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Re: Punctuation in JAWS

for

From: Tim Harshbarger
Date: Jun 3, 2010 11:09AM

Bobby,

Just based on my own personal experience and what I have observed a few
other peoples do, it seems that most of us who use screen readers adjust
the punctuation to whatever level we are most comfortable with. I think
setting the punctuation level on a screen reader is one of those things
most of us learn early and are most likely to adjust to whatever we
prefer.

I also cannot recall a situation where the screen reader reading too
much punctuation created a problem. However, I have seen situations
where the screen reader not reading a punctuation mark has created
problems. For example, when people use asterisks (*) to denote required
fields.

I actually change my punctuation level quite a bit. If I am just
reading e-mail or most type of documents, I will set the punctuation to
none. If I am reading code or HTML, I set the punctuation to all.
Under other circumstances, I might set it differently--if it seems like
it would be very useful.

For me, I think it comes down to how important the specific punctuation
is. In an e-mail, the pauses and changes in pitch in the speech
synthesis is good enough. In code, where the specific punctuation used
is critical, I want to know exactly what the punctuation is.

Tim

-----Original Message-----
From: <EMAIL REMOVED>
[mailto: <EMAIL REMOVED> ] On Behalf Of Garcia, Bobby
Sent: Thursday, June 03, 2010 8:42 AM
To: <EMAIL REMOVED>
Subject: [WebAIM] Punctuation in JAWS

Hey, gang! I'm developing some web-based training courses that are being
tested for accessibility using JAWS. What I noticed is that JAWS reads
punctuation and I'm curious to get some different views on this.



Take, for example, the following statement: I never apologize (I'm
sorry, that's just the way I am).



Jaws will read: I never apologize open parens I'm sorry...



My question is, does this take away/add to the user's experience? Is it
a hindrance to hear that, is it superfluous, or do any users benefit
from visualizing the parens? I mean, I know I can always tailor my
content to avoid using excessive punctuation but I'd still like to know
how different people feel about this. And not necessarily JAWS only, but
any other screen readers, as well.



Thanks!



Bobby Garcia