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Thread: List of Top Accessibility Tools

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Number of posts in this thread: 13 (In chronological order)

From: Steve Flaukner
Date: Tue, Feb 07 2012 5:15AM
Subject: List of Top Accessibility Tools
No previous message | Next message →

Is there a list somewhere of the top used web browsers or tools to access
the internet?

From: Guillermo Alzuru
Date: Tue, Feb 07 2012 6:21AM
Subject: Re: List of Top Accessibility Tools
← Previous message | Next message →

I just Googled it (top used browsers) and got millions of hits. I opened one at random and it has up-to-date stats.

http://www.w3schools.com/browsers/browsers_stats.asp

Guillermo

From: Ryan E. Benson
Date: Tue, Feb 07 2012 7:51AM
Subject: Re: List of Top Accessibility Tools
← Previous message | Next message →

I wouldn't use W3Schools as a reference. There are issues with that site,
unfortunately I don't have another source.

--
Ryan E. Benson
On Feb 7, 2012 8:23 AM, "Guillermo Alzuru" <
= EMAIL ADDRESS REMOVED = > wrote:

> I just Googled it (top used browsers) and got millions of hits. I opened
> one at random and it has up-to-date stats.
>
> http://www.w3schools.com/browsers/browsers_stats.asp
>
> Guillermo
>

From: Guillermo Alzuru
Date: Tue, Feb 07 2012 8:03AM
Subject: Re: List of Top Accessibility Tools
← Previous message | Next message →

A co-worker just told me exactly the same thing. Really, to draw a conclusion one should conduct a better and more scientific research.

Guillermo

From: Steve Green
Date: Tue, Feb 07 2012 8:09AM
Subject: Re: List of Top Accessibility Tools
← Previous message | Next message →

Don't use the W3Schools figures - they are based only on traffic to their
own site, which is for geeks so it massively exaggerates the usage of
Chrome, Safari, Opera - in fact all non-Microsoft products. All the other
stats are biased too, such as screen sizes, non-JavaScript users etc.

I used to have a list of 5 or 6 reputable sources - I will see if I can find
it.

Steve Green


-----Original Message-----
From: = EMAIL ADDRESS REMOVED =
[mailto: = EMAIL ADDRESS REMOVED = ] On Behalf Of Guillermo Alzuru
Sent: 07 February 2012 13:22
To: WebAIM Discussion List
Subject: Re: [WebAIM] List of Top Accessibility Tools

I just Googled it (top used browsers) and got millions of hits. I opened one
at random and it has up-to-date stats.

http://www.w3schools.com/browsers/browsers_stats.asp

Guillermo

From: Steve Faulkner
Date: Tue, Feb 07 2012 8:15AM
Subject: Re: List of Top Accessibility Tools
← Previous message | Next message →

FYI
this looks like spam to me its using a corruption of my name and email
address

On 7 February 2012 12:16, Steve Flaukner < = EMAIL ADDRESS REMOVED = > wrote:

> Is there a list somewhere of the top used web browsers or tools to access
> the internet?
>

From: Steve Flaukner
Date: Tue, Feb 07 2012 8:21AM
Subject: Re: List of Top Accessibility Tools
← Previous message | Next message →

I should explain a little bit more. Looking around I found a variety of
screen readers, text browsers and some other freeware or demo tools. But at
an industry standard there must be a list of the most common ones. As for
screen readers I would guess JAWS is the most common one. I hope this gave
more help to my question.
On Feb 7, 2012 10:10 AM, "Steve Green" < = EMAIL ADDRESS REMOVED = > wrote:

> Don't use the W3Schools figures - they are based only on traffic to their
> own site, which is for geeks so it massively exaggerates the usage of
> Chrome, Safari, Opera - in fact all non-Microsoft products. All the other
> stats are biased too, such as screen sizes, non-JavaScript users etc.
>
> I used to have a list of 5 or 6 reputable sources - I will see if I can
> find
> it.
>
> Steve Green
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: = EMAIL ADDRESS REMOVED =
> [mailto: = EMAIL ADDRESS REMOVED = ] On Behalf Of Guillermo
> Alzuru
> Sent: 07 February 2012 13:22
> To: WebAIM Discussion List
> Subject: Re: [WebAIM] List of Top Accessibility Tools
>
> I just Googled it (top used browsers) and got millions of hits. I opened
> one
> at random and it has up-to-date stats.
>
> http://www.w3schools.com/browsers/browsers_stats.asp
>
> Guillermo
>

From: Angela French
Date: Tue, Feb 07 2012 9:42AM
Subject: Re: List of Top Accessibility Tools
← Previous message | Next message →

Those stats would be for people accessing w3schools.com, not the web in general (I believe).

