You are correct in your assumption that how a screen reader operates can do
much to determine how a web page is read, above and beyond what the web
designers of that page do.  Also the browser and specifically the version
of the browser you use to access that page also plays a part.  For
instance, there are things a web designer can do to utilize features of
versions of Internet Explorer higher than 3.0 which makes speech or large
print access easier.  The decision facing web designers sometimes comes
down to a compromise in these situations because we know there are people
using versions of Internet Explorer such as 3.02 or Lynx which cannot
utilize some of these design features.  Web designers have to make choices
about how to trade off design features against the possibility that people
are using older software which cannot take advantage of some features.  It
is a hard road and I am glad I have been privilleged to work both sides of
it, one as a blind user and the other as part of a web design team.  The
experience has been very educational and hopefully has made me realize the
complexity of the access issues we all face.  Perhaps I will learn patience
from all this.

Elizabeth Aldworth

At 01:36 PM 3/2/99 , you wrote:
>Boy, people pay $700 for JAWS for Windows and $900 for something like
>Windowbridge and one doesn't expect more from screenreader manufactures
>when IBM Home Page Reader can be purchased for $150 and does quite nicely
>with reading web pages? Of course webpage designers need to be educated in
>webpage layout and how blind people access the web however screenreading
>manufactures shouldn't be let off the hook for the amount of money we pay.
>Jim
>
>
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VICUG-L is the Visually Impaired Computer User Group List.
To join or leave the list, send a message to
[log in to unmask]  In the body of the message, simply type
"subscribe vicug-l" or "unsubscribe vicug-l" without the quotations.
 VICUG-L is archived on the World Wide Web at
http://maelstrom.stjohns.edu/archives/vicug-l.html