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Re: Large numbers and currency symbols in screen readers

for

From: Travis Roth
Date: May 6, 2009 10:00AM


JAWS' default reading reads the dollar sign ($) first:
$508,000,000 = "dollar five hundred eight million."

JAWS can be set to spell out numbers via digits. I am not sure if you can
get it to change the reding order of the dollar sign.

As for if "$508m" is confusing: I think it depends on the context. If the
article is giving the numbers in this fashion for all readers and it says
something like "numbers are in millions" then it is no more confusing for a
screen reader user than anyone else.
If numbers in the text are being used in their entireity then I suggest
using the same approach in the Alt text.

Lastly, as for using commas. Yes please include the commas. It does not
impact the speech output generally. However, it does improve the readability
for Braille users, and for if the user decides to read the number one
character at a time.

-----Original Message-----
From: <EMAIL REMOVED>
[mailto: <EMAIL REMOVED> ] On Behalf Of Robison, Cole
[EISU]
Sent: Wednesday, May 06, 2009 10:31 AM
To: <EMAIL REMOVED>
Subject: [WebAIM] Large numbers and currency symbols in screen readers

I'm looking for some insight in how to best optimize the representation
of large dollar figures in alt text, particularly with respect to how
screen readers typically handle the various alternatives.

I've been presented with a proposed alt attribute value containing a
familiar shorthand representation like:

$508M

I assume that the "M" for "million" could be confusing, and that
spelling it out would be better:

$508 million

But I wonder how this compares to doing so numerically:

$508,000,000

Is one approach preferred over the other?

(And if the full numerical representation is used, is it better to
include or exclude the commas?)

I also wonder about the dollar sign: is it read before the number, as
written, or do screen readers make the adjustment to read it as the word
"dollars" after the number? (And if they do, would the number, followed
by a space, followed by the word "million" trip it up? That is, would
"$508 million" become "five hundred eight dollars million"?) In short,
would it be better to replace the dollar sign with the word "dollars"
after the figure?

These, then, are the various possibilities:

a) $508 M
b) $508 million
c) $508,000,000
d) $508000000
e) 508 M dollars
f) 508 million dollars
g) 508,000,000 dollars
h) 508000000 dollars

Which is best?

Thanks,

Cole Robison
Director of Statewide Web/IT Accessibility
Division of Information Systems and Communications
State of Kansas
<EMAIL REMOVED>
(785) 291-3016