RE: SC 2.4.5: Good news about AT support

John,

I would have to go back and check earlier versions because I do not have
them installed but JAWS 7.0 and newer definitely has a read current
paragraph feature.  This is ctrl+numpad5.

Thanks,

kelly

-----Original Message-----
From: w3c-wai-gl-request@w3.org [mailto:w3c-wai-gl-request@w3.org] On Behalf
Of John M Slatin
Sent: Saturday, March 18, 2006 2:43 PM
To: w3c-wai-gl@w3.org
Subject: SC 2.4.5: Good news about AT support


Hello,


I've been doing a little "research" today. I was very excited to discover
the following:

1. JAWS 5.0 and later has a "Read current sentence" keystroke (alt+numPad5).
Executing this keystroke when a link has focus reads the sentence without
changing the focus; pressing the Enter key then follows the link. I tested
this in IE with the link as first word in the sentence, link as last word in
the sentence, and link somewhere in the "interior" of the sentence. All were
successful. This keystroke also works in tagged PDF documents.

2. Window-Eyes has hot keys for "Read current sentence" and "Read current
paragraph" (JAWS doesn't have "Read current paragraph"; it does have "read
next paragraph" and "read previous paragraph"). The Window-Eyes keystroke is
available in version 5.5 (the most recent one); not sure about earlier
versions. I don't have Window-Eyes installed so haven't tested it.

The Firevox screen reader (a free screen reader for Firefox which supports
Windows, Mac, and Linux) has a "speak parent element" keystroke that reads
the parent element wwithout changing the focus (e.g., if a Read more... Link
is embedded within a paragraph, Ctrl+Shift+u will read the paragraph and
leave focus on the link (if that link already has focus, that is)).

I had no idea that the "read current sentence" was available in JAWS!
But it's been there for at least a couple of years now-- I think 5.0 came
out in 2004. For all I know this keystroke has been available even longer.

I've added the information above (minus the bit about my not having
known...) to the User agent and assistive technology support notes section
of Identifying the purpose of a link using link text and text associated
with the parent element

At

http://trace.wisc.edu/wcag_wiki/index.php?title=Identifying_the_purpose_
of_a_link_using_link_text_and_text_associated_with_the_parent_element_of
_the_link
John

"Good design is accessible design."

Dr. John M. Slatin, Director
Accessibility Institute
University of Texas at Austin
FAC 248C
1 University Station G9600
Austin, TX 78712
ph 512-495-4288, fax 512-495-4524
email jslatin@mail.utexas.edu
Web http://www.utexas.edu/research/accessibility

Received on Saturday, 18 March 2006 23:22:03 UTC