E-mail List Archives
Thread: Punctuation in JAWS
Number of posts in this thread: 6 (In chronological order)
From: Garcia, Bobby
Date: Thu, Jun 03 2010 8:42AM
Subject: Punctuation in JAWS
No previous message | Next message →
Hey, gang! I'm developing some web-based training courses that are being
tested for accessibility using JAWS. What I noticed is that JAWS reads
punctuation and I'm curious to get some different views on this.
Take, for example, the following statement: I never apologize (I'm
sorry, that's just the way I am).
Jaws will read: I never apologize open parens I'm sorry...
My question is, does this take away/add to the user's experience? Is it
a hindrance to hear that, is it superfluous, or do any users benefit
from visualizing the parens? I mean, I know I can always tailor my
content to avoid using excessive punctuation but I'd still like to know
how different people feel about this. And not necessarily JAWS only, but
any other screen readers, as well.
Thanks!
Bobby Garcia
From: Carin Headrick
Date: Thu, Jun 03 2010 8:48AM
Subject: Re: Punctuation in JAWS
← Previous message | Next message →
The amount of punctuation spoken is user-defined. On my system, it reat I
apologize I'm sorry, that's just the way I am. The comma was simply
signified by a pause and I had to look for the parentheses. So, it all
depends on the user's preferences.
Carin
----- Original Message -----
From: "Garcia, Bobby" < = EMAIL ADDRESS REMOVED = >
To: < = EMAIL ADDRESS REMOVED = >
Sent: Thursday, June 03, 2010 9:42 AM
Subject: [WebAIM] Punctuation in JAWS
Hey, gang! I'm developing some web-based training courses that are being
tested for accessibility using JAWS. What I noticed is that JAWS reads
punctuation and I'm curious to get some different views on this.
Take, for example, the following statement: I never apologize (I'm
sorry, that's just the way I am).
Jaws will read: I never apologize open parens I'm sorry...
My question is, does this take away/add to the user's experience? Is it
a hindrance to hear that, is it superfluous, or do any users benefit
from visualizing the parens? I mean, I know I can always tailor my
content to avoid using excessive punctuation but I'd still like to know
how different people feel about this. And not necessarily JAWS only, but
any other screen readers, as well.
Thanks!
Bobby Garcia
From: David Farough
Date: Thu, Jun 03 2010 9:30AM
Subject: Re: Punctuation in JAWS
← Previous message | Next message →
When designing your material be careful that you are not relying on the
screen reader to articulate specific punctuation. For example, if you
are setting up material that requires "fill in the blank" type
responses, you should be careful to indicate to the test taker what
character you will be using to indicate the blank responses to be
entered. If forewarned, the user would be able to search for these
characters or insure that the screen reader is configured to speak the
characters. Often people will configure the screen reader to speak as
little punctuation as possible in order to get through material as
quickly as possible. Screen reader users will typically configure the
screen reader to speak as quickly as they can get it to speak while
maintaining an understanding of the material. Also if you use
formatting such as bolding or underlining for emphasis, be aware that
the screen reader by default will not indicate this formatting. These
configuration options can be applied, but it does increase the amount of
time it takes to articulate the material, and it does detract from the
flow of the material and can be distracting to hear each change of
formatting in the text.
David Farough
Application Accessibility Coordinator/coordonateur de l'accessibilité
Information Technology Services Directorate /
Direction des services d'information technologiques
Public Service Commission / Commission de la fonction publique
Email / Courriel: = EMAIL ADDRESS REMOVED =
Tel. / Tél: (613) 992-2779
>>> "Carin Headrick" < = EMAIL ADDRESS REMOVED = > 09:49 am Thursday, June
03, 2010 >>>
The amount of punctuation spoken is user-defined. On my system, it reat
I
apologize I'm sorry, that's just the way I am. The comma was simply
signified by a pause and I had to look for the parentheses. So, it all
depends on the user's preferences.