>-----Original Message-----
>From: = EMAIL ADDRESS REMOVED = [mailto:webaim-forum-
> = EMAIL ADDRESS REMOVED = ] On Behalf Of Guillermo Alzuru
>Sent: Tuesday, February 07, 2012 5:22 AM
>To: WebAIM Discussion List
>Subject: Re: [WebAIM] List of Top Accessibility Tools
>
>I just Googled it (top used browsers) and got millions of hits. I opened one at
>random and it has up-to-date stats.
>
>http://www.w3schools.com/browsers/browsers_stats.asp
>
>Guillermo
>

From: McKeithan, Thomas
Date: Tue, Feb 07 2012 10:00AM
Subject: Re: List of Top Accessibility Tools
← Previous message | Next message →

For screen readers, I'd suggest, Jaws, Windoweyes and one open source (NVDA).

Respectfully,
Thomas Lee McKeithan II
Accessibility Program Manager
National Industries for the Blind
1310 Braddock Place
Alexandria, VA 22314
(703)310-0586 Direct
(202)276-6437 Cell
= EMAIL ADDRESS REMOVED =


"Believing is achieving, for if I believe, I can and I will achieve."





-----Original Message-----
From: = EMAIL ADDRESS REMOVED = [mailto: = EMAIL ADDRESS REMOVED = ] On Behalf Of Steve Flaukner
Sent: Tuesday, February 07, 2012 10:20 AM
To: WebAIM Discussion List
Subject: Re: [WebAIM] List of Top Accessibility Tools

I should explain a little bit more. Looking around I found a variety of screen readers, text browsers and some other freeware or demo tools. But at an industry standard there must be a list of the most common ones. As for screen readers I would guess JAWS is the most common one. I hope this gave more help to my question.
On Feb 7, 2012 10:10 AM, "Steve Green" < = EMAIL ADDRESS REMOVED = > wrote:

> Don't use the W3Schools figures - they are based only on traffic to
> their own site, which is for geeks so it massively exaggerates the
> usage of Chrome, Safari, Opera - in fact all non-Microsoft products.
> All the other stats are biased too, such as screen sizes, non-JavaScript users etc.
>
> I used to have a list of 5 or 6 reputable sources - I will see if I
> can find it.
>
> Steve Green
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: = EMAIL ADDRESS REMOVED =
> [mailto: = EMAIL ADDRESS REMOVED = ] On Behalf Of Guillermo
> Alzuru
> Sent: 07 February 2012 13:22
> To: WebAIM Discussion List
> Subject: Re: [WebAIM] List of Top Accessibility Tools
>
> I just Googled it (top used browsers) and got millions of hits. I
> opened one at random and it has up-to-date stats.
>
> http://www.w3schools.com/browsers/browsers_stats.asp
>
> Guillermo
>

From: Jared Smith
Date: Tue, Feb 07 2012 10:15AM
Subject: Re: List of Top Accessibility Tools
← Previous message | Next message →

On Tue, Feb 7, 2012 at 9:58 AM, McKeithan, Thomas < = EMAIL ADDRESS REMOVED = > wrote:
> For screen readers, I'd suggest, Jaws, Windoweyes and one open source (NVDA).

Some data available at http://webaim.org/projects/screenreadersurvey3/#primary

Jared

From: Dawn Budge
Date: Tue, Feb 07 2012 10:24AM
Subject: Re: List of Top Accessibility Tools
← Previous message | Next message →

I agree with Thomas' list of screenreaders. The one I go to most is JAWS,
while NVDA gives you the opposite end of the spectrum (free and most
simple, doesn't support WAI-ARIA to the extent of JAWS etc.). Mac users
will use VoiceOver (including iPhone and iPad as well as macbooks)


WebAIM have a WAVE toolbar for Firefox which is handy. Not something you'd
rely on 100% but will quickly find simple things like missing alt
attributes and bad heading structures.

