You are traveling by train. You gaze at the mountain panorama in the glaring midday light and have a lively conversation with the person sitting next to you. The train enters a tunnel. The lights go out and it goes dark all around you. Only a dull vibration remains from the conversation and the train noises. The tunnel has no end.
That's what happened to Christine Müller (42). The trained primary school teacher was 29 years old when she lost her hearing and sight within three weeks due to meningitis. "I still think today that light and sounds come back just as suddenly as they disappeared," she says. "Being deafblind means constant tension. I constantly have to make sure I don't hit something or fall, I'm constantly irritated and have to interpret things all the time." Christine Müller is completely blind. She still has 30 percent hearing in one ear when she uses her radio hearing aid. Müller is therefore considered deaf-blind. Because she was able to hear for 29 years, she speaks like a non-sensory impaired person. People who are deaf from birth often only have a very limited ability to speak. Language is acquired through hearing. The fact that Müller can speak so well helps her to stay in touch with the world. Language is her most important means of communication. She needs language for her work in elementary school, where she explains to children what it is like to be deaf and blind. And she needs language for the articles she publishes three times a year in the magazine of the Swiss Central Association for the Blind (SZB). But because Christine Müller can only hear a little, her ability to speak continues to decline. In order not to lose her speech as well, she needs contact with people. And access to the media.
"I love listening to the radio," says Müller. "My radio transmits the sound directly into my ear, so I can understand everything well. I listen to news, music and documentaries." It becomes difficult when the environment is loud and full of background noise. Then Müller has no chance of picking out words from the noise soup. In a café, for example: Müller loves cafés, but she can't hold a conversation there.
"It would be nice if people spoke a little more slowly on the radio, and especially without background music. Important information, such as the broadcast times of certain programs, could be repeated. It often happens so quickly that I lose this information, even though I'm interested in the program." The weather report is particularly important for Müller. "I need to know whether I can go out. It's too dangerous when it's raining or snowing, every pile of snow disorients me," she says. Christine Müller has lived alone for three years. No one tells her whether the sun is shining or whether it's hailing cats and dogs. But she likes to go for walks alone on a few familiar paths. Without the weather forecast to confirm her plans with at least passable weather, Müller doesn't risk going on an unaccompanied tour.
Christine Müller uses media not only for functional purposes, but also for entertainment. Audiobooks and audio magazines, for example. Daisy helps her with this. Daisy is the Digital Accessible Information System. With this device, Müller can jump from chapter to chapter in the audio book or move to a page, chapter, sentence or footnote and back again. She can also set the optimum voice pitch, volume and speaking speed, mark passages and add them to a watch list. "Audio books and magazines are one of my greatest pleasures," she says. Müller gets the media prepared for the visually impaired from the electronic kiosk of the Swiss Association for the Blind and Visually Impaired (SBS). It offers 22 newspapers and 20 magazines in German, French and Italian in various formats. Christine Müller can also read Braille. However, she does not browse in Braille, but uses it to label objects in her perfectly tidy household. "I don't have enough patience to read in Braille," says Müller. "What's more, I don't have particularly good dexterity. When you grow up with Braille, it's something completely different. But I learned to read normally. When I had just gone blind, it was a real victory to read the first letters in Braille. Nevertheless, I still find it difficult to switch to Braille." Christine Müller also watches television, mainly documentaries. "I've stopped listening to movies. It's no good. There are far too many scenes that are important for the plot that I don't catch. That's why it would be nice if audio-described films were shown more often."
Sensory impaired people benefit from technological progress. "The computer is an important assistant for me, both with the voice output and the Braille display," emphasizes Müller. She likes to pick up a daily newspaper from the electronic kiosk and have the computer read it to her. However, she often has to search for a long time for what interests her: "Newspapers should, for example, make their event information clearer and place it more centrally, rather than hiding it somewhere on the pages," says Müller. "Then they would be easier for blind people to find." The computer-controlled voice output is also anything but perfect. It cannot fully replace lost senses: "It took me days to find out the name of the new American president," says Müller. "Something like 'Brrck Pmma' always came out of my computer."
Living with a disability means living with restrictions. Cooking, withdrawing money or going to the toilet can become a nerve-wracking feat of strength. Participating in daily discourse is also anything but easy. What are people talking about right now? What's in fashion? People for whom one of their senses no longer functions are replacing it with another: The blind rely on hearing, the deaf on sight. Disabled people concentrate on what works, not on what doesn't. Blind people listen to the radio. They read newspapers, books and websites either with their hands, in Braille or by voice output. Blind people have the sound of television programs, and short explanations also make the images "visible" to them. Deaf people have to do without radio. Instead, they can watch television, preferably films with subtitles or sign language. They can also read: Newspapers, books, the Internet. And what do deafblind people do? A short self-experiment: close your eyes and cover your ears for a moment. This is everyday life for deafblind people.
