Re: So you think your site is easy to navigate?? Try this .....

Henter-Joyce, now Freedom Scientific

http://www.hj.com/


~ Kathleen Anderson
Spider Web Woman Designs
http://www.spiderwebwoman.com
email: kathleen(at)spiderwebwoman.com


----- Original Message -----
From: "Peggi & Ben Rodgers" <woodduck(at)mbay.net>
To: <hwg-techniques(at)hwg.org>
Sent: June 04, 2001 6:42 PM
Subject: Re: So you think your site is easy to navigate?? Try this .....


> Anybody have any address information for the creator of JAWS?  I'd like to
> get a bit more information about how it works before I redesign my sites
to
> accommodate it.  That way I can make sure things work properly.
>
> Thanks,
>
> Peggi
>
> At 12:21 AM 6/4/01 -0400, Ray T. Mahorney wrote:
> >A Men Brother!  I am a JAWS user and you have hit on every point I have
> >run across!  Spot on! and
> >Good on you!
> >----- Original Message -----
> >From: "Mike Kear" <choicemag(at)hotmail.com>
> >To: <hwg-techniques(at)hwg.org>
> >Sent: Sunday, June 03, 2001 11:39 PM
> >Subject: So you think your site is easy to navigate?? Try this .....
> >
> >
> >I have just come out of a most enlightening session with a blind user,
> >running though a client's web site with JAWS, a screen reading program
that
> >turns the web page into synthesised voice.
> >
> >I thought I was quite aware of accessibility issues before, and was
> >comfortable in thinking that my sites were better than the average in
> >providing access to the blind and people with other disabilities.  This
> >session was educational to say the least.
> >
> >I am still convinced my sites are better than average, but I am bound to
> >inform you that the average is pretty damn poor.   I know some people are
> >really concerned about accessibility for the disabled and others have
> >decided that the disabled are such a small portion of their userbase,
it's
> >not worth changing everything to allow for them.
> >
> >I'm here to tell you that it's not difficult to design a good site to
allow
> >for access, it just takes a little understanding of how programs like
JAWS
> >works.   To be truthful, I think that if I were blind, I'd go stark
raving
> >mad at all the frustrations of life but trying to surf the web wouldn't
make
> >life any easier that's for sure.
> >
> >For example, he took us through a page of our bookshop.   And we'd
arranged
> >things to look nice on the page, but there were parts of the catalogue
page
> >where he didn't know what the "add to basket" graphic was referring to -
> >this book or the previous one.   And some nested tables were simply awful
> >and impossible to work round.    We all think putting navigation buttons
on
> >the top of every page makes for easy navigation, but blind people have to
> >wade through (in our case) 50 navigation links before getting to the guts
of
> >the page.  On a search of our site, the resulting page has a nice header
at
> >the top with links to all our site's catgegories and sub-categories and
then
> >a sidebar with links to other parts of the site, and finally the search
> >results itself.  Visually it looks fine - quick and simple to move around
> >the site.  But using the screen reading software it took **AGES** to get
to
> >anything related to the search.  By just laying out the page differently,
we
> >could have made this page FAR easier to navigate for him.
> >
> >I'm not suggesting we should all go about redesigning our sites just for
the
> >relatively few blind users, but just understanding how the software
works,
> >has made me re-think many of the forms I build.   The user also said that
> >Government sites tended to be the worst of all.  I'm not sure if that's
> >because they're designed by developers with an eye on the government
money
> >or because they are specified by bureaucrats.  Certainly of all the sites
> >that ought to know about accessibility, Government sites ought to be the
> >leaders, and apparently they aren't.
> >
> >
> >I think as web developers, you'd all be doing A Good Thing if you
arranged
> >for a meeting like we just had at Australian Consumers Association - have
a
> >blind person come and work your site for you using their screen reading
> >software.  At the risk of being accused of making an off-colour joke,
it's a
> >real eye-opener.
> >
> >
> >Cheers,
> >Mike Kear
> >AFP Webworks,
> >Windsor, NSW, Australia.
> >
> >_________________________________________________________________________
> >Get Your Private, Free E-mail from MSN Hotmail at http://www.hotmail.com.
>
> Peggi Rodgers
> Flash Programmer
> Misty Canyon Designs
> Pacific Grove, CA
> prodgers(at)mistycanyon.com
> www.mistycanyon.com
>
>

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