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.


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