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Re: Question about Screen Readers

for

From: Shirley Mattingly
Date: Aug 14, 2001 2:56PM

Dear Joel:
RE: >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.<
Will you let us know when you are successful? :-)
Thanks

>>> <EMAIL REMOVED> 08/14/01 04:46PM >>>
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

-----Original Message-----
From: Michael Goddard [mailto: <EMAIL REMOVED> ]
Sent: Tuesday, August 14, 2001 2:34 PM
To: WebAIM forum
Subject: Re: Question about Screen Readers.

Joel,
Thank you for shedding some light to this. I believe I am getting an
understanding of how the screen is being read. Is it just the anchor tags
and image tags that are read or are there other tags that I should be aware
of?
I will be extremely honest with you on your question about multi-media
presentations that I have come across that has text transcripts or
captioning. The answer is zero! I have yet to come across any multi-media
oriented material that offers text transcription or captioning.
Thank you for the information
Michael
----- Original Message -----
From: "Joel Sanda" < <EMAIL REMOVED> >
To: "'WebAIM forum'" < <EMAIL REMOVED> >
Sent: Tuesday, August 14, 2001 4:29 PM
Subject: RE: Question about Screen Readers.

> Michael;
>
> Great question! I'm sighted and have hearing and have used JAWS quite a
bit
> to test the accessibility of our products ... so maybe I can shed some
light
> on this.
>
> Properly coded web pages will have their content, and some mark-up
necessary
> for meaning, read aloud by JAWS.
>
> Certain elements, like anchor tags, images, list items, and so on will
have
> a preface read before them. So the following code:
>
> <a href="http://www.home.com"><img src="home.gif" alt=""></a>
>
> Will be read aloud as "image, anchor tag: home.com". I may have the exact
> wording off a little, but that's the crux of it. On the other hand, coding
> the same feature this way:
>
> <a href="http://www.home.com" title="Go to Home.com's Home Page"><img
> src="home.gif" alt="Picture of a House"></a> can be read as:
>
> "link, Go to Home dot com's Home Page". Image: Picture of a House".
>
> As for Lynx - you're on the right track. I often use Lynx to test sites
with
> style sheets turned off and to "see" what the blind will "hear", since the
> alt attribute is displayed in Lynx.
>
> Let me ask you this, in turn: how often do you encounter multi-media
> presentations that have text transcripts or closed captioning?
>
> As for training, have you hit the resources at: www.w3.org/wai? That's
free
> and there are some really good (the best, IMHO) learning resources there.
>
> Joel
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Michael Goddard [mailto: <EMAIL REMOVED> ]
> Sent: Tuesday, August 14, 2001 2:01 PM
> To: WebAIM forum
> Subject: Question about Screen Readers.
>
>
> I am curious as to exactly what do the screen readers "read and speak". I
> am deaf so I cannot "first-hand" experiment with something like this.
>
> I have downloaded the Lynx browser to see what might a screen reader "read
> and say" is this a reliable thing? Do the screen readers just speak the
> text or do the screen readers actually speak the HTML coding as well?
>
> I am trying to migrate more into the accessibility field for web design
and
> development since I believe it is going to explode in the near future.
> Currently, I have over 5 years experience working in the field of web
> development (strictly HTML coding) have learned many more skills
including,
> graphics, PHP, MySQL programming.
>
> Anyone know of some online training for this? I know that WebAIM has
> courses but I cannot afford something like that. I am hoping there might
be
> free courses anywhere?
>
> Thank you,
>
> Michael
>
>
>
>
>