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Re: Something's amiss with the latest survey

for

From: Moore,Michael (HHSC)
Date: Aug 28, 2015 1:32PM

I think that what is really indicated by the survey is a need for stronger support of web standards by everyone - the web is simply too diverse to test every possible permutation and actually bring anything to market.

Mike Moore

-----Original Message-----
From: WebAIM-Forum [mailto: <EMAIL REMOVED> ] On Behalf Of Lucy Greco
Sent: Friday, August 28, 2015 2:28 PM
To: WebAIM Discussion List
Subject: Re: [WebAIM] Something's amiss with the latest survey

i New we would face this day when MS gave the free ticket to we but not
that bad so soon. I am having a hard enough time still having to support jaws when NVDA does so much better on web apps then any other screen reader if your telling me i need to start testing with we i can't take it is it time for me to move to that cave in the woods MS disrupted the market when they moved in to we. now the screen reader that supports the least web basics is gaining momentum. get me out of this industry before i have to use more screen readers that suck Lucy

On Fri, Aug 28, 2015 at 12:18 PM, Moore,Michael (HHSC) < <EMAIL REMOVED> > wrote:

> First let me be clear. I have been a fan of WebAIM, Karl Groves, TPG
> and this list for a while myself. But I have to respectfully disagree
> with my esteemed colleague regarding the value of the results as
> device to demonstrate the diversity of the screen reader user community.
>
> One alternative explanation for the increase in the number of users
> reporting ZoomText as a primary screen reader may simply be the wider
> dissemination of the survey. Through my work I have consistently
> encountered what seemed to be a larger number of people using ZoomText
> as a screen reader than was indicated by previous surveys. Given that
> my data was anecdotal rather than scientific I felt that it could
> simply be a product of my unique work environment that brought me in
> contact with a greater number of visually impaired users with lower
> levels of technical skills than the average accessibility specialist.
>
> As for the growth of Window Eyes - the Microsoft program is bound to
> have an impact. Particularly when you consider the number of
> enterprise customers who can now fulfill reasonable accommodation
> requests with a commercial, Microsoft endorsed (implicit), screen reading product.
>
> Mike Moore
> Accessibility Coordinator
> Texas Health and Human Services Commission Civil Rights Office
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: WebAIM-Forum [mailto: <EMAIL REMOVED> ] On
> Behalf Of Karl Groves
> Sent: Friday, August 28, 2015 2:00 PM
> To: WebAIM Discussion List
> Subject: [WebAIM] Something's amiss with the latest survey
>
> Apparently it is "Karl causes fights on social media day" today. On
> Facebook it was the relative sanity of certain political candidates.
> On Twitter it is the latest Screen Reader Survey.
> http://webaim.org/projects/screenreadersurvey6/
>
> First, let me be clear: I've been a member of this list and a fan of
> WebAIM, its people, and its work since 2003. Among the most valuable
> resources they provide are their surveys on Screen Reader users and
> Low Vision users. I reference this work in a number of places - one
> of which being the training content that we deliver at TPG. I believe
> in WebAIM not only as an organization but as people.
>
> Something is up with the latest screen reader survey. From the survey
> "ZoomText (1.3% to 22.2%) and Window-Eyes (6.7% to 20.7%) both saw
> very significant increases in usage since January 2014."
>
> In 1 3/4 years, ZoomText's market share rose just under 21% and
> WindowEyes rose 14%? This *does not* pass a sniff test. Market
> penetration for a
> *new* consumer product is often under 10%. These are products that
> have been around a long time, their market share has shown a downward
> trend in previous surveys, and there have been no "disruptive" new
> features added to either product in the last 18
> months, either. Jared posted his thoughts on the WebAIM blog:
> http://webaim.org/blog/resugence-of-zoomtext-and-window-eyes/
>
> I'm not inclined to draw any hasty conclusions as to what caused these
> results other than to say that I highly doubt there's a
> correspondingly high rate of growth for both of these products. These
> numbers would suggest that the market itself has expanded. Put
> another way, even if we consider the downward trend of JAWS in prior
> years, I don't think that would account for the growth numbers of
> these products (when prior years indicated that the erosion was going to NVDA and VoiceOver).
>
> This has a much more negative effect than many people realized. I
> point customers to this information. I can't, in good conscience, do
> that anymore. I can't tell customers "You should support the broadest
> number of PWDs by at least a) following standards and b) supporting
> this set of assistive technologies" Because now this list includes an
> illegitimately inflated count of two products.
>
>
>
> --
>
> Karl Groves
> www.karlgroves.com
> @karlgroves
> http://www.linkedin.com/in/karlgroves
> Phone: +1 410.541.6829
>
> Modern Web Toolsets and Accessibility
> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_uq6Db47-Ks
>
> www.tenon.io
> > > archives at http://webaim.org/discussion/archives
> > > > archives at http://webaim.org/discussion/archives
> >



--
Lucia Greco
Web Accessibility Evangelist
IST - Architecture, Platforms, and Integration University of California, Berkeley
(510) 289-6008 skype: lucia1-greco
http://webaccess.berkeley.edu
Follow me on twitter @accessaces