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kestrellKes: I posted a question to a blind computer users list asking why a link on my webpage, which I had written so that the link and the title of the link appeared on the same line, was being broken up to two lines, one for the text title and the other for the actual link itself. Below is the answer I received from Heather Thomas, a technology instructor at the Carroll Center for the Blind. I have a little more info added after her answer.
from Heather Thomas:
The default behavior of JAWS is that it breaks each link onto its own line. This will be true even if that link appears in the middle of a sentence or on what sighted individuals perceive as a single line containing multiple links. This makes it easier to activate the links by pressing Enter because it is very clear what has focus. This is what Freedom Scientific calls “simple layout.” You can change the “document presentation mode” to “screen layout” within Quick Settings (JAWS key + V) if you want JAWS to announce information in a way that is similar to what a sighted user sees on the screen. I will warn you that, even in screen layout, you still will not hear lines exactly as they appear visually, but it will be closer than in simple layout. For comparison, NVDA’s default behavior is closer to the JAWS’s “screen layout” document presentation mode. So, you might either check out how your page presents when using JAWS in “screen layout” or read it with NVDA. Also, always keep in mind that screen readers are accessing the underlying code, so there may be other times where your sighted professor “sees” your screen content differently than you do.
Kes: I changed the Jaws setting for document presentation mode to screen mode and it does indeed show my webpage very close to how I wrote the HTML for it: if there are deviations, they aren't apparent at first look.
Here are basic steps to changing the document presentation setting:
1. Jaws settings are contextual, so you need to have a webpage or virtual document open to have the document presentation mode show up in the settings options.
2. Press Jaws+v to open Jaws settings.
3. Start typing document presentation mode in the search edit field: you should hear Jaws auto-fill potential search results, so listen for "document presentation mode".
4. You will hear Jaws say something like "Two results": down arrow to the combo box.
5. Press the spacebar to expand the combo box.
6. There will be two options: simple, which is the default to which Jaws is now set, and screen, which is what you want to press spacebar and enter to select.
7. You may at some point later wish to repeat the first few of these steps and browse through the other settings that control how Jaws presents web pages and virtual documents, but I don't recommend changing any other settings unless you know what you're doing.
8. To learn more about Jaws settings which format how webpages and virtual documents are presented, refer to the following document:
JAWS Settings to Change for Web Page Testing
https://doccenter.freedomscientific.com/doccenter/doccenter/rs11f929e9c511/2014-12-02_webpagetesting-l1/02_JAWS-Settings.htm
Final comment: this is probably another reason why blind software developers and programmers seem to all be using NVDA and Firefox.
from Heather Thomas:
The default behavior of JAWS is that it breaks each link onto its own line. This will be true even if that link appears in the middle of a sentence or on what sighted individuals perceive as a single line containing multiple links. This makes it easier to activate the links by pressing Enter because it is very clear what has focus. This is what Freedom Scientific calls “simple layout.” You can change the “document presentation mode” to “screen layout” within Quick Settings (JAWS key + V) if you want JAWS to announce information in a way that is similar to what a sighted user sees on the screen. I will warn you that, even in screen layout, you still will not hear lines exactly as they appear visually, but it will be closer than in simple layout. For comparison, NVDA’s default behavior is closer to the JAWS’s “screen layout” document presentation mode. So, you might either check out how your page presents when using JAWS in “screen layout” or read it with NVDA. Also, always keep in mind that screen readers are accessing the underlying code, so there may be other times where your sighted professor “sees” your screen content differently than you do.
Kes: I changed the Jaws setting for document presentation mode to screen mode and it does indeed show my webpage very close to how I wrote the HTML for it: if there are deviations, they aren't apparent at first look.
Here are basic steps to changing the document presentation setting:
1. Jaws settings are contextual, so you need to have a webpage or virtual document open to have the document presentation mode show up in the settings options.
2. Press Jaws+v to open Jaws settings.
3. Start typing document presentation mode in the search edit field: you should hear Jaws auto-fill potential search results, so listen for "document presentation mode".
