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Re: Talking browsers - your opinions

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From: Michael Moore
Date: Aug 5, 2004 6:29PM

It really depends upon the sophistication of you site and the type of
content that you are delivering. I have used IBM HPR as a testing and a
demonstration tool. The advantages of HPR is that it has a faster learning
curve and lower cost than a full blown screen reader like Jaws. It does a
good job of demonstrating the reading order of a page, table navigation and
most forms with results that are very similar to Jaws - just different
keystrokes.
However, if you need to test the accessibility of more sophisticated content
including pdfs, flash, and some imbedded javascript Jaws and the other
screen readers will provide you with much more reliable results.

Screen readers, talking browsers and other forms of assistive technology are
in many ways similar to any other platform used to deliver web content.
They all have their own quirks. How well they work for a given user with a
given web site often depends upon two things: the quality of the markup, and
the sophistication of the user. We can never test for all possible
platforms where our content may be consumed. However if we build to
standards, if we design our interfaces in such a way that they are not
unnecessarily complicated, and we test them using a combination of testing
tools and code inspection techniques that are appropriate to the content,
then everyone will have a better experience with the sites that we build.

Mike Moore