Note: This site is not actively maintained.
I still work in accessibility, just no longer on this website.
I may rekindle it at some point, but for now…
details/summaryThe HTML5 details and summary elements can be used to create a disclosure widget for showing and hiding content, something that typically has been done with JavaScript. For example, this type of interaction has often been used for things like FAQs: a list of questions is provided, but the answers hidden; clicking on any one of the questions toggles the… Continue reading Screen Readers and details/summary
With the rapid development in certain user agents (take that, Firefox!), I’m a little late in getting these up, but I figure some of them are still useful to share. In any case, I posted to YouTube five videos of various screen readers interacting with basic HTML5 section elements and ARIA landmarks. These are videos I presented at the 2011… Continue reading Videos of Screen Readers with Basic HTML5 and ARIA Landmarks
My slides from the OZeWAI 2011 conference:
If you use explicitly ranked h1 to h6 headings nested in HTML5 sectioning elements, as opposed to using exclusively h1 elements, JAWS 12.0.1170, as well as the JAWS 13.0.171 beta, will misrepresent the heading hierarchy. Headings in HTML5 The HTML5 outline algorithm allows us to use the h1 element for every heading on a page, and depending on the nesting… Continue reading JAWS, IE and Headings in HTML5
Last year, in HTML5, ARIA Roles, and Screen Readers in March 2010, I took a look at how then current screen readers behaved with some of the HTML5 section elements and related WAI-ARIA document and landmark roles. Now that the major screen readers have all seen some significant updates, and both Firefox 4 and Internet Explorer 9 have officially been… Continue reading HTML5, ARIA Roles, and Screen Readers in March 2011
Dennis at WebAxe recently called for developers to take a “sanity check” when working with HTML5. His point was not to dissuade us from developing with HTML5, but to remind us to do so “caution and care”, in particular because of the current level of support among different browsers and assistive technnologies (AT) for HTML5 and WAI-ARIA. But what do we do when faced with a user agent or AT that, as a result of a bug in its software, and instead of simply ignoring what it doesn’t understand, actively misbehaves when it comes across this or that HTML5 construct or ARIA attribute? Continue reading An HTML5 plus ARIA “Sanity Check”: Working Around Bugs in AT
Header is Back!A little over a month ago, I removed the header elements from this site because content within a header is inaccessible to JAWS users with Firefox. Since then I’ve been thinking more about it, and have decided to put them all back. Continue reading Header is Back!
Header Elements RemovedA few weeks ago, it was discovered that JAWS 10 and 11 (and so far, JAWS 12 beta), when used in conjunction with Firefox 3.6 (or Firefox 4 beta), simply cannot find or use any content contained within the HTML5 header element. Terrill Thompson’s test page makes this clear. It turns out that it is a bug with Freedom Scientific’s… Continue reading Header Elements Removed
Note: Updated research and results for March 2011. There are some good, helpful examples and work out there already showing how some screen readers deal with various HTML5 constructs and ARIA roles. I know the specs are not finished yet and assistive technology vendors are always working on it, but I wanted to play around a bit and confirm for… Continue reading HTML5, ARIA Roles, and Screen Readers in May 2010