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Lauren Tiffany
Engl 199
24 April 2012
Lacking Sight But Not Websites:
Internet Accessibility and Blind Students at the University of Illinois
Introduction
I originally chose to take Introduction to Disability Studies because I thought it would be
nice to have a bit of diversity in my schedule. As a student in the College of Engineering, my
classes chiefly consist of math and science courses. As a result, I thought I would take a course
that focused on humanities and culture, a completely incongruent course. When it came time
to select a research question for this class, though, I quickly realized that this was not the case.
Although my major and this course seem to be unrelated, there is actually a considerable
amount of overlap. I am majoring in computer science, so I undoubtedly have an interest in
technology. This paper was a chance to incorporate my major into an utterly different class, as
well as examine it in a new context. I wouldn't just be learning how to work with computer
programs, but I had an opportunity to see how computer programs affect the lives of others.
For all of these reasons, I chose to focus my research on assistive technologies.
The question I am seeking to answer is as follows: " How do assistive technologies,
particularly screen readers, help blind students at the University of Illinois to navigate the
internet for academic purposes?" What I plan to research is how accessible the internet is for
blind students at the University of Illinois and what measures are taken to ensure that their
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ability to complete their course work is not hindered by their lack of vision. I am most
interested in blind students' use of the internet for academic purposes, rather than social
purposes. The use and effectiveness of currently available screen readers and similar assistive
technologies will be closely observed. Additionally, the accessibility of the University's
resources, as well as its compliance to current technology laws and regulations, will be put
under scrutiny.
Background Information
Blindness
Before I began to learn about assistive technologies, I needed to learn about those who
use them. My research began with a brief study of the spectrum of blindness. There are many
different levels of blindness. One can be simply colorblind, in which they cannot see certain
colors. This, however, is barely considered a disability because it hardly limits one's ability to
function fully. The next level of blindness is called "low vision." Low vision cannot be corrected
with glasses and can somewhat interfere with one's daily life. I, however, plan to focus my
research on those who fall in the range from legally to entirely blind. If one has extremely
limited vision (a corrected visual acuity of 20/200 or less), he is considered legally blind. He
may be able to see basic shapes and colors, but his vision is by no means fully functional.
("Visual Disabilities")
Assistive Technologies
According to the University of Illinois' Disability Resources and Education Services
(DRES), assistive technologies are "devices and services that lessen or remove barriers faced by
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persons with disabilities" ("Disability Resources and Educational Services"). This is a very broad
definition of assistive technology. In a more applicable approach, assistive technologies are to
computers as ramps are to buildings. In the same way ramps help people in wheelchairs
navigate areas that would be otherwise impossible to maneuver, assistive technologies, screen
readers in particular, help the blind navigate through computers and websites that would
otherwise be unfeasible to explore. Since my focus in this paper will be on screen readers, a
slight background on them is also necessary. A screen reader is a program that one installs on
his computer. There are many different screen readers available, but the main purpose of any
screen reader is to convey the visual information on the screen to auditory information so that
those with low vision can obtain the knowledge and ideas that are presented. The screen
reader physically reads aloud the text on the page, this includes of course headings, titles, and
bodies of information, but also says whether the words are a link to another page and other
pertinent information.
Current Laws and Regulations
Before finding out the laws about assistive technology, I wanted to see what the law
considers as assistive technology. According to the government's standards website, assistive
technology "can be defined as any item, piece of equipment, or product system, whether
acquired commercially off the shelf, modified, or customized, that is used to increase, maintain,
or improve the functional capabilities of individuals with disabilities" (Standards.gov). Because
of the broadness of this definition, it is applicable to more than just screen readers. The laws
that expressly pertain to electronic and information technology is located under Section 508 of
the Rehabilitation Act. This act sets out the fundamental rules for websites about maintaining
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navigability and sustaining accessibility. The website for Illinois Center for Information
Technology and Web Accessibility, created by the Disability Research and Educational Services,
DRES, and UIUC, has a link to a page with HTML Best Practices. The HTML Best Practices are
"designed to give web developers the markup techniques they need to make web resources
functionally accessible to people with disabilities" (HTML Best Practices) and comply with the
current laws. The site makes the laws and regulations easier to understand, especially for
people who aren't technically trained in HTML. From reading through several websites, it
seems that the most important laws include logically labeling headings and sections, labeling
tables and graphs, captioning images, and ensuring that all links can be reached without the use
of a mouse.
Research Methods
Since this is a very current topic, there isn't much information in the University of Illinois
Archives. Consequently, my research began online. When beginning my research, I had no
knowledge of either the blind community or assistive technologies, so my research began by
learning about blindness and the blind community. After I felt I had a strong enough
understanding of the blind community, I began to look into assistive technologies, screen
readers to be exact. Of course, I learned more and more about screen readers throughout the
entire research process, but once I felt I had a basic grasp on their fundamental concepts, I
narrowed my research to the technologies and programs available at the University of Illinois.
