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Re: Google Chrome Frame for Screen Readers?

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From: Jennifer Sutton
Date: Jun 23, 2015 2:38PM

Robert and all:

Apologies if I'm taking over your thread, but I wonder if you're
getting at something I've been envisioning, but perhaps, you're
coming at it from a different angle.
Please redirect the conversation if I'm off-base.

I don't like the idea of focusing this on screen readers; rather,
what I've been wanting to see is a visual way for sighted people to
test for ARIA. While ARIA is screen reader-centric, at the moment,
it's not necessarily going to stay that way, at least based on some
things I've read. And as we know, Dragon Naturally Speaking is
beginning to take advantage of some of its functionality.

What I'd like to see is a cross-platform approach that would visually
represent ARIA behaviors (perhaps including validation indicators,
when possible). In other words, let's have ARIA meet many developers
where they are, in a visual context, rather than having to have them
learn a screen reader at all. So, to be very specific, if there's
ARIA markup, make sure it's clear when keyboard handlers/focus
indication have been excluded. And run the Javascript, with ARIA, and
show the *words* the screen reader would (or wouldn't) say.

Let's make this about complying with the specification, rather than
representing screen reader quirks/inconsistencies.

In my experience, developers either get overwhelmed by the notion of
having to learn a screen reader (so they do nothing), or they get
totally engrossed in screen reader-centricity, so they miss the
easier wins. And I seee this especially with ARIA implementations.

When I first started dreaming of this, I was envisioning an interface
something like the old HomePage Reader, for those who remember that
i.e. you could have some kind of split screen scenario, perhaps with
code-syntax highlighting.

But as we all know, ideas are a dime a dozen, so I'll stop here.

Thanks for reading and considering. Maybe there are existing pieces
that could be put together to create something like this more easily
than I imagine.

Best,
Jennifer