Getting Started on the Internet Michael Devitt The Netly News In this issue, instead of reviewing a specific website or giving tips on how to improve your system's performance, I'd like to present a number of important issues that are developing on the Internet and how they can affect all of us. Making the Web Available to Everyone For millions of Americans, the Internet opens up nearly endless possibilities for communication, the free exchange of information, and personal enlightenment. For the more than 50 million Americans who suffer from some type of disability, particularly those with vision impairments, the Internet can seem more of an inhospitable jungle that offers few (if any) options for access. One problem is the compatibility issue between HTML (hypertext markup language), the language that's used to create web pages, and the computer software that's used to translate that information. While there are programs available that can read text aloud or convert it to braille for the blind, most sites on the World Wide Web contain images and text formats that leave the software confused. For example, many sites put text in tables. While they make websites more visually appealing, the tables lack codes that help software programs for the blind convert the text into something audible. And most multimedia sites that are loaded with audio or video clips rarely, if ever, include transcripts or other ways for deaf users to access the data. The problems that many disabled users currently run into could be reduced dramatically, however, thanks to a new program launched late last year by the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C).1,2 Known as the Web Accessibility Initiative, the program calls for the establishment of an International Program Office which will be responsible for developing software protocols and technologies, creating guidelines, educating the computer industry, and conducting research and development aimed toward giving the disabled better access to the Internet. Said Tim Berners-Lee, director of the Consortium, "Worldwide, there are more than 750 million people with disabilities. As we move towards a highly connected world, it is critical that the Web be usable by anyone, regardless of individual capabilities and disabilities. The W3C is committed to removing accessibility barriers for all people with disabilities -- including the deaf, blind, physically challenged, and cognitive or visually impaired. We plan to work aggressively with government, industry, and community leaders to establish and attain Web accessibility goals."1 High on the Consortium's priority list is to develop descriptive video and captioning elements to HTML. By the early part of this year, a new standard of HTML (HTML 4.0) should be available, and Brewer said the updated language will likely incorporate several features to improve access for the disabled. The Consortium will also begin work on the upgrading of the Web's system of protocols and will develop extensions that support speech output for the deaf. The White House is one of the biggest supporters of the initiative. In a statement made on October 22, President Clinton endorsed the effort. "The Web has the potential to be one of technology's greatest creators of opportunity, bringing the resources of the world directly to all people," the President said. "But this can only be done if the Web is designed in a way that enables everyone to use it."2 Gary Strong, the director of the National Science Foundation's interactive systems program, agrees with Clinton. By ensuring access for the disabled, he says, those who aren't disabled may also benefit by the inclusion of others. "It really benefits everyone," said Strong. "Other markets may very well open up when we make information available in different forms."2 The W3C will provide funding and staff for the Web Accessibility Initiative, with additional resources being provided by several commercial, non-profit and government organizations. The National Science Foundation and the Department have already joined the effort, saying that they will provide $1 million to help fund the initiative. We will be keeping track of the Web Accessibility Initiative as it continues to develop new technologies to make the Internet available to more people. For more information on the initiative or the World Wide Web Consortium, you can visit their website at http://www.w3.org. 1. World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) launches international web accessibility initiative. Available from the World Wide Web Consortium (http://www.w3.org). 2. Making the Internet more accessible to blind, disabled. Available from CNN Interactive (http://www.cnn.com/TECH). Micropayments and Chiropractic A few months ago, ESPNet SportsZone, one of the most frequently visited sites on the Internet, announced a plan to allow viewers to pay for "members only" services in the form of daily passes. These passes, known as "micropayments," let users access additional content, such as special articles, player interviews, video highlights, and audio files. Instead of paying $4.95 a month or $39.95 a year, subscribers would pay a nominal fee (in this case, a dollar a day). The advent of micropayments won't have much of an affect on you -- not right now, anyway. But if you use the Web for chiropractic research, copies of articles, transcripts, or other types of information, you can expect micropayments to play a big role in your future. Go back in time a moment and remember what it was like before the development of the