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Re: PDF Multiline H1 JFW announces tag for each line

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From: Moore,Michael (Accessibility) (HHSC)
Date: Dec 11, 2015 7:19AM

I don't really even consider this to be a problem. The screen reader that I am most familiar with (JAWS) only announces "heading" multiple times when you are reading line by line. If you move by paragraph the heading is announced and the whole thing is read. I believe that the same is true for reading by sentence but I don't navigate that way very often.

If when reading by line the screen reader did not announce that the next line was also a heading of the same level the user is left to guess whether they are in the body or the heading. I think that most experienced users are very familiar with this behavior and expect it.

I frequently observe that we sighties are very quick to suggest ways in which the screen reader ATs should be changed to meet our expectations. This things are not built for us. I would hope that the folks at Freedom, GW Micro, Dolphin, and NVDA pay more attention to their real customers than to us when it comes to changing the behavior of the software and adding new features. We should confine our bug reports to instances when the screen reader fails to support standards, and let the folks who depend on the technology suggest changes in how that support is implemented.

Mike Moore
Accessibility Coordinator
Texas Health and Human Services Commission
Civil Rights Office
(512) 438-3431 (Office)