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Re: Web accessibility and usability

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From: Derek Featherstone
Date: Oct 12, 2004 10:13AM

p.h.lauke wrote:
> Julian, sorry, should have specified: from the way I
> understand the document, it's not that JAWS instantly flags
> the newly visible content to the user, but rather that JAWS
> (the application) is notified that a change has occurred
> somewhere in the document itself...if that makes sense.

I'm sure everyone here would agree that the interaction of screen readers
with JavaScript is is a very difficult subject to fully understand -- I've
been doing some tests, with varying results and I'm really going to have to
try to break it down to very simple test cases to be able to conclude
anything meaningful from the tests.

As an example -- in one recent accessibility audit we conducted, we saw the
use of javascript to show and hide divs using a classic DHTML library/API.
Even after the div was shown, both JAWS and Window Eyes did not appear to be
able to access the content. I contrast that with some recent DOM based
scripting I've been doing for one of our clients, and the showing and hiding
seems to be working just fine -- the screen readers are picking it up. In
the recent project I've been using modern JS techniques only. In all
honesty, I wasn't expecting the recent examples to work at all - I was
expecting failure, just like the classic DHTML example. At this point, I
don't know if it is the scripting techniques used, or some other components
of the document...

It is confusing to say the least, and difficult to draw conclusions with so
many moving parts... If I find anything new, I'll be sure to post...

Best regards,
Derek.
--
Derek Featherstone <EMAIL REMOVED>
phone: 613.599.9784; toll-free: 1.866.932.4878 (North America)
Web Accessibility: http://www.wats.ca
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