Online conversations

Impairing everyday access

For visually impaired people, browsing the internet and discovering their options is discouragingly difficult. Some people find that screen readers make exploring cyberspace laborious and complicated. This effectively prevents them from accessing information and services that are immediately available to others.

Now a new project to create voice technology for those struggling with screens and keyboards is taking shape in the form of the ‘Conversational Internet’.

Radical interface improvements

This new user interface for the internet is being developed by The Royal London Society for Blind People (RLSB), with support from Nominet Trust.

The Conversational Internet is designed to overcome the user experience problems faced by blind people today when navigating the content of the web. By radically improving the user interface, it enables users to explore the web by issuing commands and fulfilling instructions, increasing independence and overall access.

The RLSB plans to make the technology available to as many people, and at the lowest cost, as possible ­on mainstream platforms to maximise its reach and impact.

The project is also seeking to influence content creators to reorganise web content to maximise its readiness for widespread use of the new conversational interface.