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Testing with Alternative User Agents (was RE: Preferred OS for screen readers)

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From: John Foliot - bytown internet
Date: Sep 5, 2002 6:09AM

I second Kynn's point.

JAWS is a wonderful application which extends "computer" functionality to
blind users; web, word-processing, spreadsheets, email, etc. For testing
purposes it may in fact be overkill.

I (as Kynn suggested) use IBM's Home Page Reader as a testing tool, as well
as Lynx and an old version of pwWebspeak (no longer available
unfortunately). They "read-out-loud" a web page, which is what I believe
you want to do as part of a test process.

Developers on a budget could also look at Simply Web 2000
(http://www.econointl.com/sw/) - NOTE, this is *really* stripped down, but
has a price tag to match (Free). Other alternative browers / user agents
can be found at: http://www.w3.org/WAI/References/Browsing

As part of a regular demonstration/evaluation session I facilitate each
week, I also use a Cell Phone emulator, which, well, emulates web content on
a cell phone. While the practicality of it is limited at best (it does not
support any form functions, chokes on named anchors, etc.) it demonstrates
to the uninitiated that accessible web design is more than just web sites
for the blind (or those in wheelchairs, deaf, etc.); rather, accessible
means accessible to all devices/users. (Note: there seems to be a number of
cell phone emulators out there - do a Google - but the one I use is the
DeckIt emulator from PyWeb - http://www.pyweb.com/tools/ - available for
Windows and Linux)

JF




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