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Re: Quick Response Needed - DL or UL?

for

From: Jared Smith
Date: Apr 24, 2015 8:20AM


On Thu, Apr 23, 2015 at 3:50 PM, < <EMAIL REMOVED> > wrote:
> screen readers don't do anything useful with the semantics.

This isn't accurate. I believe that all major screen readers will,
with default settings, indicate the presence of a list and the number
of list items. Most also indicate the type of list (ul, ol, or dl).
They will also allow navigation by list items. Some also indicate list
nesting levels. In fact, I can't think of anything useful that screen
readers DON'T do with list semantics.

There is a potential issue with definition lists in most screen
readers where they will identify the number of items incorrectly -
most seem to count each <dt> and <dd> as separate items. I don't see
this as an argument to not use them.

Jared