Re: Screen Readers

I'd just like to endorse Kynn and David. Having recently started working
with visually impaired people and doing some user testing with them, I am
surprised at some of the "assumptions" I had previously made, and the little
"gotchas" that show up with user testing.

I now do a quick check with JAWS first and get the obvious things fixed,
then retest with a 'Jaws' user and a 'ZoomText' user to pick up usability
issues - and we always find some.

Andrew

From: "Kynn Bartlett" <kynn@reef.com>
Sent: Saturday, February 17, 2001 3:05 AM
> At 06:50 AM 2/16/2001, David Poehlman wrote:
> >I'd add that it is even more vital if possible to have experience with
> >assistive technology.  Often times, lack of experience in using it can
> >lead to false impressions.
>
> This is an excellent point.  I would say that it is more important to
> _get experienced users to test your work_ rather than _having hands-
> on experience yourself_.
>
> In other words, if you want to know if your site works with assistive
> technology, round up a regular screen reader user and hire or bribe
> or plead with her to test your site.  Don't assume that _your_
> experience, if you are a visually oriented user playing with a
> screen reader, is good enough to test.
>
> I never trust my own experiences with a screen reader, ever.  I
> barely know how to operate the thing.  The only thing I ever
> personally use a screen reader for is demos -- showing people how
> bad certain web sites sound.  I have found it is very hard for
> sighted people to become good at screenreader use.
>
> --Kynn

Received on Saturday, 17 February 2001 01:08:20 UTC