Re: divs and screen readers

Juila,

If I'm following your description correctly, Window-Eyes 4.5 reads each 
column separately, rather than one line at a time from each column. But I'm 
also not convinced that you're using the other screen readers correctly. 
Are you attempting to read the web page with the mouse?

Remember that the majority of visually impaired people using screen readers 
will not be using the mouse pointer to read web pages. Screen readers in 
general usually have a specific method for reading web pages.

Window-Eyes, for example, places you in a quasi-word processor type mode 
where you can use your arrow keys to move line by line, word by word, 
character by character, link by link, paragraph by paragraph, heading by 
heading, and so on, and so on. Using this method, the column example you 
have listed in your message works correctly.

Aaron

At 07:10 AM 7/10/2003, Julia Collins wrote:

>Hello
>
>I am testing a 3 column site that has been set up with css controlled divs,
>with the code arranged in a logical order, so you get the navs (with a skip
>navs link), then the content. There is a text only version that renders the
>site in this way, which is easy to access with a screen reader.  But we know
>that we shouldn't rely on that
>
>However, the testers I have been working with say that both HAL and JAWS
>read the graphical version horizontally, as it appears on the screen, rather
>than, as it were, vertically as it appears in the the code, so you hear
>(eg):
>
><leftdiv> line one </leftdiv>
><centrediv> line one </centrediv>
><rightdiv>line one</rightdiv>
>
>then:
>
><leftdiv> line two</leftdiv>
><centrediv> line two</centrediv>
><rightdiv>line two</rightdiv>
>
>rather than
><leftdiv>entire content</leftdiv>
><centrediv>entire content</centrediv>
><rightdiv>entire content</rightdiv>
>
>Which is what was intended.
>
>if there is an image starting on a line, you get the alt text joining into
>the mix.
>
>As you can appreciate, this rather defeats the purpose..... and is extremely
>annoying.
>
>Anyone know why, what I am doing wrong, or if the testers (all seasoned
>screen reader users) need to adjust their settings (which can't be right,
>surely).
>
>Thanks
>
>Julia
>
>
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>
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>print
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Aaron Smith
GW Micro
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Technical Support & Web Development

Received on Thursday, 10 July 2003 09:23:34 UTC