Re: Can User Agents adopt the lists that screen readers so eleqently do?

We are currently working on the focus issue with the IE 
Accessibility Extension.  We can do it for links and MAP 
elements, but are having trouble moving the focus related to 
headers.  Microsoft does not make this easy.

IE Accessible Extension information
http://cita.rehab.uiuc.edu/software/ieaccessible

Jon


---- Original message ----
>Date: Mon, 29 Mar 2004 00:36:29 -0500 (EST)
>From: "Steven Dale" <sdale@stevendale.com>  
>Subject: Can User Agents adopt the lists that screen readers 
so eleqently do?  
>To: <sdale@stevendale.com>
>Cc: <andrew_kirkpatrick@wgbh.org>, <w3c-wai-ig@w3.org>
>
>
>Steven Dale said:
>> Andrew Kirkpatrick said:
>>> Ideally, users or people who are in a position to help 
should try
>>> different solutions.
>> VERY TRUE!
>>
>> Hopefully they will work -- a good user agent
>>> would be a lot easier than dealing with sites with no skip 
links. If
>>> you
>>>  consider the number of designers that are not willing to 
put in a
>>> single  visible skip link, let alone several, I have a 
difficult time
>>> believing  that skip links are the solution you hope they 
are.
>>>
>>> AWK
>>
>> Possibly... But designers dont use Headings and continue to 
use styles
>> to change the heading text which makes user agents unable 
know what is
>> symantically a heading and what is just styled text.
>>
>> I would hope that, through effective website designing 
(including
>> skipping of and to certain areas of content) AND user 
agents that can
>> truly handle multiple modes of input/output, web 
accessiblity would be
>> taken for granted.  I am not arguing against better UAs,  I 
am arguing
>> for better website design to complement better UAs.
>>
>> -Steve
>
>Actually, I wonder if User Agents could offer a list of 
links/headings
>with the capability of setting the focus to a selected 
link/header in the
>list? Similar to screen readers but in a side window? This 
would aleviate
>the need for designers to code skip links or even some menus 
and just (or
>almost) mark up the page with content, headings, and links to 
other pages.
> Images would be under content in this scenerio ( I am not 
mentioning
>about changing this part ) But, what about adding a 
capability to list
>images/figures too?  As in a printed document with a table of 
figures.
>
>-Steve
>
>
>
>
Jon Gunderson, Ph.D., ATP
Coordinator of Assistive Communication and Information Technology
Division of Rehabilitation - Education Services
MC-574
College of Applied Life Studies
University of Illinois at Urbana/Champaign
1207 S. Oak Street, Champaign, IL  61820

Voice: (217) 244-5870
Fax: (217) 333-0248

E-mail: jongund@uiuc.edu

WWW: http://cita.rehab.uiuc.edu/
WWW: http://www.staff.uiuc.edu/~jongund

Received on Monday, 29 March 2004 20:14:54 UTC