In order to learn about technologies at the University of Illinois, I needed to conduct interviews
with the staff at the school. I conducted several interviews; some through e-mail, some in
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person. These interviews were very informational and gave a glimpse into the lifestyle and the
challenges faced by blind students every day. Oftentimes, during my research process, I came
upon terms and concepts that I didn't understand. I frequently searched the internet in order
to obtain a better understanding of those concepts. My research, as you can see, was a work in
progress: it couldn't be conducted in simple stages of researching background information,
conducting interviews, then writing the paper. I had to oscillate between all three stages.
On the whole, all aspects of my research were significant, but the most valuable source
of information was unquestionably the interviews. The internet research was important to
understand the concepts and attain background information, but the interviews showed me
how all this information is applied to the real world. Without the input of the staff at Illinois,
my research would be too generic and applicable to any university.
Assistive Technologies at the University of Illinois
The University of Illinois continues to be well-renowned for its innovation in accessibility
for physically disabled students. The University continues to be a well renowned for its
wheelchair-friendly campus. But, what hasn't been investigated, is the extent to which the
University's computer system and online resources are accessible to its students, particularly
the blind community.
On Campus
My investigation of this subject yielded some quite unexpected results. I was pleasantly
surprised to discover that the campus as a whole has a generally good sense of awareness of
the need to have all technology and information presented in a manner such that it is
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accessible to students with any type of disability. The University's sense of awareness can be
demonstrated by the fact that there are multiple departments that strive for equal
opportunities and accessibility for all disabled students. If a student feels that he or she is not
being treated fairly because of a disability, or if he or she feels that a reasonable
accommodation could be made to assist him or her in her academics, that student can talk to
either the Office of Equal Opportunities and Access, OEOA, or the division of Disability Studies
and Educational Services, DRES. The OEOA's website openly lists the rights of all students with
disabilities. It makes it clear that if a student feels that he or she needs or deserves an
accommodation, he or she ought to receive that accommodation. In addition, DRES has a
variety of resources for students with disabilities. There are departments within DRES, such as
the Accessible Media Office, and the Assistive Communication and Information Technology
group, that are dedicated to assessing the quality of assistive technologies, creating new and
better assistive technologies, and gauging the accessibility in the media produced by the
University of Illinois. If the University was just trying to cover their bases and ensure that they
were in compliance with all laws, I don't think they would have such an extensive amount of
resources available for students with disabilities. They have a team that works to develop new
screen readers and other assistive technology! There's not much more that the University can
do to ensure accessibility for all students. To me, this establishes that the University genuinely
tries to be accessible to all students, including the blind.
Furthermore, the University fully understands that screen readers need to be installed
in the school's libraries and that all reading materials used in class must either already by
screen readable or have the capability of being converted to a format that is more readable.
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According to the Software Development Specialist, Hadi Rangin, there are workshops that
professors can voluntarily attend and learn about screen readers and methods to ensure that
the material they present in class can be processed by the screen readers. I think the fact that
these workshops are voluntarily attended says a great deal about the campus' attitude towards
accessible and assistive technology. It shows that the staff actually cares about the students
and are willing to accommodate any needs they may have. Since attending is optional,
professors and other staff members who do attend these workshops aren't just "going through
the motions." Instead, they actually want to be there and want to learn more about making the
campus even more accessible.
The University of Illinois also works to ensure technological accessibility throughout
campus. According to multiple sources, particularly Hadi Rangin and the IT Accessibility
Specialist, Christy Blew, most libraries at the University of Illinois have several computers with
screen readers installed in them. These are called "accessible workstations" and are equipped
with "assistive technology software on them as well as larger screens and adjustable tables to
accommodate various wheelchair heights" (Blew). This is perfect for students with a variety of
disabilities. Those in wheelchairs can adjust the height of the table in order to more
comfortably use the computer while those with low vision or blindness can use the screen
readers that are preinstalled on the computer. If there were no computers around campus
with screen readers installed on them, students with low vision would be prevented from using
a computer while outside of their dorm.
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As for individual students' laptops, the University of Illinois assumes that most students
already have screen readers installed on their personal computer. This is a very reasonable
assumption because most students who need screen readers have needed screen readers for a
considerable amount of time. It is almost guaranteed that the students already have the
appropriate assistive technology installed. Accordingly, the University of Illinois does not have
screen readers or other assistive technology available to be installed onto students' personal
computers. I cannot criticize the University for not providing these programs free of cost
because, as previously mentioned, the students have no critical need for new programs. The
University does have site licenses for assistive technology programs which students can use
"when they are in a University environment" (Rangin).
On The Internet
The workshops that were previously mentioned give tips on making reading materials
and course websites more easily read by the screen readers. Of course, there are many outside
websites (i.e., not created by the University of Illinois) that are used in many classes.
