The Truth about Jakob Nielsen
Listen closely because I may never say this again…
Jakob Nielsen is my hero.
There I said it. Ok, he looks goofy and has way too many pictures of himself on his site, but he also says something in his article, Accessible Design for Users With Disabilities, about disabled internet users that I have been trying to get people to understand for years.
Nielsen says, “In general, it is often the case that design rules that may have been intended to help users with disabilities end up being of benefit to all users.”
I am not blind, actually I have 20/20 vision. Yet I use a screen reader every day. I use it for online news, email, class work, websites, everything. I have even found a website that has a professional voice actor reading the Bible.
I can adjust the speed of the text reader in order to cover material faster than I can read it by myself. This is exactly what Nielsen is talking about.
The internet is changing the way people expect to get information. Politicians and campaigns must acknowledge this. The days of telling people what you want them to hear, how you want them to hear it, and when you want them to hear it have past.
Embrace this change and embrace giving people the choice of what information they want or risk being left behind when the train of progress leaves the station.
Jakob Nielsen is my hero.
There I said it. Ok, he looks goofy and has way too many pictures of himself on his site, but he also says something in his article, Accessible Design for Users With Disabilities, about disabled internet users that I have been trying to get people to understand for years.
Nielsen says, “In general, it is often the case that design rules that may have been intended to help users with disabilities end up being of benefit to all users.”
I am not blind, actually I have 20/20 vision. Yet I use a screen reader every day. I use it for online news, email, class work, websites, everything. I have even found a website that has a professional voice actor reading the Bible.
I can adjust the speed of the text reader in order to cover material faster than I can read it by myself. This is exactly what Nielsen is talking about.
The internet is changing the way people expect to get information. Politicians and campaigns must acknowledge this. The days of telling people what you want them to hear, how you want them to hear it, and when you want them to hear it have past.
Embrace this change and embrace giving people the choice of what information they want or risk being left behind when the train of progress leaves the station.
2 Comments:
Sometimes it's easier just to sit back and let the computer read to you. I'm not blind either, but as I probably stare at a computer screen for more than 10 hours a day, I might be getting there soon if I don't start using one of those screen readers.
I think it is great that the Internet is being used allow people to adapt. I have diddiculty reading off of a computer screen so I have to print everything out in order to read it. Think of all the paper I waste.
I just don't want children without disabilities to get screen readers because to me one of the major benefits of the internet is it helps kids learn to read.
Post a Comment
<< Home