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Re: Screen Reader Survey Results

for

From: Bevi Chagnon
Date: Jun 6, 2012 10:59AM

Duff wrote: "Confusing links with navigation is like confusing a bus with a
map."

That's a great analogy, Duff. Plus it made me chuckle.
--Bevi
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-----Original Message-----
From: <EMAIL REMOVED>
[mailto: <EMAIL REMOVED> ] On Behalf Of Duff Johnson
Sent: Wednesday, June 06, 2012 12:20 PM
To: WebAIM Discussion List
Subject: Re: [WebAIM] Screen Reader Survey Results

On Jun 6, 2012, at 8:57 AM, John E Brandt wrote:

> I blogged about it as well...not so much to share an opinion, but
> simply to help publicize it.
> http://jebswebs.net/blog/2012/06/screen-reader-survey/
>
> Thumbs up to WebAIM!

Nice post, John.

Like me, I note that you were also struck by the significance of headings
and heading levels as a means of navigation.

I've been banging this drum for some time now, mostly collecting mostly
yawns from HTML aficionados. I'll admit that it's gratifying to have my
experience as a service-provider of 12 years validated by this survey.

So many people in this field are convinced that "navigation" means "links".
Maybe that's so in HTML but it's not generally applicable.

Where I come from (PDF), the only available means of content-based
navigation IS document structure (H1, H2, etc). Using links to drive (i.e.,
serve as the vehicle for) intra-document navigation is a rarity in PDF. From
an accessibility point of view it doesn't help a lot anyhow since the PDF
language doesn't (today) allow good execution - PDF links can't target
within a page. :-(

So, maybe it's just my PDF "upbringing", but conceptually confusing
"navigation" and "link" has never worked for me. Surely "navigation"
bespeaks a system, denotes structure, and so on. Links are merely a means of
transport; they take you from a to b. Confusing links with navigation is
like confusing a bus with a map.

Thanks for sharing the *link*. :-)

Duff.
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