• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to footer
Ihof Logo Header 182px 67px
Search DropdownSearch Icon2023 Awards
  • About
    • Advisory Board
    • 2023 Induction Ceremony
    • Previous Events
  • Inductees
  • News
    • Blog
    • Announcements
  • 2023 Awards
Home / Inductees in the News / A Blueprint for an Accessible Internet
17 December 2018

A Blueprint for an Accessible Internet

Despite being home to a wealth of information, the Internet largely remains unaccommodating to about 15 percent of the world’s population. 
Monitor showing strings of data.

Although federal agencies and departments are required by law to make their sites accessible, only about 40 percent of disabled American adults feel comfortable using the Internet according to a 2016 Pew survey. In the United Kingdom, the number drops below 30 percent. 

For example, someone who relies on voice commands to operate a computer has to sit and listen to every element on a single page just to get one piece of information. Gifs and other web components that flash more than three times per second can cause an epileptic to have a seizure.  

In a recent interview with Quartz, Internet Hall of Fame Inductee Vint Cerf described the web’s lack of handicap accessible sites. Cerf is color blind and hearing impaired. 

“It’s almost criminal that programmers have not had their feet held to the fire to build interfaces that are accommodating for people with vision problems or hearing problems or motor problems,” Cerf said.

Related Posts

4 May 2018

APNIC Partners On Experiment to Improve DNS

Read More about APNIC Partners On Experiment to Improve DNS

17 July 2018

How to Fix What’s Gone Wrong With the Internet

Read More about How to Fix What’s Gone Wrong With the Internet

5 January 2018

Tim Berners-Lee on the Future of the Web

Read More about Tim Berners-Lee on the Future of the Web

13 September 2018

Wikipedia: Representing the Internet’s Best

Read More about Wikipedia: Representing the Internet’s Best

Footer

Facebook F 1
Twitter 1
Youtube 1
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of Use
  • Contact Us

The Internet Hall of Fame is presented by:

Internet Society 76x25

USA

11710 Plaza America Drive
Suite 400
Reston, VA 20190
+1-703-439-2120

Switzerland

Rue Vallin 2
CH-1201 Geneva
+41-22-807-1444

Other Offices

© 2023 Internet Society