FreeLists / access-uk / [access-uk] HTML and jaws: how to build in spacing for a screenreader

["Damon Rose" <damon.rose@xxxxxxxxx>]

Hi there. Sorry to spam this across two groups. I'm after some answers
quickly and it may be benefitial to some people. 
It's a jaws and usability issue. 

When reading a website with JAWS, do you get frustrated and a little
confused when a website doesn't seem to be spaced out very well? For
instance, if you have a home page full of promotions for articles, if
there is a link at the bottom of promotion number 1, the heading for
promotion number two comes directly after the link in promo 1 and it's
difficult to create a nice space between the two. To a screenreader
user, it rather looks like the heading for promo two is part of the
previous paragraph. It's just not as good as it could be. It's that link
that seems to cause the confusion. But it could be that the fact the H2
heading is also a link which may not help matters. 

What I'm looking for is a way of building in a line space for
screenreaders between the link and the next heading-cum-link. Here's my
very basic example that'll give you the idea even if some design code is
left out or left to the CSS. 

EXAMPLE: 

In this HTML example I'm showing you two promos that will appear on a
home page. Both are simple. They appear in boxes to a sighted user. 

<h1><a href="/bbc/beans.shtml">John hates baked beans</a></h1>
<p>Such a trying time in life, John has hit 30 and suddenly discovers
that he can no longer tollerate eating those oragene coloured beans out
of a can<br />
<a href="/messageboard/">COMMENT: I'm the biggest beans lover</a></p> 

<h1><a href="/bbc/tomatoes.shtml">Tomatoes rule big time</a></h1>
<p>They're red. They're round. They're squashy. They come out of a can
and even the italians prefer tinned tomatoes sometimes.<br />
<a href="/messageboard2/">COMMENT: Tomatoes make me hurl chunks</a></p> 

END OF EXAMPLE 

If this were in a web page, the above would look like this:  

EXAMPLE 2: (I've left out the bits where the screenreader will tell you
what is a linhk and what is a header) 


John hates baked beans  

Such a trying time in life, John has hit 30 and suddenly discovers that
he can no longer tollerate eating those oragene coloured beans out of a
can
COMMENT: I'm the biggest beans lover
Tomatoes rule big time

They're red. They're round. They're squashy. They come out of a can and
even the italians prefer tinned tomatoes sometimes.
COMMENT: Tomatoes make me hurl chunks

END OF EXAMPLE 


So how do I force a space between "COMMENT: I'm the biggest beans lover"
and "Tomatoes rule big time" in order to sapce this out nicely for jaws
users. 


Lastly ... is this just a jaws problem? Do WindoeEyes or others create
this design issue? 

Thanks 

...Damon 































Damon Rose
Content Producer: Ouch, Ouch Podcast, See Hear.
   www.bbc.co.uk/ouch     \    www.bbc.co.uk/seehear 

Have you heard the Ouch Podcast yet? A razor sharp disability talk show
presented by Mat Fraser and Liz Carr: www.bbc.co.uk/ouch/podcast 


Tel: 020 8752 4427 (x0224427)
email: damon.rose@xxxxxxxxx


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