WebAssign is one such website. I personally, have used WebAssign for a math class. Teachers
post homework problems on the website, then students log in and type their answers into the
program. To investigate the accessibility of the site, I used the University of Illinois' Functional
Accessibility Evaluator, or FAE for short. On the FAE website, users can type a website's address
and the FAE will evaluate the website according to current regulations. I scanned the
WebAssign site, and it actually scored quite well. WebAssign's home page actually has a section
about accessibility and how the developers strive to keep up with current standards and
regulations. It can't be known for sure if the University specifically chose to use WebAssign
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because of its accessibility, but based on the rest of my research, I would be shocked if
accessibility wasn't a factor in the decision.
I then decided to run the evaluator on a University-created website, Illinois Compass.
Students use Compass to check grades and complete online quizzes or homework assignments.
Not surprisingly, the Compass website scored perfectly on the accessibility evaluation. This yet
again proves the University's dedication to maintaining a fully accessible environment.
Additionally, the University of Illinois' homepage scored extremely well, as did the e-mail used
by all staff and students, Gmail. This can be taken as proof that the University is dedicated to
maintaining accessibility, or it can be viewed as the University just complying with the law. In
my opinion, the University does seem to truly care about the students and ensuring
accessibility. The laws may serve more as guidelines or standards with which to compare.
Next, I decided to try a website that was unaffiliated with the University and was not
directly related to students' coursework: Facebook. Facebook is, needless to say, a popular
social networking site that is undoubtedly used by a vast majority of the students here at
Illinois. However, Facebook is often used by students as a way of collaborating on homework
and discussing important concepts that will likely be on tests. I, myself, have been a part of
multiple Facebook groups that were dedicated to certain classes. When a student was having a
difficult time understanding a concept, he or she would post on the group wall and ask for an
explanation. As students, this was an awesome way to pool our resources and help one
another. Unfortunately, the FAE was inexplicably unable to evaluate Facebook. Luckily, my
professor had sent me an article that discussed the accessibility of the popular social
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networking site. According to Media Access Australia, Facebook's new layout is less accessible
than it previously was! Since the University has no control over Facebook and cannot prevent
students from facilitating study groups over Facebook, I cannot place any fault on the
University, nor can I expect it to do anything about this conundrum. This is regrettably a major
academic disadvantage for blind students on campus and does have an effect on their
academics, but the problem is well out of the University's control.
Possible Improvements
As of now, when it comes to the accessibility of computers and the internet for blind
students, there are no gaping problems at the University of Illinois. This, however, does not by
any means imply that there is no room for improvement. Firstly, although the screen readers
are extremely advanced, the internet is always changing. For instance, Facebook recently
changed the format of its website. One possibility for improvement is to develop screen
readers that are better at navigating websites with different formats or websites with more
images than text. Additionally, the University can install screen readers and other assistive
technologies on more computers. Currently, there are workstations scattered across campus,
but what do students do when all the computers with screen readers are taken? I understand
that screen readers can be costly, and the University would consider installing them on every
publicly available computer on campus an "undue hardship" but a more moderate solution
would be to install screen readers on just a few more computers in each lab. This is a simple,
yet effective and attainable improvement for the University. In my opinion, there is not much
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else that the University can do to improve its accessibility for blind students, at least in terms of
computer access.
On the other hand, there are vast improvements that can be made throughout the rest
of the internet community. In order to make the internet a more accessible place, people need
to first realize that changes need to be made. Before taking this class, I never even considered
the fact that websites needed to be easily navigable for screen readers. For that matter, I didn't
even know that screen readers existed! I'm sure professional web developers are aware of the
rules regarding accessibility, but there are so many websites that are created by amateur
developers and these websites aren't as monitored for compliance to the laws. People who
depend on screen readers should be fully capable of attaining knowledge from all corners of
the internet. Therefore, I believe that the majority of improvement has to come from the rest
of the internet; there's only so much screen readers can do if the website developers don't
make their sites easily navigable.
Future Research
I quickly discovered that when researching, one semester is a short period of time.
There are so many different ways to further investigate the topic of internet accessibility for
blind students at the University of Illinois. Primarily, interviews with blind students at Illinois
would be very interesting and informational. Getting the perspective of the people who
actually use the available assistive technologies rather than the opinions of the people who
create them would probably be a more accurate measure of the technologies' usefulness. If I
were to continue my research, I would also look into how internet access affects blind students'
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social life. How do screen readers promote their social life? How are their social lives hindered
because of their inability to easily navigate social networking websites like Facebook? Another
area to explore, is the accessibility of computer programs such as Microsoft Word, Microsoft
PowerPoint, or the modeling programs that are used by many engineers If these programs lack
accessibility, it would make it extremely difficult, nearly impossible, for blind students to fully
complete homework. I think branching off into any of these areas would prove to be
enlightening.