Re: Screen readers - usage stats?

On Thu, 15 Apr 2004, Nick Kew wrote:

you have put that so much more concisely than I did, thanks for the
clarification.   to add only that disability can also be old equipment and
slow/limited access

Bob


>
> On Wed, 14 Apr 2004, Ian Anderson wrote:
>
> [rant follows - not directed at you, but at some of the ideas you're
> wrestling with]
>
> > > What compelling reason could there be to have stats of this type?  I can
> > > think of some that have nothing to do with the web but none that do.
>
> Screenreaders are by definition a tiny market share at most sites.
> If that is a reason not to care about them, then let's forget all
> about accessibility.
>
> I know that's not what you meant, but it's the same underlying argument.
>
>
> > I'd be interested to see information on screen reader market share. I'm
> > consulting with a UK Internet bank presently, and we are testing in
> > Window-Eyes 4.5, JAWS 5.0, JAWS 4.5 and IBM HomePage Reader 3.0. You get
> > problems with the default settings in each configuration, and slightly
> > different HTML code is required to make site features work well in each one.
>
> Browser-specific authoring is the Root Of All Evil on the Web.
>
> Seriously, that's a lot like authoring for "both browsers".  By doing
> that you are contributing to
>   * lock-out (of people with different equipment)
>   * lock-in (of people with supported equipment, all of which is
>     proprietary)
> Never limit your support to users of expensive equipment - you are
> penalising them the cost of it.
> Never limit your support to users of proprietary equipment - you are
> leaving them hostage to vendors.
> Above all, don't make hostages to Windows.  Even if you discount the
> fact that it's grossly overpriced and requires new and expensive hardware
> every few years, you're forcing users to expose themselves to the
> World of Viruses.
>
> > Often there are conflicts, where the code that works well in JAWS causes a
> > rendering issue in Window-Eyes, or vice versa.
>
> If there are legitimate reasons to present things differently, you should
> do so by empowering your users to choose, not by second-guessing their
> needs.  The kind of user-options offered by mod_accessibility do this,
> and if you think its output can be tailored for optimal presentation
> with particular screenreaders, I'm listening.
>
>

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Received on Thursday, 15 April 2004 09:51:29 UTC