4 ms·

What happened to good old accessibility? If a blind person can't access content on a website using text browser then this site goes into the trash.

pcthrowaway 6y ago
My understanding is that text readers are actually quite good at reading from the assembled webpage
- detaro 6y ago
  Yes, modern screen readers work off the actual active page DOM, so they don't mind if the page is generated by JS per se. At the same time, JS-heavy sites often have dynamic elements that are difficult for screen readers to handle (i.e. an element pop ups somewhere: easy to see for a sighted user, tricky for a screen reader to decide if it's important, and if it moves focus there the user looses position on the page, which is confusing), and are equally as likely as non-JS pages to not have been built with accessibility in mind, while often being more complex, which makes the structure harder for both screenreader software and user to understand.
- CharlesW 6y ago
  They are, and nearly all people with disabilities browse with JavaScript enabled. https://webaim.org/techniques/javascript/ https://webaim.org/techniques/javascript/ "Just because JavaScript is used on a page does not mean that the page is inaccessible. In many cases, JavaScript can be used to greatly improve accessibility and optimize the user experience. Some aspects of accessibility compliance would be difficult without JavaScript, especially for complex web applications." "It is a misconception that people with disabilities don't have or enable JavaScript, so it is thus acceptable to present an inaccessible scripted interfaces, so long as there is an accessible, non-JavaScripted version available. A survey by WebAIM of screen reader users found that 99.3% of respondents had JavaScript enabled. The numbers are even higher for users with low vision or motor disabilities."
bonoboTP 6y ago
Why would it go to the trash? Unless they get sued in a jurisdiction with relevant laws, the site will be fine, because most visitors are not blind.

pcthrowaway 6y ago

My understanding is that text readers are actually quite good at reading from the assembled webpage

detaro 6y ago
Yes, modern screen readers work off the actual active page DOM, so they don't mind if the page is generated by JS per se. At the same time, JS-heavy sites often have dynamic elements that are difficult for screen readers to handle (i.e. an element pop ups somewhere: easy to see for a sighted user, tricky for a screen reader to decide if it's important, and if it moves focus there the user looses position on the page, which is confusing), and are equally as likely as non-JS pages to not have been built with accessibility in mind, while often being more complex, which makes the structure harder for both screenreader software and user to understand.
CharlesW 6y ago
They are, and nearly all people with disabilities browse with JavaScript enabled. https://webaim.org/techniques/javascript/ https://webaim.org/techniques/javascript/ "Just because JavaScript is used on a page does not mean that the page is inaccessible. In many cases, JavaScript can be used to greatly improve accessibility and optimize the user experience. Some aspects of accessibility compliance would be difficult without JavaScript, especially for complex web applications." "It is a misconception that people with disabilities don't have or enable JavaScript, so it is thus acceptable to present an inaccessible scripted interfaces, so long as there is an accessible, non-JavaScripted version available. A survey by WebAIM of screen reader users found that 99.3% of respondents had JavaScript enabled. The numbers are even higher for users with low vision or motor disabilities."

bonoboTP 6y ago

Why would it go to the trash? Unless they get sued in a jurisdiction with relevant laws, the site will be fine, because most visitors are not blind.