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Thread: Acronyms in tags or no tags?

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From: Steve Flaukner
Date: Wed, Feb 08 2012 2:27PM
Subject: Acronyms in tags or no tags?
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Is there a difference with a screen reader if the abbreviation tag is used
or not? Example: We met with Bob Singer who owns MOC (My Other Cafe) in
downtown Detroit. So instead of using the tag the acronym was spelt out.

From: Birkir R. Gunnarsson
Date: Wed, Feb 08 2012 2:45PM
Subject: Re: Acronyms in tags or no tags?
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If the abbr tag is used on a th element in a table the full text of
the heading is read the first time around (for the first row), but
then the value of the abbr tag is read, making the reading quicker and
more convenient for a screen reader user.
So within a table, I think it is convenient to use it, in regular text
I have not so much noticed a difference, though screen readers and
even some TTS engines have a list of abbreviations in different
language, which can be normalized during speech, so marking them up as
such may help ensure accurate reading (of course the question is
whether using the abbr tag is not as much work as just writing the
abbreviation out every time).



On 2/8/12, Steve Flaukner < = EMAIL ADDRESS REMOVED = > wrote:
> Is there a difference with a screen reader if the abbreviation tag is used
> or not? Example: We met with Bob Singer who owns MOC (My Other Cafe) in
> downtown Detroit. So instead of using the tag the acronym was spelt out.
>

From: Steve Flaukner
Date: Fri, Feb 10 2012 7:06AM
Subject: Re: Acronyms in tags or no tags?
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I have read that the tags are needed. I'm doing this in a sentence. How
does JAWS read it?
On Feb 8, 2012 4:46 PM, "Birkir R. Gunnarsson" < = EMAIL ADDRESS REMOVED = >
wrote:

> If the abbr tag is used on a th element in a table the full text of
> the heading is read the first time around (for the first row), but
> then the value of the abbr tag is read, making the reading quicker and
> more convenient for a screen reader user.
> So within a table, I think it is convenient to use it, in regular text
> I have not so much noticed a difference, though screen readers and
> even some TTS engines have a list of abbreviations in different
> language, which can be normalized during speech, so marking them up as
> such may help ensure accurate reading (of course the question is
> whether using the abbr tag is not as much work as just writing the
> abbreviation out every time).
>
>
>
> On 2/8/12, Steve Flaukner < = EMAIL ADDRESS REMOVED = > wrote:
> > Is there a difference with a screen reader if the abbreviation tag is
> used
> > or not? Example: We met with Bob Singer who owns MOC (My Other Cafe) in
> > downtown Detroit. So instead of using the tag the acronym was spelt out.
> >

From: Michael Burks
Date: Fri, Feb 10 2012 7:54AM
Subject: Re: Acronyms in tags or no tags?
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I am interested in what people think about using the <td> tag instead of the
<th> tag for row headers when using the scope attribute. This has been
recommended by the access board at
http://www.access-board.gov/sec508/guide/1194.22.htm#%28g%29

I think you should use the <th> tag. Any thoughts on this?



Sincerely,

Mike Burks