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Volume 3 Issue 3March 1999

TIPS on Accessibility:
Screen Readers

Marcia Norris
Training Specialist/Instructor,
High Tech Center Training Unit of the California Community Colleges

For individuals with visual impairment or learning disabilities, browsing the World Wide Web can be a daunting experience. Without seeing the screen, how can one possibly read a Web page? If text on the screen is not big enough to be seen clearly, what can be done to help magnify Web page contents as well as read it aloud? If one has a reading difficulty, how can he/she get help reading unfamiliar words?

The solution to these challenges lies with a special-ized type of software tool called a screen reader. Screen reading tools convert text on the computer screen to information that can be spoken by a speech synthesizer. The needs of the target audience dictate the ways in which software developers design the capabilities of screen reader tools.

Screen Readers for Blind Users
Using a screen reader in a web-based environment can be very easy, or very complex, depending on the nature of the page which is being read. Screen readers read text. They cannot translate graphical images; most blind users browse the Web with images off. Most screen readers for the blind will automatically begin reading when a new screen of information appears. Once the screen content has been scanned by ear, then the search for links begins. The easiest way to do this is to use a command key, usually the Tab key. Pressing Enter once a link has been read takes the user to that link. Specialized reading commands also allow the user to further explore text on a line by line or word by word basis.

If the Web page has been thoughtfully designed, all important graphical elements will have ALT tags (HTML code for alternative text) that are brief text image de-scriptions that appear onscreen when graphics are loaded by the browser. Screen readers can read ALT text if it is present, informing the visually impaired user about the graphical elements on a page. A limitation of most screen readers is that they read from left to right, moving down the screen line-by-line; they do not read columns. Frames can also be challenging for screen readers.

Currently, screen reader producers are working on ways to overcome these technical shortcomings by developing specialized techniques; e.g., reformatting a Web page, stripping out all graphics and columnar presentations while maintaining hierarchical page content; and putting up a go-to dialog box that contains a list of all frames for that page.

Screen Readers for Low Vision Users
Individuals with low vision need to have onscreen text and images magnified and may benefit from using a screen reader if they require very large magnification. Software programs which magnify the screen are intuitive and easy to use. Keystrokes allow the user to enlarge or reduce screen magnification on the fly.

Because not all the visual information can be seen at one time once screen content is enlarged, mouse move-ment is used to pan around the screen display. Low vision users must rely heavily on visual closure (mentally creat-ing an image of the full screen based on the pieces viewed at high magnification) unless they are working on a very large monitor. For persons requiring text magnified more than six times its original size, it is recommended that a screen enlarging program which also supports its own screen reading capabilities be used. Most users who browse the Web at high magnification choose to work with graphic images turned off at the browser level because at large magnification images become an unrecognizable collage of pixels.

Screen Readers for Person With Learning Disabilities
The Learning Disabled (LD) user will want to see the text as it is being read by the screen reading software.

They will need to see the page just as it is, relying heavily on the any graphics present to augment or enhance the information presented in text form. Because ease of use is important for persons with persons with learning disabilities, the most widely used Web reader for LD Web surfer’s functions with a very simple tool bar. The most recent version of this LD Web reader is smart about columns and page content hierarchy, and is able to correctly read multiple column text, although it takes the program time to decide on columnar relationships.

Clicking on a green arrow begins reading. Tapping the space bar stops or pauses reading. Each word is highlighted on the Web page as it is read. If the user does not understand the meaning of a word, reading can be stopped the word highlighted, and the dictionary func-tion invoked. The definition of the word can be read aloud. The user then puts the dictionary tool away and resumes general reading. In this way, the LD user is provided with an easy-to-use, transparent reading tool that allows full access to Web content re-gardless of reading ability.

A Note on Screen Reader Function and Web Design
Colleges have an obligation to provide equal access to online, Web -based information to all students, including students with disabilities. Traditionally this equal access requires the use of several Web page construction conventions, particularly those that create intelligent con-tent for visually impaired users who must rely on screen readers; e.g., the inclusion of ALT text in the image source (ALT="image description"), the exclusion of multiple column text, not placing text as a graphical element, and careful use of tables and frames.

The End Result of Careful Web Page Design
Screen readers, when running in a no-graphics browser mode, will read the ALT text to the visually imp aired user who then becomes aware of the nature and meaning of graphical elements included on a page. If there are no multiple columns on a page, the blind user can quickly and easily listen to the text content of a page without having to work to reformat the page. Currently, working with frames remains a difficult prospect for the blind Web surfer.

A Final Comment
As technology evolves, the broadly useful features of the readers described above will, in all probability, be included as general options at the operating system level or at the browser level, and everyone will listen to the Web when it is more convenient.

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RESOURCES on THE WEB:

JAWS for Windows (Henter-Joyce): Screen reader for persons who are blind.
http://www.hj.com

ZoomText Extra Level Two (aiSquared): Screen reader for persons with low vision
http://www.aisquared.com

Kurzweil 3000 (Lernout & Hauspie): Reading tool for persons with learning disabilities
http://www.kurzweiledu.com