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Re: Developers don't detect my screen reader

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From: Mike Warner
Date: Aug 11, 2015 12:10PM

Hi Deborah,

that's a valid concern. Everything in our course system is keyboard
accessible, however. We test all new features thoroughly for this. The
screen-reader-specific setting simply makes it easier for the SR tech to
get at the video controls. There used to be a problem with JAWS and the
default wmode video setting, where users couldn't get to the video
controls, and the wmode that was needed broke the video player for non-SR
users. I haven't tested it in a while to see whether it's still needed,
though.

Mike Warner
Director of IT Services
MindEdge, Inc.


> ------------------------------
>
> Message: 2
> Date: Mon, 10 Aug 2015 14:51:46 -0400 (Eastern Daylight Time)
> From: <EMAIL REMOVED>
> To: WebAIM Discussion List < <EMAIL REMOVED> >
> Subject: Re: [WebAIM] Developers don't detect my screen reader
> Message-ID: <alpine.WNT.2.00.1508101443080.31960@gratuity>
> Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; charset=US-ASCII; format=flowed
>
> On Mon, 10 Aug 2015, Mike Warner wrote:
>
> > We ask up front via a hidden button whether a student is using a screen
> reader, and use this data later to adjust settings to make our courses
> easier for SR users to consume. There aren't many things that require a
> setting change. Mainly, the video wmode needs to be set differently for a
> screen reader to get at the controls.
>
> There's a real danger to doing this, which is that many of the things
> screen reader users need are also needed by people who don't use screen
> readers and would never answer yes to that question. For example, controls
> that are available to screen readers are usually the only kind of controls
> which are available to keyboard and speech users. (Many people who prefer
> the keyboard over the mouse, whether for usability or for disability
> reasons, don't even think of themselves as disabled, or as users of
> adaptive technology.)
>
> Perhaps your video player does not have this problem, but I have often
> found that the only version of a web app I can use is the one that asks
> "are you using a screen reader".
>
> And of course, as everyone has said, maintaining the differences becomes a
> chore that is unlikely to be sustained as the members of development teams
> and design teams change over time. Thus the notorious Amazon
> Mobile/Accessible version, or Outlook for the Web Accessible Version, both
> of which are missing essential functionality of the non-accessible sites.
> In this case, you are only talking about different controls, not different
> sites -- but that still requires future developers, when you are not around
> anymore, thinking to set the modes differently.
>
> Deborah Kaplan
>
>
>