[WSG] Screen reader recommendations???
Are there any recommendations for screen readers to test with I'd like to at least 'preview' what our site(s) sound like to such a user.Thanx...Mike
Re: [WSG] Screen reader recommendations???
The main screen readers in the United States are: GW-Micro Windoweyes ($795) http://www.gwmicro.com/ JAWS for Windows ($1,395) http://www.freedomscientific.com/fs_products/software_jaws.asp These have demo versions that run for 40 minutes and then you need to reboot your computer, if you want to try before you purchase. For developer testing in speech there is IBM Home Page Reader is very affordable at $150. http://www-306.ibm.com/able/ Original message Date: Tue, 28 Feb 2006 08:52:10 -0500 From: Michael Yeaney [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: [WSG] Screen reader recommendations??? To: wsg@webstandardsgroup.org Are there any recommendations for screen readers to test with I'd like to at least 'preview' what our site(s) sound like to such a user. Thanx... Mike Jon Gunderson, Ph.D. Director of IT Accessibility Services Campus Information Technologies and Educational Services (CITES) and Coordinator of Assistive Communication and Information Technology Disability Resources and Education Services (DRES) Voice: (217) 244-5870 Fax: (217) 333-0248 Cell: (217) 714-6313 E-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] WWW: http://cita.rehab.uiuc.edu/ WWW: https://netfiles.uiuc.edu/jongund/www/ ** The discussion list for http://webstandardsgroup.org/ See http://webstandardsgroup.org/mail/guidelines.cfm for some hints on posting to the list getting help **
Re: [WSG] Screen reader recommendations???
Hello Michael, Try the Opera 8.5 browser [1]. Sounds very much like the stand-alone products and it's very simple and convenient to use. Great test tool. [1] http://www.opera.com/ Sincerely, Mike Cherim http://green-beast.com/ http://accessites.org/ - Original Message - From: Michael Yeaney [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: wsg@webstandardsgroup.org Sent: Tuesday, February 28, 2006 8:52 AM Subject: [WSG] Screen reader recommendations??? Are there any recommendations for screen readers to test with I'd like to at least 'preview' what our site(s) sound like to such a user. Thanx... Mike ** The discussion list for http://webstandardsgroup.org/ See http://webstandardsgroup.org/mail/guidelines.cfm for some hints on posting to the list getting help **
Re: [WSG] Screen reader recommendations???
Michael Yeaney wrote: Are there any recommendations for screen readers to test with I'd like to at least 'preview' what our site(s) sound like to such a user. I don't know what country you're in, but in the UK, HAL from Dolphin is very popular. It's very similar to JAWS but a lot, lot cheaper. http://www.dolphinuk.co.uk/ JAWS and Window-Eyes are the world leaders, though WE is probably the third most-used screen reader in the UK, behind HAL and JAWS. IBM Home Page Reader is actually the easiest for doing testing in, but it isn't a true screen reader and there are sometimes important differences in the way things are read. Very few people use this in real life compared to the others. JAWS is by far the most common one - the IE of the screen reader world HTH Cheers Ian -- _ zStudio - Web development and accessibility http://zStudio.co.uk Snippetz.net - Online code library File, manage and re-use your code snippets links http://snippetz.net ** The discussion list for http://webstandardsgroup.org/ See http://webstandardsgroup.org/mail/guidelines.cfm for some hints on posting to the list getting help **
RE: [WSG] Screen reader recommendations???
There is also Fire Vox, a free screen reader extension created by Charles L. Chen for Firefox. It allows you to navigate from the headings list, links list, etc. which can give you a better understanding for how some screen readers operate apart from just reading the screen. https://webspace.utexas.edu/chencl1/clc-4-tts/index.html Also, Kurzweil 3000 http://www.kurzweiledu.com/products.asp is becoming popular among users with cognitive and learning disabilities. Pam Berman -Original Message- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Mike at Green-Beast.com Sent: Tuesday, February 28, 2006 9:19 AM To: wsg@webstandardsgroup.org Subject: Re: [WSG] Screen reader recommendations??? Hello Michael, Try the Opera 8.5 browser [1]. Sounds very much like the stand-alone products and it's very simple and convenient to use. Great test tool. [1] http://www.opera.com/ Sincerely, Mike Cherim http://green-beast.com/ http://accessites.org/ - Original Message - From: Michael Yeaney [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: wsg@webstandardsgroup.org Sent: Tuesday, February 28, 2006 8:52 AM Subject: [WSG] Screen reader recommendations??? Are there any recommendations for screen readers to test with I'd like to at least 'preview' what our site(s) sound like to such a user. Thanx... Mike ** The discussion list for http://webstandardsgroup.org/ See http://webstandardsgroup.org/mail/guidelines.cfm for some hints on posting to the list getting help ** ** The discussion list for http://webstandardsgroup.org/ See http://webstandardsgroup.org/mail/guidelines.cfm for some hints on posting to the list getting help **
RE: [WSG] Screen reader recommendations???
