‘Assistive Technology’ Archive

Google Chrome Screen Reader Support update

Following last weeks post about Google Chrome accessibility which was prompted by The Google Chrome Screen Reader Accessibility Petition created by Alex Hiironen, new information about Google Chrome screen reader support has been added to the Google Chrome (Chromium) wiki: 

Supported Screen Readers
The latest versions of these screen readers have partial support for Chrome now:

System Access to Go (Windows)
VoiceOver (Mac OS X)

These [...]

When will Google Chrome be accessible?

I have written on the issue of Google Chrome accessibility a number of times since its initial release. Progress is being made, but that progress is too slow for some users of Assistive Technology.  As a consequence a petition has been created by Alex Hiironen to highlight the issue that users of Assitive Technology such as screen [...]

HTML5: Techniques for providing useful text alternatives

HTML5: Techniques for providing useful text alternatives is a work in progress currently edited by me, I encourage anyone with an interest to contribute to its development.

HTML5 and the myth of WAI-ARIA redundance

Will HTML5 make the use of WAI-ARIA in HTML redundant? the short answer is definitley not. There are many ARIA roles and properties that are not provided by native elements and attributes in HTML5.  Also developers still  have the desire to roll their own interactive controls  even though they have been available in HTML as [...]

Freedom of Choice

The recent EU ruling requires Microsoft to provide Windows operating system users with a choice of browsers to install rather than having Microsoft Internet Explorer pre-installed. This is a laudable initiative that provides a more level playing field for browser vendors and more choice for consumers. Unfortunately what it does not do is provide informed [...]