WebAIM - Web Accessibility In Mind

E-mail List Archives

Re: Navigation Techniques

for

From: Karlen Communications
Date: Aug 16, 2010 1:06PM

The page you sent the link to does have visual representations of "headings"
or topic changes. This means that someone who can see the page can navigate
to the content they want and begin reading.

A sample of visual representations of headings on the page sent to us are "
ADA LEGAL DOCUMENTS" or " GENERAL ADA PUBLICATIONS AND INFORMATION."

In terms of headings if the visual representations of topic changes or
"headings" were coded as structural headings the page would be more
accessible.

I agree with and have been saying the mantra that form controls need to be
form controls and not a mix of various HTML elements. It is not intuitive to
fill in information using a list of form controls only to have to switch to
a list of links to find the rest of the "form." It is also odd to see
"Submit" in the middle of "Home," "Contact Us," or "Publications."

Cheers, Karen

-----Original Message-----
From: <EMAIL REMOVED>
[mailto: <EMAIL REMOVED> ] On Behalf Of Birkir Rúnar
Gunnarsson
Sent: August-16-10 2:17 PM
To: WebAIM Discussion List
Subject: Re: [WebAIM] Navigation Techinques

Wish Jaws (and NVDA) I usually use "n" to skip past a group of links,
assuming the static / main links are on top of the page skips to the first
instance of non-link text on a page, or past a list or group of links. This
can help getting through the usual list of links that appear at the top of
every page.
Jaws key f7 presents the list of links and you can use letter navigation to
find the one you want quickly (this is also in NVDA, but I can´t remember
what key combination believe it is the same).
But not using well structured html presents a huge problem to the user,
correct use of headings and buttons, I find, can make navigating certain
pages and doing some tasks to a matter of seconds. I know not everyone is a
fan of the AccessKey attribute, but I like it too where appropriate.
I do not like it, e.g. when "submit" or equivanelt control in a form is a
link, not a button usually you can fill in the edit fields using "e" to jump
between form fields, then turn off forms mode and press b to lend you
directly on the "sign in" button, if it is a link you have to start looking.
I hope this helps somewhat.
-B

On 8/16/10, Carin Headrick < <EMAIL REMOVED> > wrote:
> Looks like your only friend is the skip nav link. That got me to the
> main content.
>
> Other than that, using a find to look for a specific word might help,
> or using the links list, or in JAWS, there is a command to look for
> the first block of text that is not a link, which is insert enter, but
> that didn't work so well here.
>
> If you manage to become familiar with the site, the links list can
> also be helpful.
>
> Carin
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Terrill Bennett" < <EMAIL REMOVED> >
> To: < <EMAIL REMOVED> >
> Sent: Monday, August 16, 2010 12:17 PM
> Subject: [WebAIM] Navigation Techinques
>
>
> Being relatively new to screen readers (been using JAWS and NVDA for
> testing since late March), I am curious to hear from those who live by
> their screen readers...
>
> When you come across a web site which has no document structure (i.e.
> headings), how does one navigate the site successfully?
>
> Here's a perfect example of where I am having difficulty understanding
> the task:
>
> http://www.ada.gov/publicat.htm#Anchor-14210
>
> Obliviously, the above page must be "accessible!" (Yes, I have learned
> being accessible according to Section 508 / WCAG 1.0 Level 1 isn't the
> same thing as being useful or friendly).
>
> Using NVDA, I noticed there are items in block quotes and used "q" to
> move between them, but for the most part that doesn't seem to be very
> effective - I may as well follow the links. Using either block quote
> or link navigation misses most of what is important on the page.
>
> In JAWS, I tried using the "s" (next same element) but that doesn't
> seem to honor the elements style or formatting, and mostly goes to the
> next paragraph and / or link.
>
> A penny for your thoughts.
>
> -- Terrill --
> "When people are free to do as they please, they usually imitate each
> other."
> Despair.com
>
>