Flashy graphics, pictures, multimedia ... they're a big part of the Web but for blind or partially sighted users home pages appear very differently.

SOT

That's what the Web sounds like to blind users like Chieko Asakawa, a researcher at IBM in Tokyo, who uses screen reading software. These days more and more the software hits problems because graphics and menus aren't properly tagged for accessibility.
So Asakawa decided to do something about it and on Tuesday IBM launched an application that seeks to harness the power and time of Internet users around the globe to make the Web more accessible to the visually impaired.

"This idea came from my own experience with inaccessible Web sites. As users we face a lot of problems everyday but currently we don't have any mechanism to report what we have found. Everyday we find images without alternative text (the text description of an image that usually accompanies it in the HTML code) but there is no way for me to say 'I want to have a description for this image.' It's a simple motivation but if we can report this kind of problem without and difficulty and easily understood by sighted people I thought it's going to be great."

Here's how it works. When Asakawa or anyone else using the application comes across a Web site with accessibility problems -- in this case The White House Web site, they can note the problems enter a request for headings for the columns on the page. A supporter using a Firefox plug-in can check these and enter the desired information which then goes to a metadata file. Next time the page is loaded the additional metadata is also loaded and the new navigation tags are used.

The software seeks to solve a problem that is getting worse as the Web develops.

Chieko Asakawa
"When I first started using the Web, it was 1995, most of the Web site was accessible. About 98 or 100 percent but it's getting decreased. I feel like now maybe 50 percent is accessible."

IBM began offering the software from Tuesday as a beta release through its AlphaWorks Web site.

Looking ahead, Asakawa said she hopes the project will be expanded to help users with other disabilities including users who are deaf, hard of hearing or have motor disabilities.

"We started from a small group but to make this project successful and to make information accessible we really need to collaborate with the community and we think open collaboration will be key to make this successful," she said. "We want to work together with the community. Our goal is to expand the applicability of this project broader and work together with the community."

In Tokyo this is Martyn Williams, IDG News Service.