Screen Capture of Netscape Session
The following image is a Netscape screen capture of the Orinoco OnLine web site. The Orinoco site is well designed and the user is provided with many options that virtually ensure access to the site. For example, if the user's Internet connection is fast, he or she may choose the "flashy" high band width option. A choice of languages is also provided. The user may select the view the Spanish language pages or the English language pages. What's most important is that the web designer followed the rules of good web design which resulted in a web site that could be easily interpreted by text browsers and browsers designed for use by the visually-impaired.
Screen Capture of Lynx Session
The following image is a Lynx screen capture of the Natural History Museum home page. Lynx is a text-based web browser and is commonly used by people with low-bandwidth connections, or by people at universities and research institutions who prefer quick access to text information.
It is clear that the Orinoco OnLine site was not designed with text browsers in mind. However, since the web designer followed the rules of good web design, the site is easily interpreted by Lynx. There are a few problems. The designer failed to provide an alternate text description for the "white.gif" spacer graphic used to visually space graphics on the page. He or she also neglected to provide a text description of the final "3.gif" graphic which should read "Un Programa de la Fundacion Cisneros."
Although the Orinoco OnLine site has problems, it is easily navigated using a text browser such as Lynx. And a site that is easily navigated during a Lynx session is likely to perform well when accessed by a blind person equipped with an auditory browser such as Web Speak (Productivity Works).
Screen Capture of Web Speak Session
The following image is a Web Speak screen capture of the Orinoco OnLine web site. Web Speak is an auditory browser supplied by Productivity Works. It works by reading a web page out loud to a visually-impaired user. Links and images are specified and the user is able to navigate via a standard computer keyboard. The most important point to consider when designing a site that may be visited by a blind person is that the information on the web page must be accessed in a linear fashion, from start to finish. Select this text if you would like to hear what a visually-impaired person hears when using Web Speak.
