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

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From: Jonathan Avila
Date: May 12, 2017 6:06PM

> Are you suggesting then that any time a person is using the keyboard only, that there is likely a screen reader involved there somewhere?

No I am not. In fact I didn't say keyboard -- I said navigation with a screen reader. I can't go into details but I'd say that when a screen reader is active there are clues related to events and interactions, etc. that can accurately predict this. Similarly when only the keyboard is used or when speech recognition is used there are certain patterns of events and interactions that provide clues. For high contrast and zoom there are similar clues when you insert content and you see the aspects of that content changed by the user's browser settings.

> I think we both know that's not always true - people with mobility issues will also likely be using a keyboard only (or speech input), and / or power-users who have a preference for the keyboard.

And this is important information as well. Seeing power users use keystrokes can be motivation to add or tweak settings -- and it has nothing to do with disability.

> WCAG says that all content must be accessible to the keyboard for that specific reason, so meeting that requirement ensures that the content remains accessible to all of those users.

I agree that all content should be fully keyboard accessible. But there is more to keyboard access than simply being keyboard accessible. The discussions currently surrounding single key shortcuts and there benefits or detriment to speech recognition users is one example.

Jonathan

Jonathan Avila
Chief Accessibility Officer
SSB BART Group 
<EMAIL REMOVED>
703.637.8957 (Office)

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-----Original Message-----
From: WebAIM-Forum [mailto: <EMAIL REMOVED> ] On Behalf Of John Foliot
Sent: Friday, May 12, 2017 3:32 PM
To: WebAIM Discussion List
Subject: Re: [WebAIM] Web development; How to identify if a screen reader is in use

Hi Jon

> but rather looking at the user's behavior on the site to predict
> whether
the user is navigating with a screen reader.

Are you suggesting then that any time a person is using the keyboard only, that there is likely a screen reader involved there somewhere? I think we both know that's not always true - people with mobility issues will also likely be using a keyboard only (or speech input), and / or power-users who have a preference for the keyboard. It is unclear to me how you would know the difference between those users, and a user dependent on a screen reader simply by tracking their progress and interaction through a site. WCAG says that all content must be accessible to the keyboard for that specific reason, so meeting that requirement ensures that the content remains accessible to all of those users.

> I never suggested that the data should be modified or redirected for a
screen reader user.

That is correct, you have not.

However, I've been hearing this request/argument for many, many years now, and more often than not, from non-Accessibility SMES, who *explicitly* want to use this information to modify what is being delivered (think Media Queries), so while *YOU* haven't suggest that, many have. This is a problem, and has been for at least a decade, when Flash allowed for the ActionScript *Accessibility.isActivemethod* (https://www.paciellogroup.com/
blog/2008/04/developer-beware-using-flash-to-detect-screen-readers/)

> for example, we need better data

Agreed 101%!

But that data also needs to be accurate, and I will continue to assert that capturing and analyzing user-interaction data is not very accurate in terms of what tools any specific user (or groups of users) is using. There may indeed be other useful observations derived from that analysis, but returning to the Subject Line of this thread ("Web development; How to identify if a screen reader is in use"), attempting to determine if a screen reader is present and being used is, to me at least, a fools errand, as those software tools are expressly attempting to "cloak" their presence for the aforementioned security and privacy considerations.

JF

--
John Foliot
Principal Accessibility Strategist
Deque Systems Inc.
<EMAIL REMOVED>

Advancing the mission of digital accessibility and inclusion

On Fri, May 12, 2017 at 1:35 PM, Elizabeth Pyatt < <EMAIL REMOVED> > wrote:

> Hello:
>
> The discussion about detecting screen reader use is very enlightening
> to me and I agree that it could be harmful.
>
> Clearly, it would be unethical to collect that data tied to a
> specific individual. I am also against using any sniffing technique to
> direct a user to a 'text-only- site. In fact, using detection to push
> mobile devices to a less functional site is equally bad.
>
> However, it should be noted that many reports such as Google Analytics
> provide aggregate reports on detected browsers/OS combinations. This
> can help webmasters make decisions such as whether it is viable to
> enable a particular new web technology (e.g. new CSS attributes,
> plugins, tags,
> etc) and how much effort must be made to support older systems. Back
> in the 2000s, when use of Netscape 4.7 finally dropped off, I jumped
> for joy because I could finally get rid of many FONT tags and use CSS.
>
> An example applicable to the screen reader community is when
> particular ARIA attributes are supported or not supported by different
> screenreader platforms. We may know that some older screenreader
> versions don't quite fully support all the ARIA specifications, but
> knowing generally which versions (in an aggregate sense) might be
> used can help determine what new technologies can be fully implemented.
>
> Based on the responses I have seen, I would not recommend implementing
> a sniffing algorithm at this time at this time. But I did want to
> point out why someone might want to do that for legitimate reasons
> that could benefit the community.
>
> Best
> Elizabeth
>
> =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-> Elizabeth J. Pyatt, Ph.D.
> Accessibility IT Consultant
> Teaching and Learning with Technology
> Penn State University
> <EMAIL REMOVED> , (814) 865-0805 or (814) 865-2030 (Main Office)
>
> The 300 Building
> 304 West College Avenue
> University Park, PA 16801
> http://accessibility.psu.edu
>
> > > archives at http://webaim.org/discussion/archives
> >