Assistive technology users test title attribute access.
Testing conducted September 2005
A Task set for assistive technology users
Users of assistive technology employed at Vision Australia were sent an email asking them to visit the web page [http://www.sf.id.au/assistive-tech/title-test.html], and attempt to find the answers to two questions by accessing the web page in their normal manner.
test page content [reproduced]
Can you find the answers to these 2 questions?
This test page is designed to help answer some questions about the how or if content on a web page is available to users of assistive technology. Please access this page as you would normally, without any changes to your software settings.
Please note: The link and text box are for test purposes only and do not function.
- What is the boys name? answer?
End of test page.
Link and form control code:
<a href="#" title="The boy's name is Terry">answer?</a><input type="text" title="The girl's name is Susan" value="What is the girl's name?" />Responses
18 responses were received via email.
Conclusions Drawn
- Most users of screen reading software do not change their default settings to access the TITLE attribute information on links.
- Most screen reading software can access TITLE attribute content on form controls by default.
- Some screen reading software cannot access TITLE attribute information.
- Users of screen magnifiers can read TITLE attribute text at lower magnification levels.
- Users of screen magnifiers cannot read TITLE attribute text, that contains more than 1 or 2 words, at higher magnification levels.
Assistive technology used by respondents
- JAWS for Windows [screen reader]
- Window Eyes [screen reader]
- Supernova [screen reader]
- Zoomtext [magnifier]
- Alva refreshable Braille display
Results of testing
| Respondent | Assistive software used | answer 1 | answer 2 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | JAWS 7.0 beta | no answer | Susan |
| 2 | JAWS 6.2 | no answer | Susan |
| 3 | JAWS 6.20 | no answer | Susan |
| 4 | JAWS 6.1 | no answer | Susan |
| 5 | JAWS 5.1 | no answer | Susan |
| 6 | Jaws 5.1 | no answer | Susan |
| 7 | JAWS 5.0 | no answer | Susan |
| 8 | JAWS 5.0 | no answer | Susan |
| 9 | JAWS 5.0 | no answer | Susan |
| 10 | JAWS 5.0 | no answer | Susan |
| 11 | JAWS with ALVA refreshable Braille display | no answer | Susan |
| 12 | Supernova 6 | no answer | no answer |
| 13 | Window Eyes 5 | no answer | Susan |
| 14 | ZoomText 8.1 [x2 magnification] | Terry | susan |
| 15 | Zoomtext 7.1 [x2 magnification] | Terry | Susan |
| 16 | Zoomtext 7.1 [x2 magnification] | Terry | Susan |
| 17 | Zoomtext | Terry | Susan |
| 18 | Zoomtext [x6 magnification] | no answer | no answer |
Author:
Steven Faulkner
Technical Director
TPG Europe
sfaulkner@paciellogroup.com
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons License. 