What Do Blind People Use to Read

Understanding digital accessibility challenges is easy if you know people with disabilities. But what if you've never seen a person who is blind use their figurer or smartphone? Nosotros're here to aid you empathise a little bit about what information technology's similar to use the internet if you have a disability.

What Exercise We Mean by "Bullheaded"?

Incomprehension, like most disabilities, is a spectrum. In that location are people who tin see null (not even light) and people who are legally bullheaded and so many variations in betwixt. When you lot meet a blind person, even ane who uses a guide dog or a white cane, it is unlikely that you will exist able to tell where they fall on this spectrum. (And they may have completely different vision in one eye than the other.)

Today, we'll be focusing on those who crave a screen reader or braille keyboard to admission applied science.

Assistive Technology Used by Blind People

Assistive engineering (AT) is a broad term that refers to hardware and software that enable people with disabilities to access technology. For those who are bullheaded, the main AT are screen readers, braille displays, and speech recognition software.

Screen readers

Screen readers have been around for more than than thirty years. A screen reader is a plan that analyzes the layout and content of a website and provides a text to speech translation. The playback speed can be set past the user and commands permit them to skip from heading to heading, click links, and do other important tasks. Much similar how a sighted person can visually skim a website to detect the section they desire to read, a person who is blind tin exercise the aforementioned with their screen reader—as long as the website's content has been coded with proper header tags.

Built-in examples of screen readers

• Apple'southward iOS VoiceOver
• Android TalkBack
• Kindle Text-To-Spoken communication

Software examples of screen readers

• Microsoft Narrator
• JAWS
• NVDA
• Fusion

Refreshable braille displays

A braille display is a flat keyboard-like device that translates text into braille and enables blind or deaf-bullheaded individuals to read text using their fingers.

Examples of braille displays

• Focus (Liberty Scientific)
• Brailliant (Humanware)

Software that supports braille

• iBrailler Notes
• Google Braille Back

Dictation

Speech communication recognition software allows a user to navigate, type, and interact with websites using their voice.

Built-in examples of dictation software

• Siri
• Apple Dictation
• Windows Speech Recognition
• Google Docs Vocalism typing

Software example for dictation

• Dragon NaturallySpeaking

Accessible Design for Blind Users

Hither are some accessibility issues that restrict access to people who are bullheaded:

Keyboard accessibility

Not providing access through the keyboard on websites is a major roadblock for blind and keyboard-but users. Can you use your website or programme without a mouse? Employ the tab central, arrows, and enter to navigate.

Pop-ups

If sites neglect to prepare reading focus appropriately, a pop-up dialog tin can forestall a blind user from moving forward… or even knowing how to get dorsum to where they were.

Cluttered pages and carousels

Cluttered pages with carousels and moving text aren't user friendly for blind users. (Spoiler alert: They aren't user friendly for many people.)

ARIA mishaps

If sites misuse ARIA markup, it changes a screen reader's beliefs in a style that interferes with navigation and operability.

Certificate heading and labeling

Without proper heading tags, a screen reader user cannot quickly locate what they want to read.

Articulate links

Linked text should be able to stand up on its own. For example, "Read our latest whitepaper on digital accessibility" stands 100% on its own and makes sense. You know what y'all're getting. If yous just linked "latest whitepaper," that doesn't make sense on its ain.

Alternative text

Images that convey meaning need to be tagged with alt text and then the person who is reading your website can hear a description of the image.

The Good Life: What an Accessible Site Looks Similar

Level Access'due south principal accessibility builder, Sam Joehl, who is blind, explains it best:

• A good site uses proper semantic markup to allow individuals to not-visually empathise the page construction and bureaucracy. This also enables individuals to navigate to section headings and document landmarks on the folio.
• Link text clearly identifies the purpose or destination of the link and does non use cryptic phrases such equally "click here" or "read more."
• Images that convey significant are tagged with alternative text that gives an authentic description of the image.
• Instructions are presented in a mode that does non require vision (such equally, "Click the red button at the acme correct corner of the screen").
• All controls are conspicuously labeled, easily identifiable, and can exist operated from the keyboard.
• Pages are not overloaded with content and they make performing the desired task like shooting fish in a barrel.
• Unnecessary information is not initially displayed and a progressive disclosure arroyo is used and then the user can expose additional information through activation of a control such as a "show more" button.
• When new content appears on the page, an announcement is made to alert the user and the new content is easy to locate or focus is set to information technology.

Using Mobile Devices

Smartphones have opened up new possibilities to blind users. At present, people who are blind have apps that help them recognize coin, identify colors, scan bar codes and read production information, and help them navigate in new cities.

How does a bullheaded person use a touchscreen?

We'll answer that question with another one:

Call back of your favorite app, one you use every day. Can you visualize the user interface for that app?

Exercise you know, for example, where the "Pay" push is on your Starbucks app, the "Play" push button on Audible, and what to practice when the phone rings?

When accessibility features are turned on, a layer of audio feedback is added to each tap on the screen. A bullheaded person tin can tap on the screen in a item expanse and hear information well-nigh what they accept tapped. They can tap again to actuate that area (i.e., open that app or click on a button or field within the app). Thus, even those with no vision tin understand what is on the screen based on sound feedback.

The paradigm below shows someone opening the Gmail app on an iPhone using VoiceOver. A unmarried tap announces that the person has tapped the Gmail icon. A double-tap opens the app. VoiceOver then reads the details for the summit message in the inbox.

Why is iPhone popular with people who are bullheaded?

Apple has the well-nigh mature accessible smartphone on the market, assuasive for reliable features to work for most blind users. Apple bakes accessibility into its native controls and framework. Thus, apps that are written for iOS are more than likely to be accessible, without even meaning to be.

Labeling location and purpose

For iOS VoiceOver and Android'southward TalkBack to work properly, clear labels are cardinal. Labels should correspond the locationand purposeof the element that has focus.

Don't forget gestures

Gestures such equally tapping, swiping, and pinching are vital for users who are blind. When apps do not answer to native or modified accessibility gestures, it makes it difficult or even incommunicable for some people to use.

The Lesser Line: Design to Include Blind People

You lot can design your websites, software, and hardware with these blind people in mind and you can retrofit existing applied science to be accessible. Information technology's a win-win state of affairs for your organisation (more than clients, more revenue, more contracts) and people with disabilities (less defoliation, less frustration, less isolation).  Some fixes, like auditing your content structure and culling text, are quick to do and brand a big impact on the user experience.

Special thanks to Sam Joehl, Meaghan Roper, and Jaclyn Petrow for their contributions to this blog serial.

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Source: https://www.levelaccess.com/understanding-assistive-technology-how-does-a-blind-person-use-the-internet/