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Re: Web development; How to identify if a screen reader is in use

for

From: John Foliot
Date: May 11, 2017 11:48AM

Jon wrote:

> the short answer is yes, with limitations on not knowing the specific
version or model of screen reader.

Really? Since when? (Although, after writing this, I do recall seeing a
third-party analytics program that could spit out iOS details, but only
iOS... and i freaked out when i saw that too.)

I recall a number of years ago at a CSUN (back in the LAX days) where the
president of Freedom Scientific explicitly stated that they would be
opposed to anything like that, and would actively block attempts at doing
that. Additionally, this is not a new request, yet this is the first time I
am hearing that you can actually target AT (outside of the hoary old Flash
test of years ago). Jon, can you point this list to further reading /
resources about this please?

Like others who have chimed in, there are serious security and privacy
considerations that need to be contemplated here. Additionally, sniffing
for a screen reader (for example) doesn't mean that the end user is
actually using the screen reader themselves (it may be a shared machine,
where 1/2 of a "couple" need a screen reader, the other doesn't), or
situations where both sighted and non-sighted users are looking at the same
web page together at the same time. Thus, the presence of AT alone is
meaningless, and attempts in using that data to modify the user-experience
will likely fail as often as succeed.

In short, IMHO this is a really bad idea.

> Does anybody with a disability who reads this list remember how
liberating it was to be able to be on the Internet and not be identified,
unless one chose to?

Agreed! What's the old New Yorker cartoon? "On the internet, nobody knows
you are a dog"? This is not a bad thing!

JF

On Thu, May 11, 2017 at 12:17 PM, Lucy Greco < <EMAIL REMOVED> > wrote:

> use best pracktuses and do not even think about detecting my screen reader
> i don't want you to change your site thinking that is the only way to make
> your site useable if that is the only way no one elce likes what your
> doing and they might want you to re think the fancy stuff that needs to be
> changed for them to
>
> Lucia Greco
> Web Accessibility Evangelist
> IST - Architecture, Platforms, and Integration
> University of California, Berkeley
> (510) 289-6008 skype: lucia1-greco
> http://webaccess.berkeley.edu
> Follow me on twitter @accessaces
>
>
> On Thu, May 11, 2017 at 9:36 AM, Jonathan Avila <
> <EMAIL REMOVED> >
> wrote:
>
> > > Another concern is "numbers." If you take any given segment of the
> > disabled population, blind people, deaf people, low vision persons,
> screen
> > reader users, etc., its numbers are going to be relatively low compared
> to
> > the whole.
> >
> > Dave, I agree. Any numbers have to carefully be considered and message
> to
> > stakeholders. It is however compelling to be able to say x% of your
> screen
> > reader users are using Firefox or x% are using Internet Explorer and x%
> are
> > using Chrome while x% of your zoom users are using Chrome, etc. Knowing
> > how many screen reader users are using iOS who visit your site versus
> > Android may allow you to focus or not focus on browser specific issues or
> > decide how to handle potential touch challenges with certain AT and user
> > agent combinations.
> >
> > Right now the community only has access to the WebAIM screen reader
> survey
> > to get information about these topics. This is an important area where
> we
> > need more data to focus and push back to organizations and say you can't
> > just focus on one user agent just because all of your non-AT users are
> > using that user agent -- you have to consider user agents used by people
> > with assistive technology as well.
> >
> > Jonathan
> >
> > Jonathan Avila
> > Chief Accessibility Officer
> > SSB BART Group
> > <EMAIL REMOVED>
> > 703.637.8957 (Office)
> > Visit us online: Website | Twitter | Facebook | LinkedIn | Blog
> > Download our CSUN Presentations Here!
> >
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