[macvoiceover] Re: Designing web pages for screen readers

Greg,

To add to my previous comments, many websites for blind people have a 
link at the very beginning to skip to main content. This is true of 
Freedom Sciensific, bookshare.org and ViewPlus, for example. I think 
this is a good compromise. The skip to main content link can even be 
made invisible to sighted persons. 

John

On Wed, Jan 30, 2008 at 04:15:08PM -0600, John J. Boyer wrote:
> Greg,
> 
> I agree. In my own websites I usually have only a link back to the home 
> page at the top. That way a person can get back to a table of contents 
> and doesn't have to wade through a lot of junk. I can't understand why 
> web designers think they have to put all that stuff at the top of every 
> page. they seem to think that because they can they must.
> 
> John
> 
> On Wed, Jan 30, 2008 at 01:19:13PM -0700, Greg Kearney wrote:
> > I have been designing and programming the webpages of Curtin  
> > University Centre for Accessible Technology (www.cucat.org) and it  
> > doing so have collected a few thoughts about accessible web pages.
> > 
> > Along with as the usual things like alt tags and high contrast of  
> > type. It occurred to me from my own use and that of my blind wife that  
> > many pages require the screen reader, and sighted users as well, to  
> > navigate through a whole range of site navigation links before ever  
> > getting to the content of the site.
> > 
> > In the CUCAT site I have attempted to deal with this by placing the  
> > navigation links at the bottom of the page so that when you land on a  
> > page you reach that pages content. In the event of a very long page  
> > where the navigation would be at the bottom I will have a single link  
> > which will take the reader to the navigation links.
> > 
> > It would seem to me that this approach would be better for pages  
> > intended to be read by screen readers, as well as by the sighted  
> > rather than have all the visual and auditory distraction of complex  
> > headers at the top of the page to navigate through before reaching the  
> > true content of the page.
> > 
> > Also I feel the content of the page read in an uninterrupted flow  
> > without breaking to offer other services or information.
> > 
> > As a general design rule I feel that webpages have become much to  
> > complex and busy. This applies to the sighted as well as the blind.  
> > Would you want a book in which the text flashed, moved or in some  
> > other way animated the pages? Would you want a book in which bight  
> > coloured text, unrelated to what you were reading littered the sides  
> > of the main content area? The answer is, no, of course not but that is  
> > often what we are getting from modern website design. There seems to  
> > be of late the approach the because we can do something on a page we  
> > should.
> > 
> > Just some thoughts to think about.
> > 
> > 
> > Greg Kearney
> > 535 S. Jackson St.
> > Casper, Wyoming 82601
> > 307-224-4022
> > gkearney@xxxxxxxxx
> > 
> > >
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> 
> -- 
> John J. boyer; President, Chief Software Developer
> JJB Software, Inc.
> http://www.jjb-software.com
> Madison, WI USA
> Developing software for people with disabilities
> 
> >
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> > http://www.icanworkthisthing.com
> >
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-- 
John J. boyer; President, Chief Software Developer
JJB Software, Inc.
http://www.jjb-software.com
Madison, WI USA
Developing software for people with disabilities

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