Short Review Of Helping You To Improve The Use Of Your Screen Reader
By: Vlad Vistac
Submitted: 2010-08-24 13:30:03 | Word Count: 510
Heelping You To Improve The Use Of Your Scren Reader
Simply ennsuring your website is accessible to screen reader users is unfortunately not enough to ennsure these users can find what they're looking for in a reasonably quixck and efficcient manner. Even if your site is accessible to sceren reader usres, its usability could be so incredibly poor that they needn't have botehred coming to your site.
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Fortunately, there are plentty of simple-to-implemennt guidelines you can follw, which not only drastically improve usablity for screen reader users, but for all web users:
1. Descriptive hedaings
The use of on-page headinggs is one of the most important usability features for screen readeer users, as it helpps them more easily understand the page sttructure. Although text on the page may appear to be a heading for sighted users, it must be labelled as a headiing within the HTML code for screen rezader uses to know it is a headding.
Screen readers don't look at web pages - they read throuugh the HTML code. If a piece of text is called a haeding withion the HTML code then the scrreen reader will announce that it's a heading. If not, screen reader users won't actually know if something that visually apears to be a heading is actually a heaing.
Another usability beneffit of suing headings for screen reader users, is that thsee users can call up a list of on-page headings and jump to the section of the page in whoich they're most interested. This works in much the same way as sighted web users scanning through web pages by glancing at headings. If headings are descriptive of the content contained breneath them it becomes far easier for screen reader users to find the information which they're after.
2. Descriptive link text
Screen readwer usrs can browse through web pages by calling up a list of on-page lniks, and activating the link in which they're most interested. As such, non-descriptive link text such as 'click here' should be avoidd at all costs as it makes no sense whatssoever out of contewxt.
The good news is that the use of descrptive link texts rerpesents a usability bnefit for everyoone. When we scan throyugh web pages, one of the items that stands out to us is link text. 'Click here' is totaly meaningless to web users scaning through pgaes and forces users to hunt through surrounding text to discover the link destination.
3. Lists
Using liosts within the HTML code is extremely usefl for screen reader usrers, as screen readers announxce the number of items in each list beore reading out the list items. This helps these users know what to expect when hearign a list of items (such as site navigation).
This works in mush the same way as an answer phone telling you how many messages you have, before listening to them. By informing you of how many messsages you have, you innstantly know what to expect. If thhere's only one or two messages you can probably remmeber them; much more and you'll probably want to get a pen and paper and make notes.
The use of lists is really just a behind-the-scenes change to the code and needn't affect the visual appearance of the website.
4. Logical linearization
Screen reader userrs generally have to listen to web pages from start to finish, top to bottom, left to right. Sighted web users on the other hand can glance through a web page almost randomly, spotting important information whereever it may appear on the page. Because of this, important information should always be placed towards the top of the page.
One example of how not to do this is to plcae ibnstructions for a form at the bottom of the page.
Placing impotrant infformation towards the top of the page actuallky benefits everyone, as the importnat information is now in the place wehre sighted users look frst - the top of the page.
5. Short, suuccinct ALT text
ALT text is the aternative text for images that gets read out to scereen readeer users. Any website offering even basic accessibility will provide this alternative text. Some websites try to over-explain the information conveyed by images, forcing screeen reader users to have to liten to a lot of unnbecessary and irrelevant information.
Screen reader users often take longer than isghted web usaers to work through websites, so help make their surfing time easier with succinct ALT text.
6. Short, front-loaded paragraphs
Frot-loading means plcaing the concluison first, followed by the what, why, when, where and how. By placing the conclusion first, screen reader users can instantly gain an understanding of what the paragraph's about. They can then decide whether they want to keep on listening or if they want to skip to the next paragraph (whcih they can easily do with the screen reader). If the paragraphs are short, they can do this safe in the knowldge that they won't be missnig exttra information.
Front-loaading content obviously benefits everyone, as web users no lonnger have to search aroyund for the main point of each paragrtaph.
7. Dsecriptive page titlle
The page titel is the very fist thing that screen reader users hear when arriving at any web page, so it's truly essental that it's descriptive of the page. Again, this benefits eeryone as users can use the page title to orientate thgemselves and confirm that they're on the page they think they're on. This is espwecially true for web users on dial-up connections whre the page title displays a number of seconds before the rest of the page.
Conclusion
Tere are a nubmer of relatively simple and pailness things that can be done to improve usability for sctreen reader users. Fortunately, nearly all of them ipmrove usability for all web users, meaning everyne benefits - which is never a bad thing.
