So far, I have kept very quiet on this thread. I've been watching it
with interest though, as web accessibility is an issue I feel very
strongly about. VoiceOver's WYSIWYG, (what you see is what you get),
apprach has a very great deal in its favour. From the perspective of
a web designer, it can be an invaluable tool to help you determine the
layout of your web content. In the Windows environment, typically at
least, what you're using is a virtual buffer. The web content is re-
formatted so as to present it in such a way as to make it simple to
navigate. This also hhas advantages. I am not a JFW user, so cannot
deal with the specifics. But I believe there is a "Forms" mode in JFW
which allows you to manipulate the contents of form fields.
Similarly, Window-Eyes has its "Browse" mode, which it uses to rendour
web content. When you need to interact with an edit box or other
control, you simply exit browse mode by hitting the enter key on the
control. This is a perfectly workable approach. But it doesn't give
you any idea as to the actual layout of your content. VoiceOver has
some powerful navigation tools, as has been pointed out already. My
only issues with Voiceover and web accessibility are the failure to
identify many web elements. For example, HTML tables are not
identified at all. Multi-selection list boxes just don't work.
Onclicks, (what JFW calls clickables), just don't work. Anchors (what
some call same-page links), just don't work. But it's to Apple's
credit that when I contacted them directly about the non-
identification of headings and heading levels, within days an update
to Safari appeared and in that update, headings were identified by
VoiceOver, along with their levels. So, in conclusion, I would
suggest, as others have done, that if you have concerns about
accessibility raise them with Apple. Contact [EMAIL PROTECTED]
and discuss. Don't demand, I don't think that will get us far. This
is all just my take, of course. But I am doing what I can to have
Apple implement the missing element verbosity. If we also had a way
to navigate by controls, similar to the item and link chooser menus, I
think that would also be a huge help. But in general I think
VoiceOver has a lot going for it.
On 3 Sep 2007, at 02:05, Richard Gardenhire wrote:
One thing I have noticed is that VoiceOver scans the screen similarly
to how a sighted person looks at it. For example, when entering a
form field in Windows, Jaws uses the tab keys to move through the form
field. I find that, with VoiceOver, on the other hand, I use my right
and left arrows to navigate the forms and have no problems filling
them out. Whenever I use my Tab keys, I tend to miss a lot of textual
information. Since learning to interact with dialog and list boxes, I
find it almost automatic to me. I also like the idea that, if I
enter an incorrect bit of information, I can go back through the form
and delete the text entered and replace it with the new one. I tried
that in Windows the other day, and the Backspace key took me out of
the form field. I know this because my wife was watching the screen
while I was filling out a credit card application and was able to
follow the form as I went through it. If that doesn't convince her to
convert to the Mac, ...... Richie Gardenhire, Anchorage, Alaska.
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