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Re: Screen Readers as a Development Tool for Web Developers

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From: Andrews, David B (DEED)
Date: Jul 17, 2015 12:58PM

On the whole I agree with Jennifer -- as I usually do! Anyway, as others have pointed out, this is a complex issue, and if I had to do so, I could argue it either way. I have even worked with developers, and given demonstrations at conferences, to developers, on using screen readers for testing.

However, in the end, I think it doesn't work well. Unless you use a screen reader on a regular basis, you simply aren't going to be very good at it. In an ideal world, developers would be able to test using screen readers, but they already have a huge amount on their plates, so I think it is unrealistic to expect them to be experts in this too.

Jennifer's visual tools are ultimately the best solution, but until they exist, we may just have to rely on accessibility professionals to do testing.

Dave