I tried this program and found the speach very hard to understand. I would use satogo.com anyday of the week over this product. Jamie
----- Original Message ----- From: "Carlene Knight" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: <[email protected]> Sent: Saturday, July 26, 2008 2:42 AM Subject: [Blind-Computing] Web Anywhere > > Web-based program gives the blind Internet access > > 18/07/2008 5:08:00 PM > > THE ASSOCIATED PRESS > SEATTLE - Blind people generally use computers with the help of > screen-reader > software, but those products can cost more than $1,000, so they're not > exactly > common on public PCs at libraries or Internet cafes. Now a free new > web-based > program for the blind aims to improve the situation. > > > It's called WebAnywhere, and it was developed by a computer science > graduate > student at the University of Washington. Unlike software that has to be > installed on PCs, WebAnywhere is an Internet application that can make web > surfing accessible to the blind on most any computer. > > The developer, Jeffrey Bigham, hopes it lets blind people check a flight > time on > a public computer at the airport, plan a bus route at the library or type > up a > quick e-mail at an Internet cafe. > > To get WebAnywhere running, a blind person has to manage to get online, > which > can be complicated on a computer not already set up to give verbal > feedback. But > Bigham's research found that web-savvy blind people often know plenty of > keyboard tricks and when to ask for help. > > Once online, a blind web surfer can use the WebAnywhere browser, which can > link > to and then read out loud any page - as long as the computer has speakers > or a > headphone jack. The program can skip around the section titles, tab > through > charts or read the page from top to bottom. > > WebAnywhere could benefit from some tweaking, but it's a big improvement > over a > total lack of public access, says Lindsay Yazzolino, a blind Brown > University > student who has a summer job at the University of Washington. > > Yazzolino, 19, would like to see a better search function and fewer > keystrokes > required for navigation around web pages, but she loves the fact that the > program is free. > > Bigham says he hopes others will make improvements to his program, which > is > open-source to invite tinkering. He doesn't have a personal connection to > the > issue of computer accessibility - except through his fellow students who > are > blind - but recognizes the area as wide open for programmers. > > His faculty adviser, professor Richard Ladner, hopes a commercial search > engine > will adopt WebAnywhere as a module. Ladner's next dream is for web > developers to > keep blind people in mind when they design their pages - a change that > could > make information easier for everyone to find. > > -Donna Gordon Blankinship, AP Writer. > > > Visit the JAWS Users List home page at: > http://www.jaws-users.com > Visit the Blind Computing home page at: > http://www.blind-computing.com > Address for the list archives: > http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/ > To post to this group, send email to > [email protected] > To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to > [EMAIL PROTECTED] > For help from Mailman with your account Put the word help in the subject > or body of a blank message to: > [EMAIL PROTECTED] > Use the following form in order to contact the management team > http://www.jaws-users.com/BlindComputing.php > If you wish to join the JAWS Users List send a blank email to the > following address: > [EMAIL PROTECTED] Visit the JAWS Users List home page at: http://www.jaws-users.com Visit the Blind Computing home page at: http://www.blind-computing.com Address for the list archives: http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/ To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] For help from Mailman with your account Put the word help in the subject or body of a blank message to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Use the following form in order to contact the management team http://www.jaws-users.com/BlindComputing.php If you wish to join the JAWS Users List send a blank email to the following address: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