4. You will hear Jaws say something like "Two results": down arrow to the combo box.
5. Press the spacebar to expand the combo box.
6. There will be two options: simple, which is the default to which Jaws is now set, and screen, which is what you want to press spacebar and enter to select.
7. You may at some point later wish to repeat the first few of these steps and browse through the other settings that control how Jaws presents web pages and virtual documents, but I don't recommend changing any other settings unless you know what you're doing.
8. To learn more about Jaws settings which format how webpages and virtual documents are presented, refer to the following document:
JAWS Settings to Change for Web Page Testing
https://doccenter.freedomscientific.com/doccenter/doccenter/rs11f929e9c511/2014-12-02_webpagetesting-l1/02_JAWS-Settings.htm
Final comment: this is probably another reason why blind software developers and programmers seem to all be using NVDA and Firefox.
History
Date: 2020-09-12 12:09 pm (UTC)I bet JAWS was the first screen reader to encounter the web. They made that (IMHO) stupid choice and now they're stuck with it.
Have you used NVDA at all? (I recognize that having to learn yet another set of keyboard commands is not an easy ask.)
Re: History
Date: 2020-09-12 12:31 pm (UTC)I'm already determined to start using NVDA as a secondary screen reader before the year is out, and I have it installed, but I've been spending all my time on the webpage and GitHub documentation. I have the GitHub with Jaws doc almost done, though, so I'm hoping to start learning NVDA next week. Also, if you're going to go the NVDA route, you will probably also want to use Firefox as your browser, because that is the browser that programmers are developing scripts for, so I also need to switch to Firefox as my default browser.
Re: History
Date: 2020-09-12 12:55 pm (UTC)I've wobbled back and forth with Firefox. On Mac it's a famous resource hog, kicking my fans to 100% (w 16meg RAM). I "trust" Mozilla over MS, Google, Opera.
It now offers device sync between laptop, phone, iPad which was Safari's killer feature.
The extensions are awesome -- JustRead makes a lovely reader mode. oneTab simplifies managing web research: can save and name tab groups and export them as text or markdown.
There's an active user community, but it's well-populated by FOSS-flavor assholes -- I've never had the courage to pose a question because being blown off is a trauma trigger for me.
Re: History
Date: 2020-09-12 01:22 pm (UTC)Now I'm off to listen to some training mp3s about Firefox.
Re: History
Date: 2020-09-12 02:43 pm (UTC)just in case
https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/markdown-clipper/?src=search
https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/markdown-new-tab/?src=search
And on the web, Marky the Markdownifier captures a readability-parsed version of any URL.
Introduced here https://brettterpstra.com/2012/06/20/marky-the-markdownifier-reintroductions/
(Brett's a Mac guy but this tool is platform neutral.)
Re: History
Date: 2020-09-12 03:41 pm (UTC)Re: History
Date: 2020-09-12 04:15 pm (UTC)...sorry, got on a roll, stopping now!
Re: History
Date: 2020-09-12 04:48 pm (UTC)Re: History
Date: 2020-09-12 11:32 pm (UTC)Markdown is the default format tool for GitHub -- their version has more power than the original Perl version DW uses.
And Markdown is readable as is -- the format info is so natural.
My typically garrulous details are here
https://jesse-the-k.dreamwidth.org/tag/markdown
Re: History
Date: 2020-09-13 10:06 am (UTC)Re: History
Date: 2020-09-13 10:55 am (UTC)What does the "@" sign signify? I see it used on the GitHub.com website preceding my username.
Re: History
Date: 2020-09-13 05:18 pm (UTC)"@" has evolved the meaning "what follows is a username or identity". (Began on Twitter as a user invention).
On DW @kestrell becomes![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
kestrell
On most web 2.0 platforms — including Discord and Github — it sends the user a notification. (On Twitter this is called a "mention," as in "I wrote an essay about the moon and then there were a bunch of astronauts in my mentions.")