The last time I saw voice recognition being used in user testing, the user
had Dragon. That was a few years ago, anyone else seen what speech to text
users use these days?


Thanks,

Dawn

----------------------------------------

From: "McKeithan, Thomas" < = EMAIL ADDRESS REMOVED = >

Sent: Tuesday, February 07, 2012 4:59 PM

To: "WebAIM Discussion List" < = EMAIL ADDRESS REMOVED = >

Subject: Re: [WebAIM] List of Top Accessibility Tools


For screen readers, I'd suggest, Jaws, Windoweyes and one open source
(NVDA).


Respectfully,

Thomas Lee McKeithan II

Accessibility Program Manager

National Industries for the Blind

1310 Braddock Place

Alexandria, VA 22314

(703)310-0586 Direct

(202)276-6437 Cell

= EMAIL ADDRESS REMOVED =


"Believing is achieving, for if I believe, I can and I will achieve."


-----Original Message-----

From: = EMAIL ADDRESS REMOVED =
[mailto: = EMAIL ADDRESS REMOVED = ] On Behalf Of Steve Flaukner

Sent: Tuesday, February 07, 2012 10:20 AM

To: WebAIM Discussion List

Subject: Re: [WebAIM] List of Top Accessibility Tools


I should explain a little bit more. Looking around I found a variety of
screen readers, text browsers and some other freeware or demo tools. But at
an industry standard there must be a list of the most common ones. As for
screen readers I would guess JAWS is the most common one. I hope this gave
more help to my question.

On Feb 7, 2012 10:10 AM, "Steve Green" < = EMAIL ADDRESS REMOVED = > wrote:


> Don't use the W3Schools figures - they are based only on traffic to

> their own site, which is for geeks so it massively exaggerates the

> usage of Chrome, Safari, Opera - in fact all non-Microsoft products.

> All the other stats are biased too, such as screen sizes, non-JavaScript
users etc.

>

> I used to have a list of 5 or 6 reputable sources - I will see if I

> can find it.

>

> Steve Green

>

>

> -----Original Message-----

> From: = EMAIL ADDRESS REMOVED =

> [mailto: = EMAIL ADDRESS REMOVED = ] On Behalf Of Guillermo

> Alzuru

> Sent: 07 February 2012 13:22

> To: WebAIM Discussion List

> Subject: Re: [WebAIM] List of Top Accessibility Tools

>

> I just Googled it (top used browsers) and got millions of hits. I

> opened one at random and it has up-to-date stats.

>

> http://www.w3schools.com/browsers/browsers_stats.asp

>

> Guillermo

>

From: Morin, Gary (NIH/OD) [E]
Date: Tue, Feb 07 2012 1:21PM
Subject: Re: List of Top Accessibility Tools
← Previous message | Next message →

As a Section 508 staff member, I'm often asked about what assistive technology to use in testing. This list is NOT official but merely a good practises offering. The US Social Security Administration (SSA) does have a similar listing as required. (http://www.ssa.gov/oag/info/SSA%27s%20Guide%20to%20Applying%20Section%20508%20Standards.pdf). HHS is looking into standardizing a listing of recommended assistive technologies.

A word of caution - how any individual assistive technology plays nicely with any other piece of technology varies (e.g., Dragon with Firefox versus Internet Explorer). For most things, I find IE better when I'm using Dragon Naturally Speaking, particularly if it's an interactive site (training, forms to be filled out, etc). your mileage may vary

