CRUISING THE INFORMATION HIGHWAY WITH TEXT BROWSERS

Doug Wakefield
Center for IT Accommodation
General Services Administration
room 1234, Mailcode kbc
Washington, DC 20405

The World Wide Web by its design is naturally accessible. Only browsers are not. When an on-line service transmits its data in a form that can only be displayed in a graphics mode, many potential users will be excluded from accessing the service. On the other hand, if the information from a service can only be displayed in a text mode, many users will seek other more "intuitive" or "interesting" sources of information. Therefore, A universally "accessible" information service stores its data in a "neutral" structure that can be converted by the end user into whatever form is preferred.

Fortunately for people with disabilities, the versatility required for universal access is being implemented in the burgeoning network of World Wide Web servers on the Internet. The information stored on these services is coded following the rules of the Hypertext markup Language, (HTML), a subset of the Standard Generalized Markup Language (SGML). The data contains all the textual information plus the instructions for how the text should be displayed on a page. Image files are referenced in the text and can be retrieved when desired by the user.

These servers can be accessed by highly-graphical programs such as Mosaic or cello, both run under Windows, or they can be accessed with text-based programs. Both the graphics and non- graphics user receives the same information and can use the embedded hypertext links to quickly jump to relevant material. The user of a text-based browser does not receive images but merely "tags" that indicate their presence.

The web itself is the fastest growing segment of the Internet. It can be hypothesized that this is due to its ease of use. Unlike most segments of the Internet that are often shrouded in mystery, at least for the novice user, the world web system of services is intuitive in its interface and expeditious in its delivery of information. The need to memorize complex commands is eliminated.

Before discussing specific text-based browsers, one final point needs to be emphasized. You can use a "Web browser" to explore the entire Internet. You are not limited to information that is placed only on web coded pages. The graphical and text-based browsers let you access menu-driven services, generally referred to as gophers, or transfer files using the common file transfer protocol, (FTP).

Text based browsers--In this paper, I will focus on two text- based browsers Lynx, and DOSLynx. These are both full-screen readers. Lynx runs on Unix-based systems, DOSLynx, as the name implies, runs under DOS. DOSLynx is intended for use on PCs connected to the Internet via a LAN, SLIP or PPP interface.

DOSLynx--DOSLynx is available free from the University of Kansas. The compiled program, all the original programming code and the documentation can be downloaded by anyone with an Internet connection. At present, there are few advantages and several disadvantages to using DOSLynx.

The single most important advantage is that, for some people, DOSLynx may be the only available method to browse the WEB. If someone has a connection to the Internet over a modem line using a serial line interface (SLIP) or point to pint protocol (PPP) connection or has a connection to the Internet through a local area network that is DOS not Unix based, then DOSLynx is the only text-based browser that is going to function in these environments. The second advantage is its availability as free software. Finally DOSLynx, once set up properly will give a user full access to a wide range of Internet services.

The disadvantages to DOSLynx are quit severe. To understand one of its major shortcomings, it is necessary to first talk briefly about how browsers make selections on the Internet. Web browsers allow the user to move some form of pointer or cursor through a screen of text. On most screens there will be phrases or sentences that are highlighted. These highlighted spots are called "links". When an action of some type is performed while the cursor or pointer is on a link, a command is sent that transfers the user to a new location on the Internet. A common action used to activate a link in a graphics program is to click a mouse button. In text browsers, there are often a couple of choices. DOSLynx unfortunately uses a system that interferes with other operations. To move the point around in DOSLynx, one uses the j and k keys to move the pointer down or up, the h and l keys are the equivalent to left and right. The l key actually activates a link, the h key takes the user back one link. This system although not particularly intuitive works fine until the user is asked to fill in a form on the Internet, such as an order form. Because the keyboard is being used by DOSLynx for navigation it is impossible to write normal text into a document.

DOSLynx will force a speech or braille system user to identify the colors being displayed to show the highlighted text. There are actually two types of highlighting to be concerned about. the highlighted color of the link itself, and the color change that occurs when a link is being pointed to. This need for color identification and tracking can be quite difficult for all but the very experienced user to setup. A final display feature of DOSLynx that has been implemented is the ability to turn off the running clock display. The command "DOSLynx" followed by a slash b (/b) will eliminate the clock from the screen.

Lynx--The Lynx program has many features that make it quite usable with speech and braille systems. The single biggest disadvantage is that this program only runs under Unix. therefore, most people have access to Lynx running on a Unix server at their work site, or on a server operated by a commercial Internet provider. Due to the popularity of Unix systems on the Internet, and the speed at which Lynx can access and retrieve information, the program seems to be in a constant state of ongoing development. This is as opposed to DOSLynx where upgrades do not seem to be in the imminent future.

Lynx and access systems--The lynx program has several features that make it an ideal browser for people using braille, speech or large print. A command line option "-show_cursor" when typed after the Lynx command causes the terminal's cursor to follow the pointer as it moves from link to link. This feature means that the braille or speech output always shows what link is being pointed to. The navigation keys can be the same as the computer's cursor keys. Down arrow take one to the next link, up arrow move up the screen one link, The right arrow activates the pointed to link. The left arrow goes back one link. In the options menu of Lynx, the user can choose to turn on the j, k, h and l keys for navigation if that is desired.

The options menu also allows a user to chose between numbered or unnumbered links. When numbered links are selected a user can read a screen pick the option by simply pressing the number of that option and hitting enter. Also from the options menu, the user can select the level of expertise, from novice to expert. In the expert mode, the address of the document to which one would go if a particular link is activated is always displayed at the bottom of the screen.

Finally, Lynx has a powerful feature for personalizing the program for a specific user. the address of any links can be saved to a bookmark or personal file. This means that as a user moves around the Internet finding things of interest it is not necessary to stop and write down how a particular piece of information was found. By simply hitting the letter a on the keyboard the address is saved to the personal file. Later, when the user wishes to return to that same location, the v key is hit to view this bookmark file. The appropriate link is selected from the file and the user is back to the desired location.

While using the Lynx program, a user cannot view images or maps. These files can however be downloaded to a hard disk and viewed later. For people browsing the Web with speech or braille, image viewing may not be a serious concern. However, related to this issue is the impossibility of playing sound files while online. Programs running under Windows can view or play image or sound files without the need to save these to disk. This means that when a PC has a sound card, a variety of audio files can be accessed. The Lynx user must always download the audio file first then play it with a sound utility.

some comments on Graphics based browsers.--If a user has a sound card and a reasonably high-speed computer with an Internet connect over a network rather than a modem, a graphics system such as Mosaic does become a viable method for accessing the Internet. The key, of course, is the need for a good Windows braille or speech access system. The single most important characteristic needed by an access program to make Mosaic and other browsers under Windows work is the ability to indicate highlighted text. Most Windows braille and speech access system on the market will read the text of the screen in mosaic quite well. It is possible to jump to specific locations on the Internet with a high degree of accuracy. However, few programs can accurately indicate first what text is highlighted as a link and second let the user know the pointer is on some highlighted text. It would be reasonable to expect that these shortcomings will be solved in the future.

To make a graphics browser run in a fashion that emulates a text browser, the key is to turn off "display in-line graphics" in the options menu. In this mode, the Images are not displayed and the retrieval of information runs quite a lot faster. For a user who wants to explore music and talk radio on the Internet, a graphics browser that can play audio files immediately is a real advantage.

Doug.Wakefield@GSA.GOV