Improve usability for screen reader users

Simply ensuring your website can be accessed by screen reader users unfortunately not enough to ensure that users can find what they seek in a fairly quick and efficient. Even if your site is accessible to screen reader users, usability could be so incredibly poor need not That they bother to come to your site.

Fortunately, there are many simple-to-implement guidelines you can follow, which not only drastically usability improvements for users of screen readers, but for all web users:

A. Descriptive title

The use of the title page is one of the most important usability features for screen reader users, as it helps them more easily understand the page structure. Although the text on the page may appear to be heading for sighted users, should be labeled as a heading within the HTML code for screen reader users to know it is a title.

Screen readers do not see the web page - They read HTML code. If a text called a heading within the HTML code then the screen reader will announce that it is a title. If not, screen reader users will not really know whether something is visually It seems that the actual title is the title of a.

Another usability benefit of using the title for users of screen readers, is that users can retrieve a list on the title page and jump to the page in which they are most interested. This works in much the same way with web users scanning through web pages seen by glancing at the title. If the title is descriptive of the content contained beneath them much easier for screen reader users to find information they seek.

2. Descriptive text link

Screen reader users can browse through web pages by calling on the page-link list, and activate a link where they are most interested. Such as, non-descriptive link text like 'click here' should be avoided at all costs because it makes no sense at all out of context.

The good news is that? The use of a descriptive text link usability benefit for everyone. When we scan through web pages, one item that stands out to us is link text. 'Click here' really mean for web users scanning through pages and forces users to hunt through surrounding text to discover the link destination.

3. List

Using lists in HTML code which is very useful for screen reader users, such as screen readers announce the number of items in each list before reading the list of items. This helps the user know what to expect when hearing a list of items (such as site navigation).

This works the same way as MUSHs an answer phone message telling you how much you have, before listening to them. By telling you how many messages you have, you instantly know what to expect. If only one or two messages you may remember them, more and you'll probably want to get a pen and paper and make-record.

Use of the list is really just a behind the scenes changes to the code and need not affect the visual appearance of the website.

4. Logical linearized

Screen reader users generally have to listen to a web page from start to finish, top to bottom, left to right. Web users visible on the other hand can glance through a web page almost randomly, spotting important information wherever it may appear on the page. Therefore, important information should always be placed at the top of the page.

One example of how not to do this is to place instructions for the form at the bottom of the page.

Placing important information to the top of the page actually benefits everyone, as important information is now in a place where sighted users look first - the top of the page.

5. Short, concise text ALT

ALT text is the text alternative for images that will be read out to screen reader users. Any website offering even basic accessibility will provide this alternative text. Some websites try to over-explain the information conveyed by images, forcing screen reader users to have to listen to a lot of information that is unnecessary and irrelevant.

Screen reader users often take much longer than the visible web users to work through the website, thus helping them surf Spend More Easily with the ALT text concise.

6. In short, front-loaded paragraphs

Front loading means placing the conclusion first, followed by the what, why, when, where and how. By placing the conclusion first, screen reader users can instantly gain an understanding of what the paragraph is about. They can then decide whether they want to keep on listening or if they want to jump to the next paragraph (which they can easily do it with screen readers). If a short paragraph, they can do this safe in the knowledge That they will not lose any additional information.

Front-loading content obviously benefits everyone, as web users no longer have to search the main point of each paragraph.

7. Descriptive page title

The title page is the first thing that screen reader users hear when arriving at the web page, so it's really important that it is descriptive of the page. Again, this benefits everyone as users can use the page title to orientate own and make sure they are on the page That they think that they are. This is especially true for web users on dial-up connection in which the title page shows the number of seconds before the rest of the page.

Conclusion

There are some thing that is relatively simple and painless It can be done to use improvisation to screen reader users. Fortunately, almost all of them improvised usability for all web users, which means that everyone benefits - which is never a bad thing.