6 ms·

Even better would be to get something that can run in a docker container that you can just download and press go!

by JesseObrien 10y ago

cryptarch 10y ago
But that's a lot harder to monetize!
- garysieling 10y ago
  There's a guy who has a book on computer vision, and he sells more expensive versions that come with test images, so it might actually be worth it. See- https://www.pyimagesearch.com/practical-python-opencv/ https://www.pyimagesearch.com/practical-python-opencv/ I've been working on a search engine for lectures (https://www.findlectures.com https://www.findlectures.com) and accessibility is an area I'd like to explore, but it's tough to know how to test something as an end user would see it.
  - blinddev 10y ago
    This is really interesting. I've often thought about a browser extension that could describe a web page. I don't mean text, as screen readers are (usually) more than capable there. I mean a visual description like: "The web site has a off white background with black text. There is a horizontal menu at the top that fills the screen 95% horizontally and 10% vertically. The horizontal menu has a navy blue background with white text. There is a logo on the left of the horizontal menu filling 25% of the screen horizontally and 5% vertically. There are five menu items to the right of the logo image in the horizontal menu." That's probably a little more verbose than it needs to be. But it could be a combination of CV, tapping into the renderer and traversing the DOM in order to best describe a page. Then if my screen reader isn't cutting it and I'm feeling lost I can just have the current view described to me.
    - mrkgnao 10y ago
      > The web site has a off white background with black text I'm genuinely curious noe: how would the descriptions of color help?
      - trynewideas 10y ago
        It can provide two useful functions: - Context in places where color is used to relay information but the designer failed to provide alternative means of gaining that context without sight. For instance, if a text field is "grayed out" to indicate a certain state on the field, but that state isn't independently communicated by a screen reader. - The ability to more easily describe the page to a sighted person.
        jscholes 10y ago
        Also, some context for the blind person when designing their own pages. If they're aware that website X is considered to have a good design, they can get a description of it and know what colour schemes, positioning and placement, etc might work for them.
    - garysieling 10y ago
      That's a really fascinating idea!
  - z3t4 10y ago
    just close your eyes !?
    - garysieling 10y ago
      I know you can do that for blindness, but the challenge I see is gaining a good understanding of how people would actually navigate a site. For instance, perhaps someone who is legally blind might use a screen reader, or just magnification, depending on their preference. From what I've read, screen readers are typically played at a very high speed (once you get used to it) - I don't know how you'd know things like that without advice from the people using them. The second question is how you're supposed to navigate if you can't see the text well or at all - this might require adding features to the HTML to integrate with the screen reader. I can visualize what my website looks like already, so if I shut my eyes I'd just be navigating it in my head.
      - fleetingmoments 10y ago
        Would you say there is a decent market for digital accessibility consultants in order to assist designers in this way? I know a blind person in IT who is actively looking for work like that, but is having trouble figuring out where to start.
        blinddev 10y ago
        I don't know if there's a market for this, but I'd be interested in exploring it. You or your friend can get in touch with me, my email is in my profile.
        garysieling 10y ago
        I don't know either, but I've definitely seen software projects that had "538 compliance" as a requirement that people worked on, so it might come from that budget. My recollection is this was required for certain government sales.
- gargarplex 10y ago
  Can't you just charge $99 as a one time download license fee? Get people to buy bigger licenses if they use within the organizations? Have an anonymous whistleblower incentive fee program to combat people who would abuse the convenience factor (with heavy penalties in the EULA)? You could make the $99 renewing if you want to offer updates, and perhaps an option to buy the source code for, say, $495? Maybe you could make the software more expensive. Approximately 2.3% [1] of adults, non-institutionalized, male or female, all ages, with all education levels in the United States, are blind. If you could also provide the benefit of increasing sales, perhaps you could build a calculator (marketing tool; to estimate what percent of their customer base is blind and the money they're missing out on) and quantify that, that would help. You could especially capture some of that value if you bundle on consultancy services to perform the usability improvements. How many hours would it take to get someone to get this working in a docker container? How long would it take to put together a decent installation guide? https://nfb.org/blindness-statistics https://nfb.org/blindness-statistics

