 50 regular attendees.
He and Berrier are counting on new technology to restore the power
computers have given blind users.
``The greatest thing computers have done for the blind is to give them
equal access to information,'' said Berrier. ``The irony is that now
Windows has started to close some of those doors because it is a much
more difficult environment for the sight impaired to use.''
The Web address for VIPACE is http://www.city-net.com/vipace/
index.html. It contains dozens of links to other sites for disabled
computer users. The Web address for the Microsoft Accessibility
Support home page is:
http://www.microsoft.com/ windows/enable/default.htm
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