RE: Screen Readers, Braille Displays and Live Regions

Braille Displays are controlled by screen reading software – they are not separate entities in one sense.

Having said that, screen readers may treat audio, and Braille messages etc. differently. For example, in Braille a message may appear, and is displayed for five seconds, then disappears!

Dave



From: Taliesin Smith <talilief@gmail.com>
Sent: Tuesday, November 10, 2020 9:01 AM
To: W3C WAI ig <w3c-wai-ig@w3.org>
Subject: Screen Readers, Braille Displays and Live Regions

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Hi Folks,
I have a few very general questions about screen reader software (SR), braille displays (BD), and ARIA live regions.

1. Is it safe to assume that text is text and that the screen reader software (SR) and braille display devices (BD) handle or display text-base content in the same way, i.e. through the same channels simultaneously?

2. In theory, is text marked up in an element properly designated as an aria live-region in some way different than text marked up in a paragraph tag? I mean really different once the text is recognized by the SR or the BD.

3. Since users often use both SR and BD together, are there special situations that web developers should be aware of to ensure text is accessible and deliverable by both technologies simultaneously? Especially, in the case of custom interactions and where aria live-regions are being employed.

Thanks for any thoughts or resources people may know about.

I was just reading this resources from MDN which mentions “channels”
https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/Accessibility/ARIA/ARIA_Screen_Reader_Implementors_Guide<https://gcc01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fdeveloper.mozilla.org%2Fen-US%2Fdocs%2FWeb%2FAccessibility%2FARIA%2FARIA_Screen_Reader_Implementors_Guide&data=04%7C01%7Cdavid.b.andrews%40state.mn.us%7C47344a1fefda47f108b708d8858a290c%7Ceb14b04624c445198f26b89c2159828c%7C0%7C0%7C637406175732048449%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C1000&sdata=OCeFtEkboqeNQutOulCXQ38IuojLTot51aujAetaS8Y%3D&reserved=0>

Taliesin

Taliesin Smith
talilief@gmail.com<mailto:talilief@gmail.com>

~.~.~
Also reachable at:
Taliesin.Smith@colorado.edu<mailto:Taliesin.Smith@colorado.edu>
Inclusive Design Researcher
PhET Interactive Simulations
https://phet.colorado.edu/en/accessibility

Physics Department
University of Colorado, Boulder