Listen to the Difference: Using a Screenreader to Compare Before/After Code of 5 Top a11y Barriers

Nic Steenhout

Friday 20 April 2018 from 16:15 to 17:05

Talk in English - US at Longhorn PHP Conference 2018
Short URL: https://joind.in/talk/2e87e (QR-Code (opens in new window))

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This presentation will demonstrate what the top five accessibility barriers are for screenreader users. Working with VoiceOver, a screen reader for the Mac, we will interact with problematic code to get a good idea of what the issues are. We will then discuss simple rewrites to improve accessibility. We will compare the behaviour of the improved code to the old one.

Using a combination of real-world examples and code snippets, we will go through problematic alternate text, poorly labelled forms, lack of headings, badly formed data tables, and keyboard navigation.

You will gain a greater understanding of web accessibility barriers, and acquire some specific ideas on how to resolve them.

Comments

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Darren Wright at 17:13 on 20 Apr 2018

Great presentation, content was very informative.

Wun Chiou at 17:57 on 20 Apr 2018

The presentation format (playing the live screen reader on his presentation slide site) was great, and the content was very informative.

Chris Holland at 18:32 on 20 Apr 2018

Very informative and interesting

Max Schwanekamp at 09:57 on 21 Apr 2018

Focused talk that illustrated how screenreaders interact with web pages and simple changes we can make to our HTML output to improve screenread users' experience. One thing I'd wish for is incorporating a mobile device screenreader to experience.

Jessica Mauerhan at 16:48 on 21 Apr 2018

This was so informative, I have never heard a screenreader before so it was neat to learn how people really use them. Great tips for making your content more accessible! I'd love to hear more talks by Nic!

Buster Neece at 02:08 on 22 Apr 2018

Accessibility should always be alongside security and sustainability at the top of everyone's priorities when building a web application, so I always love to see the subject get first-class billing at a conference. In this case, the presenter made excellent use of the allotted time, not only running quickly through a number of common frustrating scenarios for visually impaired screen reader users and pointing attendees in the right direction, but actually showing us first-hand what the screen reader "sees", bringing the real-world impact of poor accessibility very clearly to the forefront.