There is also the Mozilla/Firefox accessibility extension that provides features for testing web resources for functional accessibility, including headers, links, form labels, frame labels, and table headers. Styling features to disable layout tables, disabling CSS styling and high contrast tyle sheet. Accessing the ALT text for images. http://cita.disability.uiuc.edu/software/mozilla/ Jon Original message Date: Tue, 28 Feb 2006 10:05:20 -0500 From: Berman, Pamela E [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: RE: [WSG] Screen reader recommendations??? To: wsg@webstandardsgroup.org There is also Fire Vox, a free screen reader extension created by Charles L. Chen for Firefox. It allows you to navigate from the headings list, links list, etc. which can give you a better understanding for how some screen readers operate apart from just reading the screen. https://webspace.utexas.edu/chencl1/clc-4-tts/index.html Also, Kurzweil 3000 http://www.kurzweiledu.com/products.asp is becoming popular among users with cognitive and learning disabilities. Pam Berman -Original Message- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Mike at Green-Beast.com Sent: Tuesday, February 28, 2006 9:19 AM To: wsg@webstandardsgroup.org Subject: Re: [WSG] Screen reader recommendations??? Hello Michael, Try the Opera 8.5 browser [1]. Sounds very much like the stand-alone products and it's very simple and convenient to use. Great test tool. [1] http://www.opera.com/ Sincerely, Mike Cherim http://green-beast.com/ http://accessites.org/ - Original Message - From: Michael Yeaney [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: wsg@webstandardsgroup.org Sent: Tuesday, February 28, 2006 8:52 AM Subject: [WSG] Screen reader recommendations??? Are there any recommendations for screen readers to test with I'd like to at least 'preview' what our site(s) sound like to such a user. Thanx... Mike ** The discussion list for http://webstandardsgroup.org/ See http://webstandardsgroup.org/mail/guidelines.cfm for some hints on posting to the list getting help ** ** The discussion list for http://webstandardsgroup.org/ See http://webstandardsgroup.org/mail/guidelines.cfm for some hints on posting to the list getting help ** Jon Gunderson, Ph.D. Director of IT Accessibility Services Campus Information Technologies and Educational Services (CITES) and Coordinator of Assistive Communication and Information Technology Disability Resources and Education Services (DRES) Voice: (217) 244-5870 Fax: (217) 333-0248 Cell: (217) 714-6313 E-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] WWW: http://cita.rehab.uiuc.edu/ WWW: https://netfiles.uiuc.edu/jongund/www/ ** The discussion list for http://webstandardsgroup.org/ See http://webstandardsgroup.org/mail/guidelines.cfm for some hints on posting to the list getting help **
Re: [WSG] Screen reader recommendations???
Michael Yeaney wrote: Are there any recommendations for screen readers to test with I'd like to at least 'preview' what our site(s) sound like to such a user. It's probably worth mentioning that unless you invest a considerable amount of time becoming familiar with a screen reader, and use it just as a *real* screen reader user uses it, any testing may lead you to the wrong type of conclusion, or worse tempt you to optimise your pages to please a specific reader (akin to coding to a specific browser). An amusing anecdote I usually recount: a well intentioned, but rather clueless colleague of mine once sat down to test her site with JAWS. A few days later she suggested to me that it may be worth splitting up all her pages into really short, bite-size pages with next links, as she was appalled at the fact that, once she loaded a page, JAWS would take almost a minute to read the whole page top to bottom. I had to point out that, under normal circumstances, users of screen readers will not just load a page, sit back, and listen to the entire thing in one go...that the use of screen readers is an interactive process and that they'd employ various techniques like getting an overview of structure (headings list etc), jump between paragraphs, backtrack, increase/decrease reading speed, and so forth. Moral of the story: had I not explained this to her, she would have (with the best intentions, of course) completely ripped her site apart in an effort to make it more accessible. An extreme example, but worth keeping in mind... P -- Patrick H. Lauke __ re·dux (adj.): brought back; returned. used postpositively [latin : re-, re- + dux, leader; see duke.] www.splintered.co.uk | www.photographia.co.uk http://redux.deviantart.com __ Web Standards Project (WaSP) Accessibility Task Force http://webstandards.org/ __ ** The discussion list for http://webstandardsgroup.org/ See http://webstandardsgroup.org/mail/guidelines.cfm for some hints on posting to the list getting help **
Re: [WSG] Screen reader recommendations???
Patrick H. Lauke wrote: It's probably worth mentioning that unless you invest a considerable amount of time becoming familiar with a screen reader, and use it just as a *real* screen reader user uses it, any testing may lead you to the wrong type of conclusion, or worse tempt you to optimise your pages to please a specific reader (akin to coding to a specific browser). Exactly. That's why I recommend to clients that they farm out this sort of testing to specialist houses who employ blind, deaf, palsied and otherwise 'not ordinary' users who are familiar with their assistive technologies. To be fair, I usually have a look with Fangs first to spot any egregious errors, but quality testing can only come from one familiar with the tools. At a Web Standards Group meeting in Wellington last year, Jonathan Mosen used his screen reader to show developers what blind users were 'seeing' on their pages. It ripped through the pages almost too fast for most of the audience to hear but they were stunned when Jonathan said he'd slowed it down to about 1/3 normal speed for the demonstration! cheers Mark ** The discussion list for http://webstandardsgroup.org/ See http://webstandardsgroup.org/mail/guidelines.cfm for some hints on posting to the list getting help **
Re: [WSG] Screen reader recommendations???
Mark Harris wrote: but quality testing can only come from one familiar with the tools. If you allow me to coin a phrase: quality testing can only come from quality testers (where, in case it doesn't translate too well from UK parlance, the second quality there is used as an adjective, as in very good testers) Right, definitely need some sleep now. P -- Patrick H. Lauke __ re·dux (adj.): brought back; returned. used postpositively [latin : re-, re- + dux, leader; see duke.] www.splintered.co.uk | www.photographia.co.uk http://redux.deviantart.com __ Web Standards Project (WaSP) Accessibility Task Force http://webstandards.org/ __ ** The discussion list for http://webstandardsgroup.org/ See http://webstandardsgroup.org/mail/guidelines.cfm for some hints on posting to the list getting help **
