Bulletin

Issue: October 2004

Research in Action

Information from the world-wide web: Getting it your way

La Trobe University has played a prominent role in redesigning the technology of the world-wide web to ensure it meets the needs of many more users.

Liddy Nevile, Adjunct Associate Professor in Computer Science and Computer Engineering, is a member of a global community headed by the inventor of the world-wide web, Sir Tim Berners-Lee, which is improving web technology.

The latest technology - expected to be published as an International Standards Organisation standard early next year - continues ten years' work and has been recognised as the standard for education.

It is also being reviewed for recom-mendation as a 'Dublin Core specification' for use in other areas, including business.
'From now on,' says Ms Nevile, 'people with disabilities or with different needs should be able to access the web in the way that most suits them. Until now, technology simply did not exist for this.'

Thirty years ago computers were relatively 'simple' devices, but enormously beneficial for people with disabilities and special needs because information was relatively easy to access. For instance, blind people could access text as Braille or audio.

'But as computers have become more complex - initially with the introduction of the mouse and later with the arrival of laptops, mobile phones, hand-held wireless, and other devices - it has became harder for those with disabilities, even for older people with minor problems like frail hands,' Ms Nevile says.

'Sadly, those for whom the computer was initially an enormous asset were 'dumped' when the web suddenly became the main distribution channel for most digital material.

'Being able to click on a link, which made the web so attractive to many, is almost impossible for people with motor co-ordination or vision problems. Information can also be inaccessible to people with hearing problems or slow telecommunications connections.

'Others with special needs were also adversely affected. For example some people need access via small hand-held devices, or their mobile phones, but may need a large clear font when presenting the same materials in a classroom. Within a couple of years, the web alienated many people from the workforce and education.'

Ms Nevile works under the auspices of the IMS Global Learning Consortium, the Dublin Core Metadata Initiative, and other organisations including the W3C Web Accessibility Initiative of Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

With colleagues, including Professor Jutta Treviranus of Toronto University, she developed a new specification to ensure that more people can access the digital resources they seek, and in the way they require. For example, this often means no images, but text-only for those with vision disabilities.

'Basically the new technology tells people where the materials they seek are located and how to avoid other materials. We did this by working out how to describe the composition of the content. It is not unlike a library catalogue. And, like its predecessor, it is in a standard form that can be used and exchanged by everyone.

'The next step was to describe people's needs and preferences for receiving this information - needs which may change depending on circumstances. For example, while in your office you may want voice information, but when you are working in a library you want the same information as text. Then we developed a system that allows users to have different profiles for different contexts and to change these to suit their circumstances. Typically, a blind user will need to have images and videos replaced by descriptive text before being given the resource.'

The new technology and matching system will be discussed at the Australian Web Accessibility Initiatives Conference in December at La Trobe University. Professor Treviranus will be a keynote speaker.•

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