Jared,
Thank you for the information but it makes me perplexed.
Why would WE and GW not adhere to this sort of standard? Why do they say
that they are rock solid and the like if they are not adhering to
accessible standards?
There must have been a reason given? I am not saying that the reason was
sound but there had to have been some attempt to rationalize or explain
their lack of this forms legend usage as a default setting? After all it is
available as a choice to use it or not both globally and program
specifically.
I have to admit until yesterday I didn't give this setting any thought. I
don't stray much from the defaults.
I also admit it was disconcerting to find that once again I could not trust
my screen reader to tell me what was happening during the survey.
I have been disappointed in the last few updates to the program.
In fact at home I refuse to do any of the up dates. I am still using 7.2. I
most probably would return to that hear at work but I need the added support
for office 2010 here.
I am just puzzled by this poignant issue being pointed out apparently for
years and it is yet not resolved or explained.
We all have been waiting for the rewrite of Brows mode which was once upon a
time called MSAA Mode.
Confused and disheartened
Shannon
----- Original Message -----
From: "Jared Smith" <[email protected]>
To: <[email protected]>
Sent: Thursday, May 03, 2012 9:01 AM
Subject: Re: WebAIM Survey on Screen Readers
Thank you for the comments on the WebAIM Screen Reader User Survey.
Some of the comments referred to the apparent lack of accessibility
for radio button and check box questions. I can assure you that the
survey is authored using best accessibility practices and markup. The
issue is with Window-Eyes. It has been pointed out several times on
this list over the last 5 years that Window-Eyes does not support the
fieldset and legend elements when navigating a form. This is the
standard mechanism for grouping checkboxes and radio buttons and has
been part of HTML and accessibility standards since the late 90's.
We encourage GW Micro to enable default access to this information
when navigating form controls. The lack of support for this standard
accessibility practice has a distinct impact on end users (e.g., YOU).
All other screen readers have had support for reading the fieldset
legend when a grouping of check boxes and radio buttons is encountered
for nearly a decade.
As was noted, you can get around this lack of standards support by
going to browse mode and reading the question which is found
immediately before the first check box or radio button.
Some historical background and additional details are in these list
archives at
http://www.gwmicro.com/Support/Email_Lists/Archives/GW-Info/index.php?message_id=129517
and the entire thread at
http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/msg14508.html
Thank you for the participation on the survey. We encourage all screen
reader users to complete the survey. Your responses greatly informs
the development community.
Jared Smith
WebAIM.org
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