Internet. A decade ago, many publications didn't even have a department that handled requests for reprints, much less a website or e-mail address. If you wanted an article or back issue, your first stop would be at the local library to see if they carried that publication. If not, you would have to contact the publisher and see what their policy was on reprints and back issues. Most publishers would not (and some still do not) sell reprints of a single article. Instead, they would usually sell entire copies of a back issue, some of which cost tens of dollars each. Factor in the shipping charges, the long-distance calls, and the time spent looking for the right information, and you could easily spend $20-30 dollars for a two- page article. Finding information from other forms of media, such as transcripts of television shows, personal interviews, and radio programs was almost impossible to get and even harder to order. Along comes the Internet, a medium that provides virtually instantaneous communication with anyone, anywhere in the world, at any time. It's a researcher's and publisher's dream: hundreds of them are starting to jump on the back-issue bandwagon. Already, large publications like the Chicago Tribune, the Washington Post and the Wall Street Journal have websites offering online editions. CNN's site has a "video vault" of downloadable movie files and video clips of their recent stories. And the amount of information that you can retrieve is growing every day. Soon, you'll be able to download complete interviews, television shows, documentary programs and other forms of information and entertainment at the push of a button. Dynamic Chiropractic is certainly taking advantage of the Internet's technology. For our article on antibiotics and otitis media in the September 22, 1997 issue, we located BMJ's website and print an abstract of the pertinent study. We then contacted the reprint editor via e-mail for pricing information on reprints, placed an order for copies of the article, and had them shipped to us, all with a few simple keystrokes. In the "old" days, we would have sent faxes to Great Britain, made early a.m. long distance phone calls to reach a warm body across the Atlantic, and incurred express mail charges. You can see how much the Internet helped out on that project, and that was for just one story. At some websites, you can pay a small fee and download a complete story or abstract immediately, day or night, at your own convenience. How would you like to be able to search, find, pay for and print an important chiropractic article that was published 10 or 15 years ago without making a long-distance call, without spending hours going through back issues of magazines, and without having to wait seven days for delivery? How would you like to make that article available to your patients in your waiting room? The Internet makes it possible, and the use of micropayments will help make that possibility a reality. Ranking PC Customer Support When buying a personal computer for your home or office, it's always wise to shop around and ask questions. One of the most important things to consider is the type of technical support the computer's manufacturer will provide. Good customer support and prompt service can make the purchase of a new computer an enjoyable experience. It also helps reduce the stress associated with buying such an expensive product. Bad customer and technical support, on the other hand, could make the experience a nightmare and scare off potential customers. If the results of a recent poll from Home PC magazine3 mean anything, it might be more wise to go with a proven computer maker that's a direct vendor to the public, rather than a home PC manufacturer. More than 10,000 readers responded to the magazine's survey, which asked users were asked to evaluate both product reliability and customer support for their computers. For the second time in three years, Micron Computers, a direct computer vendor, finished with the top overall ranking. Fellow direct vendors Gateway 2000 and Dell rounded out the top three. Bringing up the bottom were two leading home PC manufacturers, Packard Bell and Compaq. Says Kevin Hause, an analyst for the International Data Corporation, "Packard Bell has a reputation for not really caring, for seeing customer support as an overhead expense and throwing minimal resources at it."4 Some companies have already begun to address their poor showings in the Home PC poll. For instance, Packard Bell has since added more telephone support, meaning fewer customers on hold. Compaq, meanwhile, has dropped its charges for some telephone calls and quadrupled its online support staff, according to a company spokesman. Even with the best of companies, however, it seems that customers are less satisfied as the quality of technical support continues to go down. In 1997, 73% of respondents said that their technical problems were solved satisfactorily; in 1996, that number was 84%. Users also spent more time on hold, waiting an average of 17 minutes per call last year, up from 13 in 1996 and 9 in 1995.4 3. The best PC technical support: Home PC's third annual exclusive survey. Home PC, November 1997. 4. Festa P. PC customer support ranked. Available at C/Net News (http://www.news.com). As always, we welcome your comments. If you have any suggestions about reviewing a particular website, or if there's a certain topic you'd like to see addressed, please contact me at the phone number or e-mail address below. Michael Devitt Huntington Beach, California Editorial@DCMedia.com