MEET OLIVIA

Olivia returned from military deployment and now has a motor disability due to an injury from an accident overseas.  As a result, Olivia does not have functional use of her arms and hands and uses a technology called Dragon Dictate to speak into a computer that types what she says.  Olivia is not able to drive so her connection to the world via the Internet is important to her.  Due to this she has decided to pursue a degree online rather than attend class on campus.

UNIQUE CHALLENGES

• Olivia finds some websites challenging since she is unable to use a mouse and has to rely on her directive speech to navigate webpages.  When webpages are not properly designed to allow for tabbing from link to link or for voice-activated software, Olivia has a challenge navigating the site.
• Since she directs the computer via speech, there are occasional glitches that can result in the wrong actions being taken.  When programs are not designed in such a way as to “double check” that a user actually wants to take the action they’ve requested, errors may be made that negatively impact her experience.

RESOURCES FOR MORE INFO

• WebAIM: Motor Disabilities

RESOURCES FOR DESIGN

• WAVE Tool

More questions? Visit the ODEE Resource Center: Accessibility or email ODEEaccessibility@osu.edu.