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Re: Is NVDA using the wrong type of widget (tree) to show the headings on a page?

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From: Steve Green
Date: Mar 16, 2019 3:46PM

We see the same in our user testing. When screen reader users visit a page they don't get an immediate holistic impression like a sighted user does. Instead, they progressively build a mental model of the page to help them navigate within it. There is far too much information to remember, so they only remember the most important stuff. Even if headings are marked up correctly, there's little chance they will remember the levels except for the h1. With the exception of the main heading, the text in each heading is far more important than its level.

My impression is that the correctness of heading levels has virtually no effect on task completion or efficiency. By contrast, completion and efficiency are substantially affected if content is not marked up as a heading when it should be, or vice versa. If anyone wants to sponsor a study into this, I would love to run some tests to validate or disprove this assertion.

Steve Green
Managing Director
Test Partners Ltd