Sports Websites Mostly Inaccessible to Blind Superbowl Fans, Says Report
Just in time for Super Bowl XL, The American Foundation for the Blind has released a report that finds major sports websites that Superbowl fans are logging into to check stats and read up on the players to be -- surprise! -- pretty much inaccessible to blind sports fans.
The group checked out NFL.com, ESPN.com and SI.com using Window-Eyes 5.5, a popular screen reader. "All three sites are very cluttered, and have several design problems that make them difficult to navigate with a screen reader," says the AFB. ESPN.com was the worst, said the group.
NFL.com's home page is "vastly complex with almost 200 links," -- and though they're labeled, there are no headings. And "signing up for Field Pass—which allows users to watch games live, tune in to official home team radio announcers, and access pre- and post-game coverage—" is impossible for users of screen-reading browsers. "The user is immediately confronted by two inaccessible links."
But visitors to ESPN.com are immediately confronted with five indecipherable links, says the Foundation. And the site is full of what the Foundation describes as "improperly coded Flash content."
Read the full report: Super Bowl Time! - American Foundation for the Blind
I'm am definitely not saying that these sites should not be accessible, though I was suprised to learn that this had been accoplished, but I am saying that I wish you had given credit to SI for having an easier page to access. With you lack of mention for them, I initially assumeed they were the worst and not worthy of metion, I'm glad I followed up and got it straight. I hope others will do the same. Finally though, I wonder, has anyone contacted the proprietor's of these sites to make sure they are aware of the problem? Let's hope they are fixed soon so that ALL sports fans can enjoy this content!
Posted by: Matt | February 3, 2006 09:00 AM