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Adobe Connect and screen reader users

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From: John E Brandt
Date: Jan 25, 2013 12:20PM

Has anyone developed an easy to understand set of directions for Adobe
Connect (AC) for new participants who are screen reader users? I've seen all
of the Adobe help pages which focus quite a bit on the administrative side,
but very little in terms of helping a participant who is using AC for the
first time. Adobe also has videos explaining new users about AC, but these
are completely inaccessible to blind and visually impaired people.



The first issue is that the "portal" page we are using is not accessible. It
is poorly coded and does not meet any accessibility standards. We've worked
around this by telling screen reader users that they have to keep tabbing
until they hear the description of an un-tagged input box, type in their
names and hit enter. I've searched high and low, in vain, to find out who
controls this page and who has the ability to edit it to meet standards. No
one seems to know, and those who do are not talking. Best I have been told
is that the new version of AC *may* fix this, but no official word from
Adobe on this.



Once inside AC, there are no directions to the screen reader user as to what
they are "viewing" or how to navigate. There needs to be an explanation of
and directions on how to use the "pods" and how to navigate among them.



We know that some content within pods can be read (some cannot), but there
is apparently no way to alert the screen reader user when there is new
content in the pod or when the pod refreshes. This is particularly
problematic in the chat pod where the screen reader user could post a
question, but if they get a chat response, they have no way of knowing it is
there. This issue is apparently known to Adobe, but no solution has been
offered.



The best work around I can determine is to by-pass AC completely and give
the screen reader user a conference call phone number where they can listen
to the oral presentation live and make sure they have all of the handouts -
in an accessible format (not PowerPoint) - before the event so they can
study the content of the presentation before the event.



So, if anyone is using Adobe Connect successfully with screen reader users
I'd love to know how you are supporting these users.



I've been hinting to my clients that maybe there is a better webinar
solution out there that accommodates screen reader users more completely,
but I've not seen any that are much better.



~j



John E. Brandt

www.jebswebs.com
<EMAIL REMOVED>

207-622-7937

Augusta, Maine, USA