Think of the Internet as a world wide library with unlimited resources of information. More and more businesses, schools, government agencies, non-profit organizations, hospitals, courts, religious centers, grocery stores, pharmacies, magazines, etc. are going "on-line". There are tremendous advantages. You are not bound by office hours and can go to a web site 24 hours per day. If you are housebound or bedridden you can use the Internet. When you are sick and a telephone call may be intrusive, email is a convenient option. Time differences are immaterial. You can be in contact with anyone all over the world.

The Internet embodies the egalitarian ideal of non-discrimination. It does not discriminate on the basis of education, color, age, sex, sexual orientation, or disability. No matter how tiny a town or how isolated an area, the Internet is there. The smallest library can have connection to the rest of the world.

BUT there is a digital divide occurring with this internet revolution. Yes, many can use the Web through public libraries and different organizations, the divide that occurs is an obvious one. It is due to access based on high tech your computer equipment is and how this can relate directly to a person's financial means and class. The digital divide between the programmer and the user is more subtle. While the public wants basic information, the web designer is interested in dazzling everyone with their prowess, - i.e., colored backgrounds, flashing banners, fluttering butterflies, numerous pictures , audio clips, streaming video, and tiny text. This creates problems that results in a denial of access to millions of people. Besides being frustrating, this lack of accessibility also raises a very serious issue when segments of the population are unable to get information for their health needs.

Have you ever asked yourself why there are so many flashing pictures on a web site? The reason for this is that the programmer is interested in counting the number of Hits versus Page views. When a page is viewed, each graphic is counted as a hit. The actual number of times that web page has been viewed is not the same as the number of hits on that page. For example, when someone with 20 graphics on their page says "I had 100 hits today", in reality this means the page was actually viewed only 5 times. Many sites want to appear attractive to advertisers or investors, hence the need to inflate the counts.

Examples of web site accessibility problems:

Why is the lettering so tiny? I can't read the words.
The visibility of the lettering depends a lot upon the browser that you are using. A browser is the program that allows you to view a web site. There are many different kinds of browsers just as there are also many different brands of monitors. Web sites look very different depending on the browser that you are using--AOL, WebTV, Explorer, Netscape, Opera, to name a few. Of course, let us not forget Lynx which is a fast text only browser. What looks good on one PC will not necessarily work with a MAC, other brands of PC's, UNIX machines, laptops or flat screen monitors.

The problems are caused by the way a web site is created. As often happens graphics designers try to apply the principles of a flat piece of paper to a web site. The flat piece of paper model will not work! A web page is more akin to a house - where you can to move from room to room. Have you ever been on a site where there is no direction given on how to return to where you were? Just as a hallway allows you to go from room to room so a web site should allow you to go from page to page and back again. Also, there are only 256 colors for the Web. This limited palette allows for very few shades of colors. Graphics designers, in their attempts to be more artistic, often create color combinations that are unworkable. These color combinations do not always translate well. Depending on the machine and monitor, the colors will often compound the problems with lettering which may be rendered differently, or may make the site totally illegible.

Why do I need to keep scrolling to the right in order to read the web page?
If a designer used a "21" monitor to create the website and you're using a monitor that is smaller, the screen is unable to align to your smaller monitor. Therefore, you must continue to scroll to the right. The problem is that most designers use a larger monitor while the general public, with more limited finances/resources, uses a smaller monitor.

Why must I download a program and reconfigure my computer to use this web site?
Sometimes one can arrive at an interesting sounding website but because of the way the code is written, you must reconfigure your computer to use the site. Typically you are forced to download another program. Many times older computers are unable to comply with these additional programs. You are denied the information that this site has to offer

Why can't I access this web site?
One possible reason is the site is using Frames. Frames are popular because the designer does not need to write separate web pages. There is a main "frame" page with little "frames" inside, similar to picture frames that hold many slots for small photographs. Here is the typical search engine message, "This page uses frames, but your browser doesn't support them." There is a reason why many consider Frames to be the number one mistake in writing web pages.

Another reason is the user must have a T3 line in order to access the web site. The thought of people using modems has not crossed the designer's mind. (A T3 line is a very fast, very expensive access line to the Internet.) Unfortunately, many designers test-drive their web sites using their internal nets. A proper check using a modem should always be done before a web site is put up. For instance, every time you try to look at particular web site, your computer crashes or the screen freezes. The possibilities are, "Sloppy code", poorly written javascript. or the site is inaccessible via a modem. If a modem can not access the website, it means that at least 90% of people are unable to use it. Accessibility for all is a crucial issue.

Some web sites like to use moving pictures. People literally can get motion sickness from these sites and this may make them nauseous. They also take forever to download with a modem. Do you want to see flashing lights, fluttering butterflies, waving flags, scrolling news headlines, in a never ending loop? Often computers that are older will not support these flashing moving pictures. Streaming Video Clips require tremendous memory resources that many older computers just do not have. The user is frequently frustrated or denied the information that this site has to offer

Help ! I can't escape from this web site
Ever found yourself trapped on a web site? This is due to poorly written code usually javascript or java. Many times the only way off the site is to shut down your Internet session and then start again.

