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Re: Google Chrome Frame for Screen Readers?

for

From: Robert Fentress
Date: Jun 23, 2015 2:09PM

And I guess you'd need to apply role="application" to the whole
page too for something like this to work.

On Tue, Jun 23, 2015 at 4:08 PM, Robert Fentress < <EMAIL REMOVED> > wrote:

> Hello, all.
>
> I wonder if anyone has ever thought of developing a JavaScript library
> that emulated the behavior of the most standards-compliant, open source,
> fully-featured screen reader/browser combination (not sure what that would
> be). The way I'm envisioning it, the library would apply aria-hidden to
> everything on the page and then use JavaScript to respond to key commands
> by adding content to a single ARIA live region. Basically, the live region
> would function as a virtual buffer of sorts.
>
> Why would you reinvent the wheel like this? Well, basically it would
> allow developers to code to standards, and ensure that if the user was
> accessing the page with a screen reader that supported aria-hidden and live
> regions, they could at least have a minimally accessible experience. The
> library could include code that would let the user turn this emulation on
> or off, allowing them to continue using whatever system they were
> comfortable with. However, by doing this, developers wouldn't have to code
> to and test on every single permutation of screen reader and browser and
> this would encourage writing standards-compliant, accessible code. It
> might also give AT vendors a common target. It would be something vaguely
> similar to the approach Google used with its Chrome Frame tool.
>
> Individual developers could add it to their pages, but it also wouldn't be
> hard, I would think, to create a browser extension/bookmarklet that let the
> end users apply the library to any page they wanted.
>
> Okay, have at it! Please tell me what obvious things I'm missing here.
> I've never done anything of this scope before (and I'm not volunteering),
> so perhaps it is just impossibly complex or would incur some unacceptably
> huge performance hit. Or perhaps it is wrong from some theoretical or
> ethical perspective. I'd love to hear what others think about this, as I
> suspect the answers will help me (and perhaps others) understand better the
> details of how the technology works. Thanks!
>
> Best,
> Rob
>
> --
> Robert Fentress
> Senior Accessibility Solutions Designer
> 540.231.1255
>
> Technology-enhanced Learning & Online Strategies
> Assistive Technologies
> 1180 Torgersen Hall
> 620 Drillfield Drive (0434)
> Blacksburg, Virginia 24061
>



--
Robert Fentress
Senior Accessibility Solutions Designer
540.231.1255

Technology-enhanced Learning & Online Strategies
Assistive Technologies
1180 Torgersen Hall
620 Drillfield Drive (0434)
Blacksburg, Virginia 24061