WebAIM - Web Accessibility In Mind

E-mail List Archives

Re: Question about screen readers

for

From: Andrew Kirkpatrick
Date: Aug 15, 2001 7:38AM

Michael,
Can you define "multimedia" as you interpret the term? I can point you to a
good bit of media that is captioned or described or has a transcript (some
have all three). I am currently working on the issue of rich media
accessibility (I define rich media as changing over time or in response to
user interaction) at the National Center for Accessible Media in Boston. We
have a resource center with a showcase of accessible (multi) media at
http://ncam.wgbh.org/richmedia/showcase.html. Some media is hosted on our
site and others are linked. WGBH offers quite a variety of
captioned/transcribed media (check out NOVA at WGBH/PBS or go to WGBH's
QuickTime TV channel from your QT player).
Andrew
On 8/14/01 4:33 PM, Michael Goddard ( <EMAIL REMOVED> ) wrote:
> 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
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>
>
--
Andrew Kirkpatrick, Technical Project Coordinator
CPB/WGBH National Center for Accessible Media
125 Western Ave.
Boston, MA 02134
E-mail: <EMAIL REMOVED>
Web site: ncam.wgbh.org
617-300-4420 (direct voice/FAX)
617-300-3400 (main NCAM)
617-300-2489 (TTY)
WGBH enriches people's lives through programs and services that educate,
inspire, and entertain, fostering citizenship and culture, the joy of
learning, and the power of diverse perspectives.


Michael,
Can you define "multimedia" as you interpret the term? I can point you to a
good bit of media that is captioned or described or has a transcript (some
have all three). I am currently working on the issue of rich media
accessibility (I define rich media as changing over time or in response to
user interaction) at the National Center for Accessible Media in Boston. We
have a resource center with a showcase of accessible (multi) media at
http://ncam.wgbh.org/richmedia/showcase.html. Some media is hosted on our
site and others are linked. WGBH offers quite a variety of
captioned/transcribed media (check out NOVA at WGBH/PBS or go to WGBH's
QuickTime TV channel from your QT player).
Andrew
On 8/14/01 4:33 PM, Michael Goddard ( <EMAIL REMOVED> ) wrote:
> 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
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>
>
--
Andrew Kirkpatrick, Technical Project Coordinator
CPB/WGBH National Center for Accessible Media
125 Western Ave.
Boston, MA 02134
E-mail: <EMAIL REMOVED>
Web site: ncam.wgbh.org
617-300-4420 (direct voice/FAX)
617-300-3400 (main NCAM)
617-300-2489 (TTY)
WGBH enriches people's lives through programs and services that educate,
inspire, and entertain, fostering citizenship and culture, the joy of
learning, and the power of diverse perspectives.