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Re: Google Chrome Frame for Screen Readers?

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From: Eades, Terri
Date: Jun 23, 2015 3:55PM

Richard,

I know WAVE (by WebAIM) will check to see what errors in your code you have and present them visually on top of your site. It can also give you tips on how to fix errors. Also, SiteImprove will analyze your site and go a step further, (at a price), to tell you whether it meets WCAG 2.0 A, AA, or AAA. Is either one of these what you are looking for in terms of validators?


Terri Eades
Webmaster

Morgan Community College
920 Barlow Road, Fort Morgan, CO 80701
Phone: (970) 542-3155 | Fax: (970) 542-3115
<EMAIL REMOVED>

www.MorganCC.edu







-----Original Message-----
From: WebAIM-Forum [mailto: <EMAIL REMOVED> ] On Behalf Of Richard Hulse
Sent: Tuesday, June 23, 2015 3:09 PM
To: WebAIM Discussion List
Subject: Re: [WebAIM] Google Chrome Frame for Screen Readers?

Since this my first post here, a quick introduction:

I am the digital product lead/webmaster at www.radionz.co.nz which is the website for Radio New Zealand. We are a public radio broadcaster and we are very focussed on accessibility, particularly at the moment making the site more screen reader friendly.


On Wed, Jun 24, 2015 at 8:38 AM, Jennifer Sutton < <EMAIL REMOVED> >
wrote:

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

This is an interesting approach and seems to me to be the same as that taken by the Web Standards project back in the late 90s. That is: that everyone should be using standard markup, written to spec, and let's get the screen readers (and other tech) makers to their tools follow the spec.

In some ways the current state is similar to what we had to deal with in terms of browser quirks in the 90s.

Perhaps we need some way to indicate to the tech if we are using 'standards' and leave all the other sites to render as 'quirks'?

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 see this especially with ARIA implementations.
>

In my case I do use a screen reader as part of my testing regime, and I use that along with other tools to ensure the markup makes sense for as many uses as possible. Markup may serve many clients, just as a responsive site serves many different screen sizes.

I found learning how to drive the screen reader no more difficult than an other new piece of software. Certainly a lot simpler than vim or emacs!

A tool that validates the markup as being 'accessibility standards compliant' would be a big win. At the very least the average punter will test their sites, make adjustments, and they won't be horrendous. Those in the know can use the tool to take the site to the next level.

Could this be an online tool like the W3C validator?


Cheers,

Richard Hulse
Webmaster
Radio NZ