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Re: Question for screen reader users

for

From: Bevi Chagnon | PubCom
Date: Dec 15, 2009 9:30PM

Mike L wrote:
< We've been requested to remove all the carriage returns (that is, when you
hit the Enter key to insert a blank line between paragraphs) because (they
allege ) screen readers will say them aloud. I've never heard of this. Can
anyone confirm or deny? >


Years ago I remember some screen readers would read each blank carriage
return, so back in the stone age we were instructed to remove extraneous
blank lines.

It appears that recent screen readers can be set to ignore extra blanks.

However, it's really poor programming to have them in your document.

If you're designing a website, use CSS to create the visual white space
rather than blank <p> or <br> tags.
If you're creating a Word document, use your Word styles to create the
visual white space.
If it's desktop publishing, use your paragraph styles to create the visual
white space.

Our documents have more requirements than just 508 accessibility. They might
also have to work with cross-media technologies (mobile, web, PDF, press).
They might also have to comply with XML DTD/schemas and content management
systems (CMS).

For all these purposes, get rid of the blanks and craft your documents
correctly. Your portfolio will look better, too <grin>.

--Bevi Chagnon
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Bevi Chagnon | <EMAIL REMOVED> | www.PubCom.com | Specialists for
Federal Govt Publishing
Consultants + Trainers + Designers | for print, web, marketing, Acrobat, &
508
PublishingDC Group Co-Moderator |
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/PublishingDC
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