Re: Checkpoints 10.4 and 10.5

David Poehlman wrote:


> What paul is saying is that even though hpr jfw and possibly window eyes
> indicate links, there is still a lot of stuff around that doesn't and if
> you are using netscape with jfw or window eyes, you have little to no
> indication that something is designated as a link.

Paul's comments:

Even in Jaws, the ends of links run into the beginning of text. A vertical
bar isn't normally used at the end of a list of links, but it might be
useful sometimes. For example, Jaws might say "link, contact page the best
way to contact our company is to send us an email at . . . " We don't really
know where the link ends. I was imagining a page where the link said
"contact page" and the rest of the words are not a part of the link.
Listening to it, though, the whole thing can sound like a link.

Home Page Reader does a much better job of handling this (in my opinion).
The default setting is for a male voice to read the text and for a female
voice to read the links. This system is easier to understand for me.
However, I guess I'd have to say that with Home Page Reader, there is a
greater likelihood of confusing links (with the default setting). For
example, the female voice could say "contact page site index." It may be
obvious by the context that these are two links (1. contact page, 2. site
index) but there are situations in which this might be confusing.
Fortunately, there is a setting in Home Page Reader that allows you to play
a sound at the beginning of each link. On my computer, I have it set to not
only change from a male voice to a female voice, but it also plays a brief
chime to signal the beginning of a link. This way I know it's a link, plus I
can tell links apart when they are read in succession.

Paul Bohman
Technology Coordinator
WebAIM: Web Accessibility in Mind (www.webaim.org)
Center for Persons with Disabilities (www.cpd.usu.edu)
Utah State University (www.usu.edu)

Received on Wednesday, 30 May 2001 21:33:48 UTC