Assistive Technologies to Use in Usability Testing (I believe I have included the current or most recent version available, as of March 25, 2011). This listing is largely based on what Federal employees with disabilities are provided by CAP - the DoD Computer/Electronic Computer Program<http://www.cap.mil/>;. As such, this would be appropriate for EIT with a Federal target audience; EIT for the wider public may require a 'lower common denominator' where we cannot assume that persons with disabilities have the latest, greatest and, typically, most expensive assistive technology
1. For testing
a. Screen Readers
i. JAWS 11.0 and JAWS 12.0<http://www.FreedomScientific.com>;
ii. NVDA<http://www.nvda-project.org>;
iii. Window-Eyes 7.5<http://www.gwmicro.com/>;
iv. SuperNova Screen Reader (formerly Hal)<http://www.yourdolphin.com/productdetail.asp?id=5>;
b. Screen Magnifiers
i. MAGic 11.0<http://www.freedomscientific.com/products/lv/magic-bl-product-page.asp>;
ii. ZoomText 9.1<http://www.AISquared.com>;
c. Speech Recognition Software<http://cap.tricare.mil/Solutions/ProductCategory.aspx?DisabilityID=1&;CategoryID=29&SolutionType=Products>
i. Dragon Naturally Speaking, Medical 10.0
ii. Dragon Naturally Speaking, Professional 11.0<http://shop.nuance.com/store/nuanceus/en_US/pd/productID.202411800?resid=TYDOZgoBAlcAAFLeO@UAAAAE&;rests=1300287078256>

Gary M. Morin, Program Analyst
NIH Office of the Chief Information Officer
10401 Fernwood Rd, Room 3G-17
Bethesda, MD 20892, Mail Stop: 4833

(301) 402-3924 Voice, 451-9326 TTY/NTS
(240) 380-3063 Videophone; (301) 402-4464 Fax

Section 508 coordinators: http://ocio.od.nih.gov/Accessibility/Sec508coordinators.html

NIH Section 508 Team: mailto: = EMAIL ADDRESS REMOVED = ?subject=Section 508 Help or, for Section 508 Guidance, http://www.hhs.gov/web/508/index.html

WHAT IF THE FIRST QUESTION WE ASKED WAS, "WHAT IS SO UNIQUE ABOUT THIS SITUATION THAT IT JUSTIFIES EXCLUSION? INSTEAD OF, "HOW MUCH DOES IT COST TO MAKE IT ACCESSIBLE?"

-----Original Message-----
From: Dawn Budge
Sent: Tuesday, February 07, 2012 12:22 PM
To: WebAIM Discussion List
Subject: Re: [WebAIM] List of Top Accessibility Tools

I agree with Thomas' list of screenreaders. The one I go to most is JAWS, while NVDA gives you the opposite end of the spectrum (free and most simple, doesn't support WAI-ARIA to the extent of JAWS etc.). Mac users will use VoiceOver (including iPhone and iPad as well as macbooks)

WebAIM have a WAVE toolbar for Firefox which is handy. Not something you'd rely on 100% but will quickly find simple things like missing alt attributes and bad heading structures.

The last time I saw voice recognition being used in user testing, the user had Dragon. That was a few years ago, anyone else seen what speech to text users use these days?


Thanks,

Dawn

----------------------------------------

From: "McKeithan, Thomas" < = EMAIL ADDRESS REMOVED = >

Sent: Tuesday, February 07, 2012 4:59 PM

To: "WebAIM Discussion List" < = EMAIL ADDRESS REMOVED = >

Subject: Re: [WebAIM] List of Top Accessibility Tools


For screen readers, I'd suggest, Jaws, Windoweyes and one open source
(NVDA).


Respectfully,

Thomas Lee McKeithan II

Accessibility Program Manager

National Industries for the Blind

1310 Braddock Place

Alexandria, VA 22314

(703)310-0586 Direct

(202)276-6437 Cell

= EMAIL ADDRESS REMOVED =


"Believing is achieving, for if I believe, I can and I will achieve."


-----Original Message-----

From: = EMAIL ADDRESS REMOVED =
[mailto: = EMAIL ADDRESS REMOVED = ] On Behalf Of Steve Flaukner

Sent: Tuesday, February 07, 2012 10:20 AM

To: WebAIM Discussion List

Subject: Re: [WebAIM] List of Top Accessibility Tools


I should explain a little bit more. Looking around I found a variety of
screen readers, text browsers and some other freeware or demo tools. But at
an industry standard there must be a list of the most common ones. As for
screen readers I would guess JAWS is the most common one. I hope this gave
more help to my question.