Deafblind people would be happy to have a picture without sound or sound without a picture. They are dependent on help from other people to cope with everyday life. Nevertheless, there are ways to make news, general information and entertainment accessible to deafblind people. Because, like Christine Müller, many deafblind people have some residual vision or hearing. However small this remnant may be, it enables sensory impaired people to access the world. However, it is not enough for the hearing or visually impaired to amplify the stimuli for their still functioning senses, turn up the radio and television or enlarge the screen x times. Media providers themselves can and must make it easier for people with sensory impairments to access their content: through Braille versions of newspapers and magazines, subtitles, captions for images with short texts, sign language interpreters or text-only versions of websites. It is time to consider "disability-friendly" as another language version - alongside German, Italian, French and Rumantsch.
The rapid pace of technological development is opening up further opportunities for the sensory impaired to use media: Researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology are currently developing software that turns smartphones into hearing aids: the program recognizes sounds and reproduces them as vibrations. From this, the hearing-impaired person can read the meaning of the spoken words. A kind of Morse code technology for everyday use. Google is working on a touchscreen cell phone for the blind. Until now, blind people have not been able to use a touchscreen. The smooth surface does not reveal which functions are hidden where. In future, the cell phone is to adopt the number 5 when the screen is touched. This is the number that is also tactilely recognizable for blind people on a telephone, for example, thanks to a small bump. The user enters other numbers by moving their finger in the direction in which the numbers are arranged on the conventional numeric keypad. If an incorrect number is entered, the device is simply shaken and the number is deleted. Nevertheless, the input remains complicated for non-sighted people.
Media live from being read, seen, heard and clicked on. Every recipient is important. Nevertheless, very few media are prepared for the sensory impaired. This means that media providers in Switzerland are missing out on a group of around 160,000 visually impaired and blind people and 4,000 deaf-blind people. All potential readers, viewers, listeners and clickers. For the sensory impaired, the Internet is a huge opportunity to connect with everyday life. They can get all the information they want via the Internet and take part in public discourse. Theoretically. Because people who can hardly see or cannot see at all use special software to access websites that recognizes text and converts it into sound or Braille letters. However, this only works if all the elements displayed are accompanied by explanatory text. Images become "visible" through image descriptions, buttons through text fields. All means all - including the menu bar, graphics, tables and films must be underlaid with text, otherwise the screen reader and Braille display cannot reproduce their content. A reasonably logical arrangement of the elements is also important for understanding. Otherwise the blind person will be presented with a less than appetizing salad of content by the software. In addition, as with all written content, quality is also crucial in this case: if the print button contains the simple text "Print", that's fine. But if a picture of Ueli Maurer is labeled "Picture of Ueli Maurer", the blind user still doesn't know what sighted people see in the picture.
The ICT service provider Namics is committed to the topic of "accessibility". The spin-off company from the University of St. Gallen with branches in Switzerland and Germany is committed to accessibility when implementing internet-based solutions. "In order to assess whether it is worthwhile for a company to program its website for the disabled, we take a close look at the company and its goals," says Jürg Stuker, CEO of Namics. "Many of our customers write accessibility into their project plan without knowing exactly what it means. We then clarify together what is possible, what is not possible and what makes sense." If you want to have an accessible website, you should already take this into account during the initial planning stages. After all, making a website accessible retrospectively is significantly more complex than programming it to be accessible from the outset. "If accessibility is planned right from the start and considered at every stage, it is no more expensive than traditional programming," emphasizes Stuker.
Unfortunately, it is not enough to provide every element on the website with a meaningful (!) text. "It is important to always combine several offers, for example voice output with a Braille display," says Stuker. "The ideal is to cover as many needs of the disabled as possible." People with sensory impairments often have limited motor skills and find it difficult to use a mouse. The website must therefore be operable with a keyboard. "We involve disabled people in our projects as much as possible, firstly to find out what their specific needs are and secondly to test usability," says Stuker. "It's not enough to stubbornly follow a few rules, like the architect always builds a ramp on every house. That doesn't do justice to the needs of people with sensory impairments. Blind people, for example, have different needs to visually impaired people." The ideal consultants are people with disabilities who are employed by the client. They know the company and its target group inside out. If Namics does not have any disabled employees at its client's disposal, the agency works with so-called personas: it appoints a person who embodies the needs of a target group and repeatedly brings these into the project.
