Tag: screen readers

WebAIM Survey on Screen Reader Usage

January 31, 2009

WebAIM has just published the preliminary results of a survey of screen reader users. With over 1,100 respondents — among whom over 1,000 used a screen reader due to a disability — the survey shows promise of revealing an interesting and valuable perspective on the practical usage of screen readers among disabled populations. Obviously, no survey is perfect — but observing the overall scope of responses can effectively expose some aspects of screen reader usage. In fact, the preliminary results […]

Best Practices: Writing for Accessibility

May 3, 2008

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Topics: Accessibility.

Thanks to an off-hand comment from Steve Green while discussing a forthcoming Accessites article, I’ve spent some time today thinking about what it takes to write for accessibility. Most of the time, the primary focus of information about accessibility has to do with making non-text information available as text. Captioning and audio description for video, transcriptions for audio, simple text alternatives for static images. Next in the list tends to be availability of functionality: progressive enhancement for client-side scripting, ability […]

WebAnywhere: a Screen Reader On the Go

April 22, 2008

1 Comment

Topics: Accessibility.

Hat tip to Henny Swan. “WebAnywhere” is a new screen reading product (available in May of 2008) from the University of Washington and the WebInSight project. The basic concept is simple: it’s a web-based service which provides a proxy service as a screen reader. Fantastic tool for anybody requiring a screen reader at a computer which they don’t control: at a public library, a friend’s house, or any imaginable situation where your normal setup isn’t available. The project is designed […]