To improve the accessibility of our web site--not only to people with disabilities, but also those with PDAs and cell phones--the MnSCU system office uses a program called Betsie (BBC Education Text to Speech Internet Enhancer) to automatically create a text-only version of the web site. It reads in a web page, removes images and extraneous formatting code, and returns a text-only page. This significantly improves usability for people using screen readers and text-only web browsers.

As we phase in Betsie on MnSCU system office web sites, a text-only link will be added to every page. You can start using Betsie now by viewing the text-only version of this page.

You can modify the pages' appearance by clicking on the "Change Text Only Settings" link on the bottom of every text-only page.

There are limitations. The program does not yet work with our search engine, it's inconsistent with frames, and we still notice the occasional unexpected glitch. We are committed to making our web site accessible to the broadest audience possible and are working steadily to improve the code. Please let us know if you have any problems using the text-only function.

On the other hand, if it works well for you, let us know!

Betsie was developed by the BBC and modified for use MnSCU system office web sites. We are happy to provide you with the code, but suggest that you visit the Betsie home page first.