WebAIM - Web Accessibility In Mind

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Re: Now that IBM will no longer be supporting HPR

for

From: Joshue O Connor
Date: Nov 14, 2006 4:00AM

I realise that not everyone would have access to testing with people
with disabilities and
a developer has to do the best they can with the resources that they
have at their disposal.

If it is possible, please do test with people with disabilities (contact
a local disability service, they
would be glad to help if they can) or if possible go for a dedicated
user testing facility, thought the later may not be an option.

Josh

Emma Duke-Williams wrote:
> I'm not sure what "problems that may not surface otherwise" Shane's
> talking about, but I find a screen reader useful for proof reading!
> We've got Read/Write though across the campus, so that makes that aspect easy.
>
> Emma
> On 11/13/06, Shane Anderson < <EMAIL REMOVED> > wrote:
>> Hi Josh
>>
>> Sighted users who test with a screen reader should not do so as a
>> replacement to AT user testing but rather in addition to AT user testing.
>> Many developers who do have access to AT users for testing, also test with
>> screen readers or other AT devices. I test with several other tools not just
>> one accessibility evaluator. The reasoning is that you find different issues
>> when you look at things from a different angle. When I listen to a web site
>> with a screen reader (with the display turned off) I am able to recognize
>> problems that may not surface otherwise. It can be very helpful.
>>
>> Shane
>> WebAIM.org
>>
>>
>>
>> I don't know how wise it is for designers and developers, who are not
>>> normally screen reader users,
>>> to do their own testing with demo versions. I would suggest that a
>>> better approach for testing it to use real
>>> users of the assistive technology (AT), in order to get a clear picture
>>> of the accessibility and usability of what
>>> you are testing. I would argue that it can be counterproductive to
>>> develop a site and test it yourself when you are
>>> not familiar with the AT that you are testing with. I would hazard a
>>> guess that many users who are on this list
>>> who are testing with demo versions of JAWS are spending most of their
>>> time getting to grips with using the screen reader,
>>> rather than testing how well their site performs.
>>>
>>> I realise this post may annoy some people, but its better to track down
>>> some users of AT who are totally familiar with
>>> their devices and then let them test the site.
>>>
>>> That way the results will not be skewed.
>>>
>>> My two cents
>>>
>>> Josh
>>>
>>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>
>


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