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Re: how to best indicate facets to screenreader users?

for

From: Ryan E. Benson
Date: Jan 28, 2012 2:51PM

Deborah,

There was a thread about facets over at SitePoint the other day. It
may give some additional information: http://is.gd/s5sxyo
--
Ryan E. Benson



On Wed, Jan 25, 2012 at 11:51 AM, < <EMAIL REMOVED> > wrote:
> what's the best way to indicate navigation facets to screenreader
> users? Sighted users have come to understand what facets are by
> their location on the page, and their formatting. What are the
> appropriate indicators to people who are using screen readers?
>
> I understand that there is WAI-ARIA which you could use to
> indicate that they are navigation, for example, but facets have a
> very particular kind of navigation use, which is specifically
> narrowing down the results of a search. Is it enough to put a
> screenreader-only header above the facets section labeled
> "facets" or some such? I feel troubled about this solution,
> because for all that sighted users have come to understand what
> those choices down the left-hand navigation are when they are
> browsing Amazon or target or Best Buy, I can't imagine the most
> people know that they are called "facets" unless they work in web
> design, librarianship, or some other information-related field.
>
> -deborah
>
>