"I have a question and would love to get everyone¹s take on it. Does the use of AJAX make a site more or less accessible in terms of users with disabilities?"
In and of itself AJAX doesn't make your site more or less accessible, as with most things, it depends on how you use it. So you can't make a blanket statement that AJAX isn't as accessible as other approaches. However, having said that, chances are that what you will want to do with AJAX will end up making it harder for a person using a "reader" (such as JAWS) to navigate through your site -- and probably impossible. The key is how much javascript you use and how you use it. JAWS does read some javascript -- and interprets what it means to the user verbally so they can make a decision what to do to find things in your site. But JAWS is not able to successfully interpret all javascript. Drag and drop for example is beyond JAWS, as are other complex interactions. For example, where javascript is used to call up more data (such as in an i-frame) JAWS simply may not be able to tell the user how to access the information. I recommend, if you or your clients are needing to become more compliant with accessibility requirements, that you acquaint yourselves with JAWS and other readers for the visually impaired. It is similar to learning the limitation of a browser. There are simply things you cannot do if your users were going to have to view your site through IE 4. The same holds true for the readers. You have to get to know them and work creatively within their capabilities. Joseph Selbie Founder, CEO Tristream Web Application Design http://www.tristream.com ________________________________________________________________ *Come to IxDA Interaction08 | Savannah* February 8-10, 2008 in Savannah, GA, USA Register today: http://interaction08.ixda.org/ ________________________________________________________________ Welcome to the Interaction Design Association (IxDA)! To post to this list ....... [EMAIL PROTECTED] Unsubscribe ................ http://www.ixda.org/unsubscribe List Guidelines ............ http://www.ixda.org/guidelines List Help .................. http://www.ixda.org/help