On Feb 7, 2012 10:10 AM, "Steve Green" < = EMAIL ADDRESS REMOVED = > wrote:


> Don't use the W3Schools figures - they are based only on traffic to

> their own site, which is for geeks so it massively exaggerates the

> usage of Chrome, Safari, Opera - in fact all non-Microsoft products.

> All the other stats are biased too, such as screen sizes, non-JavaScript
users etc.

>

> I used to have a list of 5 or 6 reputable sources - I will see if I

> can find it.

>

> Steve Green

>

>

> -----Original Message-----

> From: = EMAIL ADDRESS REMOVED =

> [mailto: = EMAIL ADDRESS REMOVED = ] On Behalf Of Guillermo

> Alzuru

> Sent: 07 February 2012 13:22

> To: WebAIM Discussion List

> Subject: Re: [WebAIM] List of Top Accessibility Tools

>

> I just Googled it (top used browsers) and got millions of hits. I

> opened one at random and it has up-to-date stats.

>

> http://www.w3schools.com/browsers/browsers_stats.asp

>

> Guillermo

>

From: McKeithan, Thomas
Date: Tue, Feb 07 2012 1:27PM
Subject: Re: List of Top Accessibility Tools
← Previous message | No next message

Thanks for sharing this list.

Respectfully,
Thomas Lee McKeithan II
Accessibility Program Manager
National Industries for the Blind
1310 Braddock Place
Alexandria, VA 22314
(703)310-0586 Direct
(202)276-6437 Cell
= EMAIL ADDRESS REMOVED =


"Believing is achieving, for if I believe, I can and I will achieve."




-----Original Message-----
From: = EMAIL ADDRESS REMOVED = [mailto: = EMAIL ADDRESS REMOVED = ] On Behalf Of Morin, Gary (NIH/OD) [E]
Sent: Tuesday, February 07, 2012 3:18 PM
To: Dawn Budge; WebAIM Discussion List
Subject: Re: [WebAIM] List of Top Accessibility Tools

As a Section 508 staff member, I'm often asked about what assistive technology to use in testing. This list is NOT official but merely a good practises offering. The US Social Security Administration (SSA) does have a similar listing as required. (http://www.ssa.gov/oag/info/SSA%27s%20Guide%20to%20Applying%20Section%20508%20Standards.pdf). HHS is looking into standardizing a listing of recommended assistive technologies.

A word of caution - how any individual assistive technology plays nicely with any other piece of technology varies (e.g., Dragon with Firefox versus Internet Explorer). For most things, I find IE better when I'm using Dragon Naturally Speaking, particularly if it's an interactive site (training, forms to be filled out, etc). your mileage may vary

Assistive Technologies to Use in Usability Testing (I believe I have included the current or most recent version available, as of March 25, 2011). This listing is largely based on what Federal employees with disabilities are provided by CAP - the DoD Computer/Electronic Computer Program<http://www.cap.mil/>;. As such, this would be appropriate for EIT with a Federal target audience; EIT for the wider public may require a 'lower common denominator' where we cannot assume that persons with disabilities have the latest, greatest and, typically, most expensive assistive technology
1. For testing
a. Screen Readers
i. JAWS 11.0 and JAWS 12.0<http://www.FreedomScientific.com>;
ii. NVDA<http://www.nvda-project.org>;
iii. Window-Eyes 7.5<http://www.gwmicro.com/>;
iv. SuperNova Screen Reader (formerly Hal)<http://www.yourdolphin.com/productdetail.asp?id=5>;
b. Screen Magnifiers
i. MAGic 11.0<http://www.freedomscientific.com/products/lv/magic-bl-product-page.asp>;
ii. ZoomText 9.1<http://www.AISquared.com>;
c. Speech Recognition Software<http://cap.tricare.mil/Solutions/ProductCategory.aspx?DisabilityID=1&;CategoryID=29&SolutionType=Products>
i. Dragon Naturally Speaking, Medical 10.0
ii. Dragon Naturally Speaking, Professional 11.0<http://shop.nuance.com/store/nuanceus/en_US/pd/productID.202411800?resid=TYDOZgoBAlcAAFLeO@UAAAAE&;rests=1300287078256>

