[bcab] Re: Fw: AJAX and accessibility - Jaws to the rescue?

Following on from Isaac's question: do we know of any websites where
AJAX makes them inaccessible or unusable, and there is an obvious case
for using them? I'd be very interested in some real-world test cases.
I'll proffer up Microsoft Outlook over the web, the first AJAX
application, as a start.

Best wishes,
Alasdair King

On 7/24/07, Isaac Porat <isaac@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

Hello Léonie and all

I wonder what AJAX support really means. AJAX is a technology that modifies
part of the web page rather than updates the whole page.  It is one thing to
detect that something has changed and another to do something about this.
What I wonder is how the screen reader is to know how to respond.

For example, in some situations, it may be appropriate to jump to the part
of the page that changed and then come back to the original point of
reading.  In some other situations it is appropriate only to alert the user
that something has changed and let him to view that later if required.  Yet
in other situations it is better just to ignore the change as it is of
little value to the user.  Unless there is a way to mark this somehow to
screen readers how can they respond properly?

So the value of carefully crafted pages by screen reader's vendors to
demonstrate AJAX support is probably limited in respect to real world
situations.

Any comments?

Regards
Isaac

-----Original Message-----
From: bcab-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:bcab-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf
Of Léonie Watson
Sent: 23 July 2007 19:56
To: bcab@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [bcab] Re: Fw: AJAX and accessibility - Jaws to the rescue?

Evening,

        It's worth noting that Jaws already has reasonable support for AJAX.
Using a set of seven benchmark tests, SA To Go completes all tests
successfully, whilst Jaws failed one and partially failed another.

        I haven't had the opportunity to test Window Eyes just yet, but will
publish the full results as soon as I can find time to complete the tests.

Regards,
Léonie.

-----Original Message-----
From: bcab-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:bcab-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf
Of editor@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Sent: 23 July 2007 13:44
To: bcab@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [bcab] Fw: AJAX and accessibility - Jaws to the rescue?

Met Steve Nutt at Sight Village, he was telling me that System Access is
currently the only screen
reader to support AJAX fully.   Well, looks like this could be about to
change, although just a
rumour at this stage.   Whether or not it's true, I wouldn't be surpised to
hear that Windoweyes
will be supporting it soon, in the least!   Leon Gilbert.

ENCS.

AJAX and accessibility - Jaws to the rescue?
E-consultancy.com 23/7/07
by Chris Rourke

RIAs like Ajax often have an accessibility weak spot since they need to work
with JavaScript off to meet the basic accessibility guidelines.
Rumour has it that the next version of the popular screen reader Jaws may be
able to handle Ajax interfaces.
Accessify's Ian Lloyd recently made reference on his blog to rumours
regarding screen reader Jaws 9.0 possibly having support for Ajax. According
to Ian's source, the release notes for Jaws 8.0 made reference to support
for Ajax functionality, however all references were removed prior to launch.
It would be an interesting development if Jaws 9.0 were to support Ajax.
Ajax and other similar technologies such as Flex have revolutionised the way
in which we interact with the web and have enhanced the user experience
significantly. If this increase in usability was available to blind or
partially sighted users then their entire experience of the web could be
different.
Presumably the new version of Jaws will be using the small data transfers
that occur in AJAX as triggers for the screen reading interactions, rather
than full page refreshes which is currently used. Still, careful
standards-compliant coding of the page will no doubt be necessary.
Screen reader software manufacturers have been notoriously slow to react to
Internet trends. Any indication that they are starting to move with the
times is welcome. The other factor in the interia is the relatively high
cost of Jaws and other assistive technologies that can deter many users from
upgrading to the latest versions.
Perhaps more significant is the presumption that where one leads the others
must follow. Freedom Scientific's competitors would surely require to
provide similar functionality in their own software.
Only when Jaws 9.0 is released will we finally discover whether it supports
Ajax and if so, exactly how it will go about reading pages designed this
way. Until then, we wait with anticipation.
For those interested in the world of AJAX and the impacton accessibility a
couple other useful areas to check out are the IBM Ajax Accessibility page
by Becky Gibson, and the W3C's ARIA framework.
Chris Rourke is the managing director of User Vision.

(Source URL)
http://www.e-consultancy.com/news-blog/363851/ajax-and-accessibility--jaws-t
o-the-rescue.html


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--
Alasdair King
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