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

for

From: Brandon Keith Biggs
Date: Oct 12, 2018 10:09AM

Hello,
That makes sense. Why in the world do non screenreader users not get up and
down arrow keys for moving line by line? That seems very difficult to
handle.
If I used tab on this email in Gmail, for example, I would hear an expanded
menu that says "Show details sub menu" and tab again would show:
http://list.webaim.org/

So I missed the entire message!
This is why tab is not the most useful key command in our navigational key
toolbox.
Thanks,

Brandon Keith Biggs <http://brandonkeithbiggs.com/>;

On Fri, Oct 12, 2018 at 8:58 AM Jared Smith < <EMAIL REMOVED> > wrote:

> 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
> > > > >