by Eunice Kim
(Reprinted from “The Metro West Daily News,” September 23, 2002.)
WATERTOWN — Kim Charlson recognized first-hand the drawbacks of using a text-based version of any web site. As a blind patron herself, the director of the Perkins School for the Blind’s Braille and Talking Book Library found that the bare bones, “text only” option typically used by visually impaired individuals was not always updated.
In helping design the new Perkins web site, Charlson and the other members of the accessibility committee decided to find a solution.
“We first made a decision that the site would be the same site for everybody,” Charlson said.
The recently launched site (www.perkins.pvt.k12.ma.us) designed by members of Nesnadny and Schwartz, a Cleveland-based team, allows blind, deaf-blind and sighted users to easily operate within the same site, accessing all information.
“They took into consideration what the issues for low-vision are,” said Kae Ann Rausch, rehab services director at Vision Community Services. Rausch, who is legally blind, uses the site to research information and services for both herself and others. “I think they did a really good job making it friendly for those who can most benefit from the site.”
The upgraded site permits users to customize their settings by not only changing the color of the text and background like other sites but also by changing the size of the font.
“We just go the extra step, to have that option right away,” said the site’s web master, Kimberly Kittredge. Once changed, the site remembers the settings, letting users leave the site and come back without having to make the changes again.
Each page includes navigational indicators marking a visitor’s exact location on the site. Written on the homepage, for example, are the words “You are on the homepage.”
“It really helps me,” Charlson said. “It’s kind of like a road map. There are road signs.”
The layout’s clarity and simple organization allow a blind user’s screen writing software to “read aloud” the text without confusion, Kittredge said. The web page also has a complete site map and search engine function for those unfamiliar with the Perkins site.
A person with low vision can now enlarge each photograph by clicking on it. One can also access detailed descriptions of each photo. One such description reads, “Three teenage girls hugging one another and smiling outside a Perkins cottage.”
“Just because a person is not sighted, it doesn’t mean you shouldn’t see the same thing as someone who is sighted,” Kittredge said. Many sites only have brief captions for their photos, she added. “We wanted people to know what was going on.”
Through the new site, visitors can access the Perkins Braille and Talking Book Library and browse available material in the library’s catalog. They can also borrow materials online overnight.
“I can do that without assistance now,” Rausch said, referring to searching the library. “It’s really nice to do that on my own.”
Perkins, which has programs in over 50 developing countries, strove to reach users with any level of technology and computer knowledge, including new users, seniors and students.
“Someone in Ghana can get the same information as someone here,” Kittredge said. “People are hungry for information, especially for parents who just found out their child is blind.”
People can research issues regarding blindness and discover more about the Perkins School, which is the country’s oldest school for the blind. The site “tells our story, what we do,” Kittredge said.
The next phase of development will include adding more links to organizations and services that Perkins does not provide. The site will likely include full access to documents and downloadable books and journals as well as an avenue to shop online for equipment, such as a Braille writer.
Anyone with suggestions or questions about the site or other germane issues can directly contact the school through the site’s new e-mail feature.
“We can find out what is missing on the site,” Kittredge said. “What else do they want to know?”