Web based and e-learning materials and then highlights those considered particularly pertinent to students with dyslexia. It then focuses in on specific issues associated with computer programming and dyslexia. In order to do this, first the features of dyslexia, both negative and positive, are outlined. A model of the processes involved in computer programming is then proposed. This allows an interaction matrix of the features of dyslexia and the process stages of computer programming to be developed. Preliminary evidence is then presented from correspondents of a Dyslexia e-mail forum, which supports the interaction matrix and raises additional issues. Your Website either enables or disables the visually impaired worker who's trying to read the beautifully detailed bar graph on your homepage. Considering that there are approximately 1.5 million visually disabled computer users in the United States--a conservative estimate from the U.S. Census Bureau-- making the Web more accessible is not just the right thing to do, but also makes good business sense.

Visually impaired workers represent only one group of disabled users. Consider how people who are hearing impaired, dyslexic, or paralyzed use the Web--or in many cases, can't use it because of technology or design limitations. Accessibility touches everyone. Who among our aging workforce, for example, can claim that he or she will never need help reading, hearing, or navigating the Web?

Here's a snapshot of Web accessibility resources, tips, and views.

If you're not a person with a disability-- such as loss of vision, hearing, or mobility--then it's likely that you're not familiar with the needs of disabled Web surfers. Says Michael G. Paciello, author of Web Accessibility for People with Disabilities (CMP Books, 2000), "It's much easier to explain what you need to do to make your Website more accessible when administrators, designers, and engineers understand the user characteristics of the disabled."

People with visual disabilities may be concerned about Web accessibility, Paciello says, because of the graphical nature of the Web. But it's important to remember the needs raised by other disabilities. People with dyslexia, for example, benefit from brief, easily digestible text. Captioning helps people who are hard of hearing.

The 508 News:All new information technology products acquired or developed by U.S. government agencies and departments must be accessible by people with disabilities, according to standards established by Section 508 of the 1973 Rehabilitation Act.

New Federal Websites are covered by Section 508 standards, but existing sites don't have to comply with them. Many governments IT staffs, however, are voluntarily redesigning their Web sites to accommodate disabled users and such assistive technology as screen readers and Braille displays.

Indications are that Section 508 standards, which have been in effect since June, may ripple out to the private sector to become the norm. * http://www.section508.gov/

Hit and Myth:

A common misunderstanding about workers with disabilities is that it costs big bucks to accommodate them. That, according to the U.S. Department of Labor Website, is a myth. In fact, DOL claims, most workers with disabilities require little or no special accommodations or assistive technology, and the cost for those who do is lower than many employers believe.

Studies by the Office of Disability Employment Policy's Job Accommodation Network have shown that 15 percent of accommodations cost nothing, 51 percent cost US$1 to $500, 12 percent cost $501 to $1,000, and 22 percent cost more than $1,000.

Diverse E-Learning:

E-learning for disabled learners is the topic of a 2001 Brandon Hall report that identifies some key catalysts accelerating this growing market. In "Accessible E-Learning: 2001 Market Trends and Evaluation Tips," Hall points to the following:

* Aggressive corporate and government diversity initiatives, internal mandates to increase e-learning use, and far-reaching government accessibility regulations and policies

* A rapidly aging workforce characterized by a sharp rise in disabilities

* The growing economic and political power of persons with disabilities.

* brandon-hall.com/acel.htm

So Many Suppliers, So Little Time

The Information Technology Industry Council of Washington, D.C., has developed a free online assessment tool that helps determine whether IT products are Section 508 compliant.

The Voluntary Product Accessibility Template should be of particular interest to Federal contractors that need to assess how well commercial electronic and IT products and services--such as software, desktop computers, and multimedia--support disabled accessibility.

A Little Alt Tag Goes a Long Way:

Here's a sampling of user-friendly design tips for Web managers and developers.

* Provide alternate text links (alt tags) for all Web images.

* Avoid scrolling marquees.

* Provide closed captions for audio content. * microsoft.com/enable/dev/web.

Our understanding of dyslexia, as outlined above, enables us to consider how the task of software design is affected by the features of dyslexia. It is useful to break down this activity to the series of sub-tasks that are required to write a computer program. The view of the activity of programming used here is based a general model of the process of design. The steps involved in the design or problem-solving cycle can be summarized as follows:

• recognition of a need;
• problem definition;
• synthesis;
• analysis;
• implementation;

• evaluation

The curved arrows indicate possible routes of iteration throughout the process, two are indicated, but many others are possible

These general steps in generating a design have specific connotations when applied to the specific task of programming:

• ‘synthesis' involves conceiving what is required of the whole program, class, method, at different levels of abstraction;
• ‘analysis' involves what individual classes, methods or code will be required to create the whole functionality, again at different levels of abstraction;
• ‘implementation' involves coding, testing and correction until the program both compiles and functions in the expected manner;
• ‘Evaluation' involves user trialling of the program and may engender further refinements or even a re conceptualization of the problem.

There are many alternative perspectives and methodologies for generating a computer program or system, for example the System Development Life Cycle (SLDC) models such as the waterfall, fountain, spiral and rapid prototyping. It was considered that all of these methodologies are generally substantiations of the generic design methodology described above, and that the generic model would therefore be appropriate to use in this research.

As this model of the process makes clear, the generation of a computer program and its subsequent correcting and testing require a great many logical and organizational skills combined with a precise expression of syntax and variable names.

From the above model it may be seen that the general design and problem-solving tasks involved in programming require the skills that may be strong in dyslexic programmers. This may also be true of synthesis, looking at the program as a whole and how the elements interact seems a holistic activity; since people with dyslexia tend to think holistically. However, the skills required in analysis, breaking down the problem or system into its component parts and viewing them in a systematic logical sequence are processes that people with dyslexia may tend to find more difficult. Further, the more specific programming tasks, especially those associated with generating and correcting computer code, are more adversely affected by the negative features of dyslexia. For example misspelling variable names and syntax terms are obviously detrimental to the process of programming. In addition, remembering the minutiae of details involved in the program, such as the name and purpose of variables declared, what changes have been implemented to the code and what has yet to be implemented, places a considerable load on the short term memory, and hence could prove to be additionally taxing to a programmer with dyslexia.