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Re: Question about Screen Readers

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From: Joel Sanda
Date: Aug 14, 2001 2:49PM

Michael;
You know, I've never seen a list of HTML tags read by screen readers. I'm
sure such exist, and I've asked screen reader manufacturers for information
on them, but haven't got anything.
The rule of thumb, though, that I've discovered is this: if the mark-up
makes contextual sense to the content then the content is read.
Consider the <li> element. In an <ul> it reads as 'bullet'. In a <ol> the
actual digit is read. Tables are a bit trickier, and we're still wrestling
with those issues - particularly with large complext tables that rely upon a
solid understanding between the x and y axis of the table.
Wow, I guess I'm not surprised you haven't encountered closed captioning but
it's a little depressing. My company has been working on ways to convert
multi-media to a format with closed captioning for deaf users so our clients
have access to accessible content - it's tough but by no means impossible.
Joel