Stuker is a passionate advocate of the idea of accessibility. Not only as CEO of Namics, but also in committees, forums and as a board member of the Swiss Library for the Blind and Visually Impaired, he is committed to the needs of the sensory impaired. Nevertheless, Stuker is not blind to the business: "Accessibility is not necessarily worthwhile, you have to weigh up the benefits on a case-by-case basis. An accessible website tends to be more beneficial to companies that generate turnover online than companies that only present themselves online." Credit Suisse, for example, takes exemplary care to ensure that the information and offers placed on its website also reach the visually impaired and blind. Not out of pure philanthropy, of course. After all, pages that are prepared for the visually impaired are also easier for older people with visual impairments to read. Older people have purchasing power - and are therefore an important target group for banks. Deutsche Bahn has also recognized potential for added value in the disabled target group. "The company estimates that around ten percent of its customers are disabled," reports Stuker. "A survey showed that around 37 of these ten percent do not travel because they are afraid of getting stuck somewhere." Deutsche Bahn wanted to provide this clientele with better information about its services and commissioned Namics to implement a website that could be used by disabled people without any hurdles.
For smaller companies, accessible websites could be an opportunity to find extremely loyal and faithful customers in the target group of the sensory impaired. "For a blind wine lover, for example, it is tedious to go to a wine store and have every label read out to them," Stuker points out. "On the Internet, they can listen to various reviews at their leisure, select a wine and order it directly. If this works well, word will spread quickly among this group of buyers."
Only a few of Namics' customers refuse to make their content on the Internet accessible to people with disabilities from the outset. But when time and money become tight in the course of a project, accessibility often falls by the wayside, according to Stuker's experience. In its early days, the Internet was virtually one hundred percent accessible to people with disabilities because it was largely text-based. Today, navigation buttons, Flash animations or videos have to be underlaid with text so that screen readers can make sense of them. Search engines also have a hard time with images and animations. "Google is blind," Stuker points out. "The search engine doesn't have a great design, it works with text. Websites that are well designed for the disabled are therefore also found better by search engines. Companies should take this into account when deciding for or against accessibility."
In Switzerland, several associations are committed to the interests of the sensory impaired. At the Swiss Central Association for the Blind (SZB), for example, deaf, blind and deaf-blind people can learn how to speak and hear with their hands using Lormen, Braille, finger alphabet, block letters or sign language (see margin columns on pages 5 and 6). "We help people with sensory impairments with their communication, offer them technical and optical aids for the blind, offer accompanied vacations and further education courses and are involved in research," says Matthias Bütikofer, Managing Director of the SZB. "By 2010, we want to expand the area of research, extend our volunteer network, promote professional integration and increasingly address visually impaired people in the third and fourth age groups."
A poster campaign by the SZB is currently drawing attention to the concerns of people with sensory impairments: the testimonials of Emil Steinberger, Monika Schärer and Bernhard Russi visualize what "perceiving the world" means for deafblind people with their eyes closed and their ears covered. "We don't want to evoke pity with this campaign," says Bütikofer. "We want to show that, together with the people affected, we can create real prospects for improving their disability-related limitations. And, of course, we also want to arouse sympathy for the SZB and expand our circle of donors."
While the private sector in Switzerland is not obliged to make websites or other media accessible to people with disabilities, government websites have had to be barrier-free since January 1, 2007. This is stipulated by the Disability Equality Act and the associated ordinance. State broadcasters also have a duty: the Swiss Radio and Television Ordinance requires that state broadcasters gradually increase their services for the sensory impaired to one third. "The legal basis is very thin and toothless," says Jürg Stuker from Namics. "Despite all efforts, the regulations are not being complied with. Disability associations could sue for benefits, but they don't." Matthias Bütikofer from SZB points out that the Disability Discrimination Act only recently came into force: "We are currently seeking consensus with broadcasters. In certain areas, however, we will soon have to go through the courts."
Since 1984, the state broadcaster SRG SSR idée suisse has been working to facilitate access to its programs for people with disabilities in all three Swiss language regions. Last year, the company's television stations subtitled 9618 hours of their broadcasts. That sounds impressive and is an increase of 76 percent compared to 2007 - but it only corresponds to 18.6 percent of the total duration of all SRG broadcasts. In German-speaking Switzerland, the proportion of subtitled programs on SF 1 was 31 percent and on SF 2 28.6 percent. Both channels belong to SRG SSR. Programs on SF info have been subtitled as standard since the first of March. The Group has hired new staff, improved its infrastructure and has recently started using speech recognition technology to subtitle live broadcasts. Despite this, many visually and hearing impaired people are still watching more than two thirds of SRG broadcasts without being able to see or hear anything. "If we can increase the proportion of subtitled broadcasts to a third within three years, that will already be a good achievement," emphasizes Alberto Chollet, Head of TV Programme Affairs at SRG SSR idée suisse. "Striving for an ideal situation is nice and honorable, but it is associated with high costs, requires appropriately trained staff and investments in logistics. Any additional improvements can only be realized if more financial resources are made available." Matthias Bütikofer from the SZB is pleased with the standard achieved: "We are currently very satisfied with SRG SSR idée suisse. Those responsible at the broadcaster know that it is not only efficiency criteria that are decisive, but also the accessibility and diversity of the program selection for all Swiss citizens. This also includes blind and visually impaired people."