Even better would be to get something that can run in a docker container that you can just download and press go!

cryptarch 10y ago

But that's a lot harder to monetize!

garysieling 10y ago
There's a guy who has a book on computer vision, and he sells more expensive versions that come with test images, so it might actually be worth it. See- https://www.pyimagesearch.com/practical-python-opencv/ https://www.pyimagesearch.com/practical-python-opencv/ I've been working on a search engine for lectures (https://www.findlectures.com https://www.findlectures.com) and accessibility is an area I'd like to explore, but it's tough to know how to test something as an end user would see it.
- blinddev 10y ago
  This is really interesting. I've often thought about a browser extension that could describe a web page. I don't mean text, as screen readers are (usually) more than capable there. I mean a visual description like: "The web site has a off white background with black text. There is a horizontal menu at the top that fills the screen 95% horizontally and 10% vertically. The horizontal menu has a navy blue background with white text. There is a logo on the left of the horizontal menu filling 25% of the screen horizontally and 5% vertically. There are five menu items to the right of the logo image in the horizontal menu." That's probably a little more verbose than it needs to be. But it could be a combination of CV, tapping into the renderer and traversing the DOM in order to best describe a page. Then if my screen reader isn't cutting it and I'm feeling lost I can just have the current view described to me.
  - mrkgnao 10y ago
    > The web site has a off white background with black text I'm genuinely curious noe: how would the descriptions of color help?
    - trynewideas 10y ago
      It can provide two useful functions: - Context in places where color is used to relay information but the designer failed to provide alternative means of gaining that context without sight. For instance, if a text field is "grayed out" to indicate a certain state on the field, but that state isn't independently communicated by a screen reader. - The ability to more easily describe the page to a sighted person.
      - jscholes 10y ago
        Also, some context for the blind person when designing their own pages. If they're aware that website X is considered to have a good design, they can get a description of it and know what colour schemes, positioning and placement, etc might work for them.
  - garysieling 10y ago
    That's a really fascinating idea!
- z3t4 10y ago
  just close your eyes !?
  - garysieling 10y ago
    I know you can do that for blindness, but the challenge I see is gaining a good understanding of how people would actually navigate a site. For instance, perhaps someone who is legally blind might use a screen reader, or just magnification, depending on their preference. From what I've read, screen readers are typically played at a very high speed (once you get used to it) - I don't know how you'd know things like that without advice from the people using them. The second question is how you're supposed to navigate if you can't see the text well or at all - this might require adding features to the HTML to integrate with the screen reader. I can visualize what my website looks like already, so if I shut my eyes I'd just be navigating it in my head.
    - fleetingmoments 10y ago
      Would you say there is a decent market for digital accessibility consultants in order to assist designers in this way? I know a blind person in IT who is actively looking for work like that, but is having trouble figuring out where to start.
      - blinddev 10y ago
        I don't know if there's a market for this, but I'd be interested in exploring it. You or your friend can get in touch with me, my email is in my profile.
        garysieling 10y ago
        I don't know either, but I've definitely seen software projects that had "538 compliance" as a requirement that people worked on, so it might come from that budget. My recollection is this was required for certain government sales.
gargarplex 10y ago
Can't you just charge $99 as a one time download license fee? Get people to buy bigger licenses if they use within the organizations? Have an anonymous whistleblower incentive fee program to combat people who would abuse the convenience factor (with heavy penalties in the EULA)? You could make the $99 renewing if you want to offer updates, and perhaps an option to buy the source code for, say, $495? Maybe you could make the software more expensive. Approximately 2.3% [1] of adults, non-institutionalized, male or female, all ages, with all education levels in the United States, are blind. If you could also provide the benefit of increasing sales, perhaps you could build a calculator (marketing tool; to estimate what percent of their customer base is blind and the money they're missing out on) and quantify that, that would help. You could especially capture some of that value if you bundle on consultancy services to perform the usability improvements. How many hours would it take to get someone to get this working in a docker container? How long would it take to put together a decent installation guide? https://nfb.org/blindness-statistics https://nfb.org/blindness-statistics