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Re: Something's amiss with the latest survey

for

From: Jordan Wilson
Date: Aug 28, 2015 1:43PM

I would suggest using the "Commonly Used" statistic a little lower down on
the page instead of the "Primacy Screen Reader" statistic.

That statistic is a bit more in line w/ what we¹ve seen in the past, and
it better reflects the number of users who use each platform overall. Its
a better complete measurement of usage.

The Primary Screen Reader stat undervalues the platforms that are used
secondarily.

That said, Jonathan¹s mention of the e-mail from the vendor is probably a
large factor. Stuffing the ballot box if you may.





On 8/28/15, 3:36 PM, "WebAIM-Forum on behalf of WebAIM Discussion List"
< <EMAIL REMOVED> on behalf of
<EMAIL REMOVED> > wrote:

>I would also respectfully point out that ZoomText is the only option that
>is available for both Windows and Mac on the provided list in the survey,
>and the question did not distinguish between the two versions. It's
>possible that Mac users may have increased adoption of ZT as a VoiceOver
>alternative since audio capabilities were introduced in the spring of
>2014.
>
>--Jane Vincent, University of Michigan
>
> From: "Moore,Michael (HHSC)" < <EMAIL REMOVED> >
> To: WebAIM Discussion List < <EMAIL REMOVED> >
> Sent: Friday, August 28, 2015 3:18 PM
> Subject: Re: [WebAIM] Something's amiss with the latest survey
>
>First let me be clear. I have been a fan of WebAIM, Karl Groves, TPG and
>this list for a while myself. But I have to respectfully disagree with my
>esteemed colleague regarding the value of the results as device to
>demonstrate the diversity of the screen reader user community.
>
>One alternative explanation for the increase in the number of users
>reporting ZoomText as a primary screen reader may simply be the wider
>dissemination of the survey. Through my work I have consistently
>encountered what seemed to be a larger number of people using ZoomText as
>a screen reader than was indicated by previous surveys. Given that my
>data was anecdotal rather than scientific I felt that it could simply be
>a product of my unique work environment that brought me in contact with a
>greater number of visually impaired users with lower levels of technical
>skills than the average accessibility specialist.
>
>As for the growth of Window Eyes - the Microsoft program is bound to have
>an impact. Particularly when you consider the number of enterprise
>customers who can now fulfill reasonable accommodation requests with a
>commercial, Microsoft endorsed (implicit), screen reading product.
>
>Mike Moore
>Accessibility Coordinator
>Texas Health and Human Services Commission
>Civil Rights Office
>
>-----Original Message-----
>From: WebAIM-Forum [mailto: <EMAIL REMOVED> ] On
>Behalf Of Karl Groves
>Sent: Friday, August 28, 2015 2:00 PM
>To: WebAIM Discussion List
>Subject: [WebAIM] Something's amiss with the latest survey
>
>Apparently it is "Karl causes fights on social media day" today. On
>Facebook it was the relative sanity of certain political candidates.
>On Twitter it is the latest Screen Reader Survey.
>http://webaim.org/projects/screenreadersurvey6/
>
>First, let me be clear: I've been a member of this list and a fan of
>WebAIM, its people, and its work since 2003. Among the most valuable
>resources they provide are their surveys on Screen Reader users and Low
>Vision users. I reference this work in a number of places - one of which
>being the training content that we deliver at TPG. I believe in WebAIM
>not only as an organization but as people.
>
>Something is up with the latest screen reader survey. From the survey
>"ZoomText (1.3% to 22.2%) and Window-Eyes (6.7% to 20.7%) both saw very
>significant increases in usage since January 2014."
>
>In 1 3/4 years, ZoomText's market share rose just under 21% and
>WindowEyes rose 14%? This *does not* pass a sniff test. Market
>penetration for a *new* consumer product is often under 10%. These are
>products that have been around a long time, their market share has shown
>a downward trend in previous surveys, and there have been no "disruptive"
>new features added to either product in the last 18
>months, either. Jared posted his thoughts on the WebAIM blog:
>http://webaim.org/blog/resugence-of-zoomtext-and-window-eyes/
>
>I'm not inclined to draw any hasty conclusions as to what caused these
>results other than to say that I highly doubt there's a correspondingly
>high rate of growth for both of these products. These numbers would
>suggest that the market itself has expanded. Put another way, even if we
>consider the downward trend of JAWS in prior years, I don't think that
>would account for the growth numbers of these products (when prior years
>indicated that the erosion was going to NVDA and VoiceOver).
>
>This has a much more negative effect than many people realized. I point
>customers to this information. I can't, in good conscience, do that
>anymore. I can't tell customers "You should support the broadest number
>of PWDs by at least a) following standards and b) supporting this set of
>assistive technologies" Because now this list includes an illegitimately
>inflated count of two products.
>
>
>
>--
>
>Karl Groves
>www.karlgroves.com
>@karlgroves
>http://www.linkedin.com/in/karlgroves
>Phone: +1 410.541.6829
>
>Modern Web Toolsets and Accessibility
>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_uq6Db47-Ks
>
>www.tenon.io
>>>at http://webaim.org/discussion/archives
>>
>
>>>>>
>
>
>>>>