SRG SSR is working on implementing the legal requirement: individual programmes will be provided with sign language, while audio descriptions for the visually impaired will briefly summarize what can be seen on screen in selected feature films. SRG SSR idée suisse plans to broadcast 24 films prepared in this way this year. By the end of this year, all programs broadcast between 6 p.m. and 11 p.m. will be fully subtitled, as will live events on all channels. The Group invested CHF 2.8 million in its measures in 2007, CHF 7 million in 2008 and CHF 12.5 million is planned for 2010. Alberto Chollet: "Our aim is to achieve an even higher quality of our services and to provide disabled citizens with the most barrier-free access possible to our programs."
Good news for Regina Reusser (34). The commercial employee has been blind since the age of 15 and loves listening to television. The only thing that wakes her up is the radio. Reusser works at the reception desk of the SZB and advises other disabled people on the selection of aids such as canes for the blind, talking watches and scales. Reusser prefers to switch on her TV for documentaries or series, she creates the pictures to accompany the text herself: "Listening is often enough, it stimulates the imagination." Reusser enjoys watching films with audio description, but so far she hasn't bothered to look for these rare examples. "I'm happy when I stumble across a subtitled movie. I find the commercial breaks annoying - not because they interrupt the program, but because I often think the power has gone out. Because then it's just silent." The advertising that breaks up the subtitled films is not usually accompanied by audio descriptions. "It doesn't even say 'here comes the commercial'," says Reusser, annoyed. "But that would be important information for blind people. I'm also interested in the content of the advertisements. Why don't telecommunications service providers, for example, address me as a blind person? I make phone calls too."
In everyday life, it doesn't matter much to Reusser whether she can see or not. With the help of
She masters almost every hurdle with her Labrador dog Philia. Reusser has a keen interest in space travel, enjoys building models with friends and reads a lot. She downloads newsletters, magazines and books in PDF format onto her Braille reader. "It's a shame that there are still no subscriptions for blind people to newspapers," she says. "You should simply be able to subscribe to pdf files or Word files of the complete editorial section, because only a selection of the print articles is available on the Internet. And my favorite magazines Geo and Welt der Wunder are missing from the electronic kiosk. What would I do with a print edition?"
One of Reusser's great hobbies is movies. Cinema? As a blind person? "Sure," says Reusser. "Many blind people go to the movies. Unfortunately, there are very few movies with audio descriptions, although that would be very easy. The cinema would just have to install headphones at every seat, similar to a conference with participants from different language regions. I was once in a movie theater in Paris that was equipped like this. You could choose between different languages with and without audio description."
Of course, it's all a question of cost. But the investment could be worthwhile: Because the measures that will benefit the sensory impaired tomorrow could help us with our own media reception the day after tomorrow. Because those who are lucky will grow old. And hearing and vision deteriorate in old age. Wouldn't it be nice if we weren't disabled as a result?
Anne-Friederike Wilhelm
Hear, see and speak with your hands
Block letters
The person speaking writes large block letters or numbers character by character in the palm of the other person's hand.
Lormen
Letters are replaced by touch points and strokes in the palm of the hand. For example, a tap on the tip of the index finger means E, a horizontal stroke across the wrist means X. A light slap on the hand indicates the end of a word.
Finger alphabet
The finger alphabet is mainly used by deaf people to support sign language. Words are also spelled out here. For example, the fist means A, the full hand with outstretched fingers means SCH. If the other person is severely visually impaired or blind, they place their hand on the speaker's hand and feel the position of the hand.
Sign language
Sign language consists of the combination of gestures, facial expressions and mouth movements with body posture. German, Austrian and Swiss German sign language is spoken in the German-speaking world. Signs also know dialects: In Swiss German sign language, Zurich, Bernese, Basel, Lucerne and St. Gallen dialects are spoken. As with spoken language, dialect speakers understand each other. The most widespread sign language is American Sign Language.
Braille
Braille was developed by the Frenchman Louis Braille in 1825. It works with dot patterns that are pressed into paper from behind. The raised areas can then be felt with the fingertips. Each letter consists of a different number of dots, which are distributed on a grid of three dots in height and two dots in width. On the Braille display on the computer, small metal pins form the letters. To write Braille by hand, blind people use a template into which a piece of paper is stretched. The letters are engraved into the paper from behind in a pattern of six. There are also Braille typewriters and printers.
