Colloquium Details
Faculty Search Colloquium: Improved Access by and for Blind Web Users
| Author: | Jeffrey P. Bigham University of Washington |
|---|---|
| Date: | February 24, 2009 |
| Time: | 9:30 |
| Location: | 220 Deschutes |
| Host: | Anthony Hornof |
Abstract
The web is an unparalleled information resource, but remains difficult and frustrating for millions of blind and low vision people to use. The openness and flexibility of the web make it possible to better adapt content for all users, but until recently, blind web users have been left out of this process. In this talk, I'll discuss the following three projects designed to improve our understanding of how blind people access the web and enable them to independently improve access: (i) WebinSitu facilitates longitudinal remote user studies, (ii) TrailBlazer makes non-visual access to the web more usable by predicting what users might want to do next, and (iii) WebAnywhere adds speech output to any web page without installing new software. These projects have not only made significant advances in web accessibility and usability for blind web users, but have also yielded general lessons applicable for adapting and delivering content for all users.
Biography
Jeffrey P. Bigham is a Ph.D. candidate in the Computer Science and Engineering Department at the University of Washington. He graduated with a B.S.E. in Computer Science from Princeton University in 2003. His work focuses on enabling end users to improve the interfaces they use to access web content, especially those used by blind web users. He started the WebInSight project at the University of Washington with his advisor Richard E. Ladner. As part of this project, Jeffrey has conducted studies to understand the challenges faced by blind web users and developed innovative solutions to address those problems. He invented the WebAnywhere web application to provide blind web users non-visual access to the web from any computer, even locked-down public terminals, for which he won the Microsoft Imagine Cup Accessible Technology Award, the W4A Accessibility Challenge Delegate's Award and the Andrew Mellon Award for Technology Collaboration. In 2008, he became an Osberg Presidential Fellow. www.cs.washington.edu/homes/jbigham/.