Internet for the Blind

A three-year project to improve blind access to the internet has started at Queen’s University in Belfast. Researchers at the university are working to devise ways to guide the blind and visually impaired through the web, as part of the Enabled initiative.

The EU has provided 3.8m euro funding for the project which 13 other bodies across Europe are taking part in.

Professor Alan Marshall said blind people’s groups would help them to carry out trials in Northern Ireland.  "The internet has a great impact on people’s lives," he said. "Through the web information can be accessed remotely; people can interact with friends and family; services such as online shopping, paying bills and distant learning can be provided to the public.

"However, people with blindness or other form of disability are not able to take full advantage due to the inaccessibility in the technology itself. If the problem of inaccessibility is not solved, the discrepancy, known as the digital divide, will become bigger as information technology advances,"

BBC Article