Carin
----- Original Message -----
From: "Garcia, Bobby" < = EMAIL ADDRESS REMOVED = >
To: < = EMAIL ADDRESS REMOVED = >
Sent: Thursday, June 03, 2010 9:42 AM
Subject: [WebAIM] Punctuation in JAWS
Hey, gang! I'm developing some web-based training courses that are
being
tested for accessibility using JAWS. What I noticed is that JAWS reads
punctuation and I'm curious to get some different views on this.
Take, for example, the following statement: I never apologize (I'm
sorry, that's just the way I am).
Jaws will read: I never apologize open parens I'm sorry...
My question is, does this take away/add to the user's experience? Is
it
a hindrance to hear that, is it superfluous, or do any users benefit
from visualizing the parens? I mean, I know I can always tailor my
content to avoid using excessive punctuation but I'd still like to
know
how different people feel about this. And not necessarily JAWS only,
but
any other screen readers, as well.
Thanks!
Bobby Garcia
From: Michael.Moore
Date: Thu, Jun 03 2010 11:06AM
Subject: Re: Punctuation in JAWS
← Previous message | Next message →
The amount of punctuation spoken by JFW and other screen readers is completely under the control of the user. This can range from announcing all punctuation, which is useful when editing a document, to announcing no punctuation at all, which I often prefer when just reading a document. This is all up to the individual users discretion. No changes in punctuation should be made to accommodate a screen reader. If you don't want to hear the parens just setting the punctuation verbosity to "some" should do the trick. To get to the verbosity settings use JAWS Key+v.
Mike Moore
From: Tim Harshbarger
Date: Thu, Jun 03 2010 11:09AM
Subject: Re: Punctuation in JAWS
← Previous message | Next message →
Bobby,
Just based on my own personal experience and what I have observed a few
other peoples do, it seems that most of us who use screen readers adjust
the punctuation to whatever level we are most comfortable with. I think
setting the punctuation level on a screen reader is one of those things
most of us learn early and are most likely to adjust to whatever we
prefer.
I also cannot recall a situation where the screen reader reading too
much punctuation created a problem. However, I have seen situations
where the screen reader not reading a punctuation mark has created
problems. For example, when people use asterisks (*) to denote required
fields.
I actually change my punctuation level quite a bit. If I am just
reading e-mail or most type of documents, I will set the punctuation to
none. If I am reading code or HTML, I set the punctuation to all.
Under other circumstances, I might set it differently--if it seems like
it would be very useful.
For me, I think it comes down to how important the specific punctuation
is. In an e-mail, the pauses and changes in pitch in the speech
synthesis is good enough. In code, where the specific punctuation used
is critical, I want to know exactly what the punctuation is.
Tim
From: ckrugman
Date: Sat, Jun 05 2010 3:30AM
Subject: Re: Punctuation in JAWS
← Previous message | No next message
The JAWS user controls the extent to which punctuation is read with a range
of "NONe" to "All." Again, this is something that should be left up to the
screen reader user.
Chuck
----- Original Message -----
From: "Garcia, Bobby" < = EMAIL ADDRESS REMOVED = >
To: < = EMAIL ADDRESS REMOVED = >
Sent: Thursday, June 03, 2010 6:42 AM
Subject: [WebAIM] Punctuation in JAWS
> Hey, gang! I'm developing some web-based training courses that are being
> tested for accessibility using JAWS. What I noticed is that JAWS reads
> punctuation and I'm curious to get some different views on this.
>
>
>
> Take, for example, the following statement: I never apologize (I'm
> sorry, that's just the way I am).
>
>
>
> Jaws will read: I never apologize open parens I'm sorry...
>
>
>
> My question is, does this take away/add to the user's experience? Is it
> a hindrance to hear that, is it superfluous, or do any users benefit
> from visualizing the parens? I mean, I know I can always tailor my
> content to avoid using excessive punctuation but I'd still like to know
> how different people feel about this. And not necessarily JAWS only, but
> any other screen readers, as well.
>
>
>
> Thanks!
>
>
>
> Bobby Garcia
>
>