Non-Visual Internet
Returning form a consultation with organisations who represent people with disabilities I was struck by one big question. Why do we regard the internet as an almost entirely visual medium? There is really no need. Lets look at human/machine interface, first. Why can I not direct my PC verbally to find a site, go to it and search it? Why can I not verbally interrogate a database to find out what time the next train is?
Secondly the device that plugs into the internet. Why does it almost always have to be a PC lean forward experience? Why – if I had visual or motor disabilities – can’t I use another device more commonly found in the home – a TV set, a radio?
There must be work going on in this area. surely the key to digitial inclusion is how we relate to the machine and what that machine is.