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Thread: Hiding presntational text from a screen reader

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Number of posts in this thread: 5 (In chronological order)

From: ALISTAIR DUGGIN
Date: Tue, Mar 27 2012 6:34AM
Subject: Hiding presntational text from a screen reader
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Hi,

I have a web page that contains 2 editorial images.

These images have text descriptions that are included in the page (rather than as alt text) - eg:
Left: Joanne Hayes of USA crosses
the finish line and wins gold in the women's 100 metre hurdle final
Right: Jun Zhang, of China, dominates the mixed double badminton events


Should I try and hide the 'Left:' and 'Right:' text from screen readers by using aria-hidden="true" or is this unnecessary?

Many thanks,
Al

From: Jared Smith
Date: Tue, Mar 27 2012 7:59AM
Subject: Re: Hiding presntational text from a screen reader
← Previous message | Next message →

On Tue, Mar 27, 2012 at 6:34 AM, ALISTAIR DUGGIN
< = EMAIL ADDRESS REMOVED = > wrote:

> Should I try and hide the 'Left:' and 'Right:' text from screen readers by using aria-hidden="true" or is this unnecessary?

I'd think that if you expect this content to be read and useful to any
users, then it's not really presentational at all and should not be
hidden.

Jared

From: ALISTAIR DUGGIN
Date: Tue, Mar 27 2012 9:17AM
Subject: Re: Hiding presntational text from a screen reader
← Previous message | Next message →

Thanks Jared,

I was thinking that it may be unnecessary aural clutter for a screen reader=
users. A sighted user needs to be able to associate the text with one of t=
he two images on the page whereas I was thinking a screen reader user would=
n't need to.=A0 Thinking about it further though it could be helpful to a s=
ighted screen reader user.

Al










From: Jared Smith < = EMAIL ADDRESS REMOVED = >
To: WebAIM Discussion List < = EMAIL ADDRESS REMOVED = > =

Sent: Tuesday, 27 March 2012, 14:59
Subject: Re: [WebAIM] Hiding presntational text from a screen reader
=

On Tue, Mar 27, 2012 at 6:34 AM, ALISTAIR DUGGIN
< = EMAIL ADDRESS REMOVED = > wrote:

> Should I try and hide the 'Left:' and 'Right:' text from screen readers b=
y using aria-hidden=3D"true" or is this unnecessary?

I'd think that if you expect this content to be read and useful to any
users, then it's not really presentational at all and should not be
hidden.

Jared

From: LĂ©onie Watson
Date: Tue, Mar 27 2012 12:15PM
Subject: Re: Hiding presntational text from a screen reader
← Previous message | Next message →

Alistair Duggin wrote:
"I was thinking that it may be unnecessary aural clutter for a screen reader
users. A sighted user needs to be able to associate the text with one of the
two images on the page whereas I was thinking a screen reader user wouldn't
need to.=A0 Thinking about it further though it could be helpful to a sight=
ed
screen reader user."

If the information is there, a screen reader user doesn't have to
listen to it. If it isn't there, there is no choice but to miss out. I
blogged about screen readers, text descriptions and emotion rich images a
while back. Here in case it's helpful:
http://tink.co.uk/2011/06/text-descriptions-emotion-rich-images/ =



L=E9onie.
-----Original Message-----
From: = EMAIL ADDRESS REMOVED =
[mailto: = EMAIL ADDRESS REMOVED = ] On Behalf Of ALISTAIR DUGGIN
Sent: 27 March 2012 16:18
To: WebAIM Discussion List
Subject: Re: [WebAIM] Hiding presntational text from a screen reader



Thanks Jared,

I was thinking that it may be unnecessary aural clutter for a screen reader
users. A sighted user needs to be able to associate the text with one of the
two images on the page whereas I was thinking a screen reader user wouldn't
need to.=A0 Thinking about it further though it could be helpful to a sight=
ed
screen reader user.

Al










From: Jared Smith < = EMAIL ADDRESS REMOVED = >
To: WebAIM Discussion List < = EMAIL ADDRESS REMOVED = >
Sent: Tuesday, 27 March 2012, 14:59
Subject: Re: [WebAIM] Hiding presntational text from a screen reader
=

On Tue, Mar 27, 2012 at 6:34 AM, ALISTAIR DUGGIN
< = EMAIL ADDRESS REMOVED = > wrote:

> Should I try and hide the 'Left:' and 'Right:' text from screen readers by
using aria-hidden=3D"true" or is this unnecessary?

I'd think that if you expect this content to be read and useful to any
users, then it's not really presentational at all and should not be hidden.

Jared
messages to = EMAIL ADDRESS REMOVED =
messages to = EMAIL ADDRESS REMOVED =

From: Steve Green
Date: Tue, Mar 27 2012 11:07AM
Subject: Hiding presentational text from a screen reader
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I would not worry about hiding the odd word here or there because it won't
make any difference in real terms. Screen reader users are generally used to
ignoring anything that doesn't make sense. Hiding text could actually
confuse sighted screen reader users so I would be wary of doing so under any
circumstances.

Steve Green
Managing Director
Test Partners Ltd =


-----Original Message-----
From: = EMAIL ADDRESS REMOVED =
[mailto: = EMAIL ADDRESS REMOVED = ] On Behalf Of ALISTAIR DUGGIN
Sent: 27 March 2012 16:18
To: WebAIM Discussion List
Subject: Re: [WebAIM] Hiding presntational text from a screen reader



Thanks Jared,

I was thinking that it may be unnecessary aural clutter for a screen reader
users. A sighted user needs to be able to associate the text with one of the
two images on the page whereas I was thinking a screen reader user wouldn't
need to.=A0 Thinking about it further though it could be helpful to a sight=
ed
screen reader user.

Al










From: Jared Smith < = EMAIL ADDRESS REMOVED = >
To: WebAIM Discussion List < = EMAIL ADDRESS REMOVED = >
Sent: Tuesday, 27 March 2012, 14:59
Subject: Re: [WebAIM] Hiding presntational text from a screen reader
=

On Tue, Mar 27, 2012 at 6:34 AM, ALISTAIR DUGGIN
< = EMAIL ADDRESS REMOVED = > wrote:

> Should I try and hide the 'Left:' and 'Right:' text from screen readers by
using aria-hidden=3D"true" or is this unnecessary?

I'd think that if you expect this content to be read and useful to any
users, then it's not really presentational at all and should not be hidden.

Jared
messages to = EMAIL ADDRESS REMOVED =
messages to = EMAIL ADDRESS REMOVED =