Re: [user-context] What are the use cases for exposing screen reader or magnifier version info?

I am extremely worried about privacy issues around exposing the AT a person
is using.

Rich


Rich Schwerdtfeger



From:	Jason White <jason@jasonjgw.net>
To:	public-indie-ui@w3.org,
Date:	12/06/2012 08:04 PM
Subject:	Re: [user-context] What are the use cases for exposing screen
            reader  or magnifier version info?



James Craig <jcraig@apple.com> wrote:

> Assistive technology vendors are not beholden to W3C specifications (and
> most AT vendors are notoriously uninvolved in the standardization
process),
> so exposing this information when it's absolutely necessary, (and only
with
> user content), is one attempt to reduce the unreliability of AT
interfaces
> on the Web.

At a Web accessibility conference last week, a content author mentioned
this
to me as a highly desired feature due to bugs and limitations (often
version-specific) in various screen readers.

I am concerned however that the information is open to misuse: content
authors
may start designing for the "most popular" ATs instead of writing according
to
spec. They can also ascertain which ATs are "most popular" for their
particular content by gathering data, which is not possible now, since the
name/version of the AT are not revealed.

Thus I have decidedly mixed feelings about this proposal and, frankly, I'm
not
sure whether the practical benefits of being able to work around certain
bugs/differences outweigh the opportunity to "design for the UA and AT
implementation" instead of designing to standards.