Gary M. Morin, Program Analyst
NIH Office of the Chief Information Officer
10401 Fernwood Rd, Room 3G-17
Bethesda, MD 20892, Mail Stop: 4833

(301) 402-3924 Voice, 451-9326 TTY/NTS
(240) 380-3063 Videophone; (301) 402-4464 Fax

Section 508 coordinators: http://ocio.od.nih.gov/Accessibility/Sec508coordinators.html

NIH Section 508 Team: mailto: = EMAIL ADDRESS REMOVED = ?subject=Section 508 Help or, for Section 508 Guidance, http://www.hhs.gov/web/508/index.html

WHAT IF THE FIRST QUESTION WE ASKED WAS, "WHAT IS SO UNIQUE ABOUT THIS SITUATION THAT IT JUSTIFIES EXCLUSION? INSTEAD OF, "HOW MUCH DOES IT COST TO MAKE IT ACCESSIBLE?"

-----Original Message-----
From: Dawn Budge
Sent: Tuesday, February 07, 2012 12:22 PM
To: WebAIM Discussion List
Subject: Re: [WebAIM] List of Top Accessibility Tools

I agree with Thomas' list of screenreaders. The one I go to most is JAWS, while NVDA gives you the opposite end of the spectrum (free and most simple, doesn't support WAI-ARIA to the extent of JAWS etc.). Mac users will use VoiceOver (including iPhone and iPad as well as macbooks)

WebAIM have a WAVE toolbar for Firefox which is handy. Not something you'd rely on 100% but will quickly find simple things like missing alt attributes and bad heading structures.

The last time I saw voice recognition being used in user testing, the user had Dragon. That was a few years ago, anyone else seen what speech to text users use these days?


Thanks,

Dawn

----------------------------------------

From: "McKeithan, Thomas" < = EMAIL ADDRESS REMOVED = >

Sent: Tuesday, February 07, 2012 4:59 PM

To: "WebAIM Discussion List" < = EMAIL ADDRESS REMOVED = >

Subject: Re: [WebAIM] List of Top Accessibility Tools


For screen readers, I'd suggest, Jaws, Windoweyes and one open source (NVDA).


Respectfully,

Thomas Lee McKeithan II

Accessibility Program Manager

National Industries for the Blind

1310 Braddock Place

Alexandria, VA 22314

(703)310-0586 Direct

(202)276-6437 Cell

= EMAIL ADDRESS REMOVED =


"Believing is achieving, for if I believe, I can and I will achieve."


-----Original Message-----

From: = EMAIL ADDRESS REMOVED =
[mailto: = EMAIL ADDRESS REMOVED = ] On Behalf Of Steve Flaukner

Sent: Tuesday, February 07, 2012 10:20 AM

To: WebAIM Discussion List

Subject: Re: [WebAIM] List of Top Accessibility Tools


I should explain a little bit more. Looking around I found a variety of screen readers, text browsers and some other freeware or demo tools. But at an industry standard there must be a list of the most common ones. As for screen readers I would guess JAWS is the most common one. I hope this gave more help to my question.

On Feb 7, 2012 10:10 AM, "Steve Green" < = EMAIL ADDRESS REMOVED = > wrote:


> Don't use the W3Schools figures - they are based only on traffic to

> their own site, which is for geeks so it massively exaggerates the

> usage of Chrome, Safari, Opera - in fact all non-Microsoft products.

> All the other stats are biased too, such as screen sizes,
> non-JavaScript
users etc.

>

> I used to have a list of 5 or 6 reputable sources - I will see if I

> can find it.

>

> Steve Green

>

>

> -----Original Message-----

> From: = EMAIL ADDRESS REMOVED =

> [mailto: = EMAIL ADDRESS REMOVED = ] On Behalf Of Guillermo

> Alzuru

> Sent: 07 February 2012 13:22

> To: WebAIM Discussion List

> Subject: Re: [WebAIM] List of Top Accessibility Tools

>

> I just Googled it (top used browsers) and got millions of hits. I

> opened one at random and it has up-to-date stats.

>

> http://www.w3schools.com/browsers/browsers_stats.asp

>

> Guillermo

>