- From: David Poehlman <poehlman1@comcast.net>
- Date: Fri, 13 Jun 2003 22:19:36 -0400
- To: Kynn Bartlett <kynn@idyllmtn.com>
- Cc: wai-ig list <w3c-wai-ig@w3.org>
I can tell you what they are not, they are not speech synthesizers nor are they braille devices to be fed at this point. A verbal acreen access package has eyes that turn what happens in the computer into an auditory interactive experience with the aide of a speech synthesizer and or a braille display which is its slave. In a situation where youhave an oral browser, the synthesizer plays a larger role in that what it puts out is directly controlled by what goes into it. In a screen access package, the user has much more controll. If you are using a telephone, aural presentation is highly appropriate because here all the controll comes from the server and the only thing we have controll over is what parts to speak. An aural device is an enterpreting delivery system. AS much as possible, a screen reader relies on the skill of the user to do the enterpretation. ----- Original Message ----- From: "Kynn Bartlett" <kynn@idyllmtn.com> To: "David Poehlman" <poehlman1@comcast.net> Cc: "wai-ig list" <w3c-wai-ig@w3.org> Sent: Friday, June 13, 2003 9:09 PM Subject: Are Screenreaders "aural" devices? On Friday, June 13, 2003, at 04:33 PM, David Poehlman wrote: > Screen readers are not aural devices. The provide a means where by one > should be able to opperate in their respective environment as long as > the > information and interactivity does not have to be "seen". Which of the following categories, taken from the CSS 2 specification, best matches screenreaders? Begin quote:: The names chosen for CSS media types reflect target devices for which the relevant properties make sense. In the following list of CSS media types, the parenthetical descriptions are not normative. They only give a sense of what device the media type is meant to refer to. all Suitable for all devices. aural Intended for speech synthesizers. See the section on aural style sheets for details. braille Intended for braille tactile feedback devices. embossed Intended for paged braille printers. handheld Intended for handheld devices (typically small screen, monochrome, limited bandwidth). print Intended for paged, opaque material and for documents viewed on screen in print preview mode. Please consult the section on paged media for information about formatting issues that are specific to paged media. projection Intended for projected presentations, for example projectors or print to transparencies. Please consult the section on paged media for information about formatting issues that are specific to paged media. screen Intended primarily for color computer screens. tty Intended for media using a fixed-pitch character grid, such as teletypes, terminals, or portable devices with limited display capabilities. Authors should not use pixel units with the "tty" media type. tv Intended for television-type devices (low resolution, color, limited-scrollability screens, sound available). ::end quote If screenreaders are attempting to use rules that target type "screen", it's no fault of the designer. By the CSS spec, a designer can write rules and reasonably expect that speech synthesis devices will not read them unless they are media type "all" or "aural". If a screenreader is written to only scrape the visual content, then, well, what do you expect? --Kynn -- Kynn Bartlett <kynn@idyllmtn.com> http://kynn.com Chief Technologist, Idyll Mountain http://idyllmtn.com Author, CSS in 24 Hours http://cssin24hours.com Inland Anti-Empire Blog http://blog.kynn.com/iae Shock & Awe Blog http://blog.kynn.com/shock
Received on Friday, 13 June 2003 22:19:43 UTC