I found the following summary interesting.
------- start of forwarded message -------
Newsgroups: alt.comp.blind-users
From: jhedges@iglou.iglou.com (John Hedges)
Subject: Re: News Netscape not so accessable
X-Nntp-Posting-Host: iglou.iglou.com
Message-ID: <DHDDoo.46p@iglou.com>
Sender: news@iglou.com (News Administrator)
Organization: IgLou Internet Services (1-800-436-4456)
X-Newsreader: TIN [version 1.2 PL2]
References: <474hug$h53@news.sas.ab.ca>
Date: Wed, 1 Nov 1995 15:00:24 GMT
Lines: 53
boblogue@fn1.freenet.edmonton.ab.ca wrote:
: I just heard the new Netscape is not so compatible with the present
: version of HTML. What does this mean for those of us who use alternate
: technology to access our computers and the Internet?
: Briefly, it means more and more web pages will become difficult if not
: impossable to access. Even people who do not have the new Netscape and
: use other more HTML compatible browsers are having difficulty. This is
You have a good point about where the Web is going . . . . I was at
Closing The Gap in October, where Internet access was discussed in
several ways:
1. Using it with Lynx. It works with some current pages and data. Not
really new info for the initiated.
2. Making Web pages accessible with minimized graphics and text
alternative coded in. To what HTML encoding this would be applied is not
clear.
3. The International Committee on Accessible Document Design (ICADD) met
and discussed several issues. The opinions going here felt that
commercializarion by NSA would push the Web past any HTML standard, which
would leave access info as "road kill." Adoption of animation and video
is very likely with JAVA and VRML.
4. Windows access is getting better, somewhat. The access to Netscape by
Jaws for Windows needed tweeking to read screen views created by the VC++
language system used to produce the program. Outspoken for Windows had as
much success with Netscape.
5. Real time OCR may be the next counter measure to the graphical text
content of sp many Web pages and a[[luication screens, like the opening
screens to new Microsoft apps! Computer power and capacity increase--it
will all be consumed.
6. The projections from most screem reader vendors put first versions of
Windows 95 products out in the first quarter of 1996. Outspoken may be
out by December. Braille support has increased as some products mature.
7. The use of SSIL for synthesizer driver access is now well established.
Drivers for most all synthesizers exist. A sound card
driver--non-indexed--is also available for Sound Blaster ASP equipped
cards. Due to the lack of indexing and system resource use, however, this
combination may not produce as high a quality of performance as a
dedicated synthesizer.
8. Microsoft is still working toward a Windows95 amd NT compatible
off-screen data model for screen access vendors to use. (All have created
their own at this point.) A blind users tutorial has been proposed, akin
to "Opening Windows 3.1" from APH. Sources tell me they want to train
their trainers on disablility training before development
starts--wow--cultural revolution?
As can be seen, the landscape for data access is not getting any better.
Where do we go next? Start saving those pennies. . . .
Johm Hedges
jhedges@iglou.com
-- John is a programmer at the American Printing House for the Blind ------- end of forwarded message --------- Mike Freeman | Internet: mikef@pacifier.com GEnie: M.FREEMAN11 | Amateur Radio Callsign: K7UIJ /* PGP2.6.2 PUBLIC KEY available via finger or PGP key server */ ... The usefulness of a meeting is inversely proportional to its attendance.
This archive was generated by hypermail 2b29 : Sun Dec 02 2012 - 01:30:03 PST