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Byte size interview No 7: Ingrid Burns
- 31 Aug 07, 03:05 PM
As the web becomes a more and more central part of our digitised lives, every week we speak to someone with access needs to find out what they love about the internet, and what they hate about it, in our byte size interview.
Ingrid Burns is the PR and Campaigns Manager for and lives in Leeds with her husband. In her spare time, she enjoys music, exercising and she does voluntary work in a local animal sanctuary. Ingrid has photosensitive epilepsy, which can make her susceptible to rapidly flashing images and repetitive patterns on the web.
Q: What are your favourite websites?
I do all my banking online, so I would count those as amongst my favourites. I love music as well, so I visit a lot of band websites. I’m a little nervous of music websites when I visit them for the first time though, as they often have a lot of movement on them. So if it is a website I’m not familiar with, and I’m concerned about the patterned images or movement, then I look away from the screen. As the page loads in the browser, the extra movement as the page lines up can exaggerate the effect.
Q: What are your least favourite websites?
I can’t really say I have any. We came across a website for an American band in the office recently that was really bad. It had a lot of repetitive patterns with high contrast, filling the whole screen, and the page had lots of movement as well. It left my colleague feeling nauseous and she had to go for a walk afterwards! It would be really helpful if websites like that carried a warning before entering them.
If I am tired or hungry, or if I’m in a dark room, then I have to be careful about using the computer. In those circumstances, even an animated banner ad can have an effect.
Q: What was the last thing you bought online?
A book from Amazon.
Q: If the web were taken away from me today I would…
Cry! I use it for everything, from work, to keeping my finances in order and staying in touch with friends.
Q: What is the most adventurous thing you’ve done on the web recently?
Booking a holiday, probably. Using to catch up with old friends is quite adventurous for me. I also sorted out my car insurance online – I wouldn’t dream of calling someone to do it these days…
Q: What’s your favourite blog?
I don’t really read blogs, but I’m looking forward to seeing Epilepsy Action’s Ideal World. A woman who is having a baby will write it. We’re hoping it will dispel many of the myths surrounding pregnancy, motherhood and epilepsy in an interesting and personalised way.
Q: Have you ever heard of Joost?
I’m not really interested in videos online. Partly because I’m just not, but I’m also concerned by what I might see. I’ve never seen a warning online about a video that contains strobe lights, for instance. My husband sometimes posts videos on , and I’m happy to watch those because I know they will be fine.
Q: What is your favourite gadget?
It has to be my mobile phone. I would go into meltdown without it. It has all the phone numbers of my friends and family on it, and I’m always using text messages to sort out my social life.
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