Why can't I print the web page?
Usually this is because the programmer has used frames or has written the web page for the "21" or larger monitor. With a site using frames when you want to print a web page all you get is a section of the page, the frame. Imagine if you needed to print a necessary form or a health alert but you couldn't because of this thoughtlessness.

How many times have you been on a site that had very little contrast between the lettering and the background?
All of the colors might provide an artistic effect, but usually it is not helpful on an informational site. Another technique is to use pictures of the text. This is where someone literally creates a picture of the text they want to use. On the up side using pictures of the text saves a programmer a lot of time, keeps the site tidy and inflates the number of hits. On the down side, to many browsers the text pictures are unreadable. Picture text usually has a fuzzy quality about it. It can look like text that was moved in the middle of a photocopying job. This impacts many segments of the public. What about the senior citizen who needed some crucial information on their medical condition and is unable to read this text? What about the myopic reader who, even with eyeglasses on, is unable to read some of these sites?

The mouse problem
A very serious barrier is on web sites that only allow access and navigation with a mouse. You cannot use a keyboard, screen reader or other type of device to access the pretty little buttons. Cancer patients with lymphedema, stroke victims, or those physically challenged in any way are unable to use a mouse for long periods of time. If you cannot use a mouse, a drop down hierarchical javascript menu is inaccessible. While it is charming to see colored lights or flashy menus as you drag your mouse across a screen, these are unnecessary for obtaining the information needed.

Programmers and web designers trying to write informational web sites with the special effects of music videos. Plus they have not addressed the problem that there are hundreds of different browsers, sizes of monitors, speed of access and so on.

Now imagine that you needed important information. You are house-bound and infirm. This vital web site is inaccessible because of flaws in its design. What are you to do?

All of the above are examples of thoughtless programmers. They have become enamored of the latest technical toys and fastest connections. What works perfectly on their internal network will not work in the external world--yours. They have "21" or larger monitors and they do not consider the fact the rest of us have smaller monitors. They have very fast T3 lines while we have modems.

My favorite example of disconnect between the programmer and the user is the web site for a blind organization that no blind person can use. In this case, the programmer uses nothing but pictures of text in tiny print. This means that no one can enlarge the letters through their browsers to suit their needs. Nor is there anything visible for the screen reader to read. A screen reader is a device (similar to a talking book) which enables the blind to access the text on a web site. This is the code to read IMG ="homenav.03.gif". Can you read this? Does it make sense to you? It is a totally useless fragment of code to anyone but the programmer.

A thoughtfully designed web site should be accessible to all. The fonts that can enlarge to suit the viewers' needs. The user can print the information needed or wanted. There are extra bits of code called alt tags that can be used. These are for the blind user who is using a screen reader or users who do not want to load the graphics. ( Don't forget what slows your access to a web site are all those graphics.) For example on http://www.cancerlynx.com the HTML code reads like this IMG SRC="LYNX.GIF" ALT="lynx picture". You would know that the LYNX .gif is a lynx picture. Or this example FONT COLOR="#003300" alt="dark green" Here you know the color of the lettering is "dark green" .

While many libraries could purchase special equipment for the disabled, this is an additional expense dependent the library''s budget. BUT what happens to the cancer patient, wheelchair bound, or elder who is house-bound? They cannot physically get to that special equipment. The Internet has become a way of life, to get and share information. Web sites that deny access are isolating and depriving many who are disabled and visually-impaired from sharing the life that most of us enjoy.

Cancerlynx - We Prowl the Net is committed to web accessibility. We have spent extra time writing the code for this web site to ensure that the visually impaired, the blind, and those who find it easier to read larger text, can use this site. If you are blind, we have written everything in text so that the web site can be accessed by a screen reader.

For the following directions, we are using Netscape Communicator. In all browsers you need to go to the preferences or properties section. While browsers may vary according to name brand, the font and color of the text can be modified by clicking on the Properties or Preferences section of your browser.

• To find the Preferences section, go to and click on Edit at the top of your Netscape browser.

• Click on Preferences and then under Category is Appearance. Click on the triangle to open the choices under Appearance.

• Then click on Font--to adjust the size of the text. Select the size that is comfortable for your viewing and the web page will adjust automatically to fill the window.

• If you need to change the Color, click on color and this will automatically change the color of the text of our website as well as other links that you may visit.

If you find those graphics irritating, shut them off.

• To find the Preferences section, go to and click on Edit at the top of your Netscape browser.

• Click on Preferences and then under Category is Advanced.

• Click on the triangle to open the choices under Advanced and the screen to the right will read Advanced Change preferences that affect the entire product.

• Click on the button next to Automatically load images and other data types. (Otherwise, click the images button to load when needed.)

• While you are there Click on the Enable Java button. Java applets have become dangerous threats to many systems. Disabling Java is good self protection.

Additional Web Resources

Home page of W3C's Web Accessibility Initiative--resources for increasing accessibility of the Web for people with disabilities

http://www.w3.org/WAI/

CAST - Center for Applied Special Technology

http://www.cast.org

The Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT)

http://www.cert.org

Electronic Curbcuts: How to Build an Accessible Web Site
By Leslie M. Campbell and Cynthia D. Waddell Last Updated: June 24, 1997

http://www.prodworks.com/ilf/ecc.htm

useit.com: Jakob Nielsen's Website

http://www.useit.com