Although the World Wide Web has put the world at people's fingertips, its full benefits are often denied to those who can't see.
"Access to information is one of the principal problems blind people have," said Marc Maurer, president of the Baltimore-based National Federation of the Blind (NFB). "If you are blind - unless you want to stop practicing your profession - you need access to information. But how do you get to know what other people know?"
At a news conference yesterday at the federation headquarters, a Reston, Va., technology consultant and representatives from the NFB and General Electric Co. unveiled GE's new Internet site as a leading example of a corporate Web site made more accessible to the blind. The site was redesigned to work more effectively with software that "talks" through Web sites.
GE, the Fairfield, Conn.-based appliance, electronics and broadcasting conglomerate, has emphasized a commitment to corporate diversity. It approached the federation in May for help with revamping its site for the blind, along with assistance from Deque Systems Inc., a Reston technology company that specializes in information accessibility.
GE wants next to extend the program to its Internet sites for individual business units and its career site, said Deborah A. Elam, global manager of GE's choice initiatives.
"GE is committed to having [a work force] of people with diverse backgrounds," she said.
About 1.5 million blind and visually impaired people have regular access to the Internet, according to the NFB. A blind person intending to use the Internet needs a personal computer and two other key pieces of technology, neither of them inexpensive.
A "screen-reader" program such as "Window-Eyes" translates the written words on the Web site into synthetic speech or Braille language. GE.com was reprogrammed to work more intuitively with the software. Users with the screen-reading software are informed when they are at the top or bottom of the Web site or when they move their cursor over a "hot link."
The second accessory necessary for blind Internet users is a "refreshable Braille display," which sits beneath the keyboard. It enables navigation around the Web site through Braille and costs between $4,500 and $9,000, said Brad Hodges, the NFB's technology access manager.
