[Blindtlk] Text Based Internet

[Lloyd Rasmussen]

You can actually set up Internet Explorer, using Tools, Options, Advanced,
so that it doesn't download graphics.  The option is called "show pictures"
which you uncheck.  The downside of doing this is that when you are wirking
with a sighted person on web sites on your computer, they are very
disoriented.  And with modern broadband connections and large hard discs,
there is really very little advantage to not downloading the graphics.  

One problem with your friend's  argument is that most web designers don't
know how they would design a text-based web page; they have never seen one.
My home page (shown in my signature) is an example, but I wouldn't claim
that it looks pretty.  I would only claim that it carries information.

Lloyd Rasmussen, Kensington, Maryland
Home:  http://lras.home.sprynet.com
Work:  http://www.loc.gov/nls
 

> -----Original Message-----
> From: blindtlk-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:blindtlk-bounces at nfbnet.org] On
> Behalf Of Jennifer Aberdeen
> Sent: Saturday, August 18, 2007 6:55 PM
> To: NABS-L; NFB Talk Mailing List; BlindTalk
> Subject: [Blindtlk] Text Based Internet
> 
> Hi everyone,
> 
> A friend and I were having a discussion and I thought I would bring it up
> for discussion here.
> 
> My friend, who is not blind but uses a wheelchair, asked me one day last
> week why the blind didn't have their own Internet. Annoyed, I asked him
> what
> he meant by this question.
> 
> He said that he had no problem with us using the same Internet as he did,
> but wouldn't it be easier if we didn't have to wait for graphics etc to
> download while a page was loading.
> 
> I told him it wasn't really a big deal, we have trouble enter the
> characters
> in those verification boxes without help because the box with the
> character
> in them are graphical.
> 
> Anyway, he was arguing with me, saying that we should have our own
> text-based Internet browser because the web developers will never make
> their
> web pages fully accessible to us bla bla bla. I argued back telling him
> that
> many web developers have made their websites more accessible and many more
> will with some nagging from us; I told him it was a law under the ADA,
> which
> started another totally different argument.
> 
> Today, he started this argument again, and I finally said, "Having a
> text-based Internet Browser is not going to put an end to the capcha
> problem. This is the only real obstacle we have when using the Internet,
> aside from some totally inaccessible websites and computer programs." Then
> a
> miracle happened, he agreed and shut up!
> 
> Anyway, I thought this might bring about some discussion. In my opinion,
> my
> friend doesn't know what he's talking about...I'm not sure if I went about
> winning the argument the right way, but I did shut him up, so I'm feeling
> empowered at the moment, lol
> 
> Jen
>