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Re: Where Does The Idea Screen Reader Users Use Tab for Main Navigation Come From?

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From: Jared Smith
Date: Oct 12, 2018 9:58AM

It's nice to get additional insight into how various screen reader
users interact with page content.

I teach developers and others how to do basic accessibility testing
with screen readers. There are several distinct advantages of having
them navigate using the Tab key as ONE important component of screen
reader testing:

1. It's very easy to do and works the same across all screen readers.

2. It helps them ensure that all interactive controls are navigable
via the keyboard. This extends well beyond screen reader users to
other keyboard users.

3. It allows them to easily check the navigation order of elements in
the page. Because navigation elements are typically scattered
throughout a page, this also can give a good indication of the reading
order of the page.

4. It allows them to check link texts, button values, form labels,
etc. in isolation - without the possible confusion that can arise from
other navigation or reading techniques.

Of course it's important that they understand that there's more to
screen reader accessibility than hitting Tab. And they must also
understand that anything that can be tabbed to must also be
functional, which inherently means that non-interactive elements will
not and should not be tabable. These things can be tested via other
mechanisms - listening to the entire page, down arrow through the
page, navigating by headings, exploring regions/landmarks, etc.

Even though tabbing may not be the preferred method for many screen
reader users, it is a very useful check that any developer can do.

Jared