> I have to disagree. Even if there had been complete and well > implemented standards for all the elements that go into AJAX (which > their weren't) reader developers would still not have been able to > anticipate how innovative developers put AJAX to use. And who knows > what the next AJAX will be...
"That's true enough. Which points to the larger problem: Real accessibility will only come from Apple and Microsoft... " Why? Why does it point to OS? Let me give you an example that may make my case that the challenge of accessibility on the web has very little to do with standards, or lack thereof, or the OS. It is almost entirely a matter of the standards of the reader. The Jaws reader, currently the most popular, "reads" the web page's code starting at the top and works its way down the code stack. One of the most annoying results of this (for the user) is that once a user (using the reader) has made their way through the navigation choices (assuming for a moment that navigation is near the top of the stack), and then made a selection, the new web page is opened -- and once again the reader starts its slow and laborious way through the entire navigation again starting from the top before the user can get to the content on the page they just chose. Because this was such a recurring complaint, Jaws (and other readers) configured the reader so that if the comment "skip navigation" (unseen to the sighted user on the rendered screen) is inserted in the code, then the reader user can opt to skip the navigation and proceed to the content. "Skip navigation" is not an html standard, nor a standard browser control, nor anything to do with the underlining OS. It is a reader control. The readers capabilities are really in control of the experience. I am admittedly focused on how readers are used on web pages. You probably have other experience of assistive technologies for desk top software which I don't have -- and which may well rest on OS issues. But since this thread started with the Target suit, I have been staying with that kind of problem of accessibility, and from my experience the reader is the key. One way to look at a reader is that it is a very specialized browser. If you want a user to have a good experience using any particular browser you have to code to the browser. There are many standards that work across the usual mix of browsers, but all of them have "pull your hair out" differences. The Jaws reader and its ilk have even greater differences. They are all over the map right now as to how or whether they respond to javascript. You have to learn them and live with them. They keep improving and going through version upgrades just like the rest of the browsers, but they never quite do what you want them to, and so far at least, they lag well behind the rest of the regular browsers as far as what level of complexity of user experience is possible. Joseph Selbie Founder, CEO Tristream Web Application Design http://www.tristream.com ________________________________________________________________ Welcome to the Interaction Design Association (IxDA)! To post to this list ....... [EMAIL PROTECTED] List Guidelines ............ http://beta.ixda.org/guidelines List Help .................. http://beta.ixda.org/help Unsubscribe ................ http://beta.ixda.org/unsubscribe Questions .................. [EMAIL PROTECTED] Home ....................... http://beta.ixda.org
