[Accessibility_sig] [Fwd: Accessibility question]

[Jon Gibbins (dotjay)]

Hi Teenya,

Teenya Franklin quoted:
<snip>
> All screen readers have javascript disabled, because they basically read 
> the HTML source.

No, this is not true. Screen readers use a buffered representation of 
the Document Object Model as provided by the browser. While a screen 
reader may not "support" JavaScript, if the browser being used has 
JavaScript turned on, then any updates performed on the page by 
JavaScript also gets through to the screen reader. The problem with 
JavaScript (at the moment) is in getting screen readers to update their 
representation of the DOM when JavaScript is used to dynamically make 
changes.

This comes with it's own set of problems, which has lead some experts to 
recommend screen reader users to turn JavaScript off for all sites.

I hope that all makes sense.


> And if that is true, can you adjust screen readers to actually get 
> anything from a javascript application on a web page??
> If so, what is your opinion, do most folks have this adjustment made to 
> their readers...

I think most users will have JavaScript on, and yes, it can cause 
confusion. And if they have JavaScript off, it may result in an 
inability to use pages that utilise JavaScript if those pages have not 
been built to degrade properly.


> (Desiree, this is more to you...)
> This is all related to Dell.com at the moment, if someone with a screen 
> reader was going to try to purchase a computer from Dell.com and 
> someplace thru the purchase process they ran into a javascript 
> application would they be just stuck, or would they be able to complete 
> the purchase??

The answer to that is "it depends"... but it sounds like the answer is 
probably "yes". The best bet is to not _rely_ on JavaScript at all - you 
actually don't _need_ to. At the very least, an alternative must be offered.

[off-topic]My first post to the list, so "hello" all.

Jon Gibbins