Screen Readers Wash U Web Accessibility Users Group
Screen Readers Wash. U Web Accessibility Users Group
Introduction • Screen readers are software programs that convert digital content to speech or a braille display. Some software can also magnify or zoom text. • Screen readers are used by people who are blind or visually impaired, people with cognitive or learning disabilities, and anyone who may prefer the audio version of digital content. • A screen reader is just one type of assistive technology. Thoughtful design using WCAG guidelines ensures that digital content is available to everyone. Web. AIM – Designing for Screen Reader Compatibility
Software For Mac i. OS: • Voice. Over – built in; free For Windows & other operating systems: • NVDA (Non. Visual Desktop Access) – Free, open source – from NV Access – Recommended browser: Firefox or MS Edge • JAWS (Job Access With Speech) – Cost ~$1, 000 – from Freedom Scientific – Recommended browser: Internet Explorer or Chrome • Others: Zoom. Text ($), System Access (SA or SATo. Go) ($), Chrome. Vox (free with Chrome OS)
Mobile Technology Built into the OS • Apple – Voice. Over • Android – Talk. Back • Windows – Narrator Other mobile options • Mobile Accessibility for Android – from Code Factory • Mobile Speak – from Code Factory • Talks&Zooms – from Nuance
Configuration Depending on the software, users can modify the settings to select: • Synthesizer • Voice, rate, pitch • A pop-up Speech Viewer (for sighted dev purposes) – displays each item as it’s spoken
Screen Reader Navigation Via shortcuts, users can navigate through the following: • Headings, lists, menus • Buttons (e. g. , search) • Links, “skip” links • Tables, graphs • Landmarks, sections • Paragraphs, lines, words, characters • Forms • and more. . .
“Skip” Links According to the most recent Web. AIM screen reader survey (July 2015), skip links (to bypass navigation) were reportedly used: Response % of Respondents Whenever they’re available 18. 3% Often 19. 5% Sometimes 30. 2% Seldom 17. 7% Never 14. 3%
Modes In some screen readers, users toggle between two modes: • Browse – for reading documents or webpages • Focus (also called Forms) – for user input Example: In NVDA, “B” in browse mode goes to the next button, but in forms mode, it types the letter B. Note: Mac Voice. Over only uses browse mode.
Super Users and Occasional Users • Not everyone with disabilities is a super user, able to navigate quickly through content using shortcuts. • Some people with disabilities are infrequent screen-reader users, so they may navigate a page from top to bottom. • You should test for both scenarios.
So many choices. . . • When testing for web accessibility, don’t let the breadth of choices in screen-reader software overwhelm you. • It’s better to test with one screen reader than with none. • Over time, you may want to test with an additional screen reader as you become more comfortable with them.
Questions?
- Slides: 11