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Introduction to Screen Readers Screen Readers are software applications that provide help for people with visual impairments by reading what is on the screen. One of the more popular Screen Readers is JAWS for Windows. The latest version is JAWS for Windows 5.0 and is produced by Freedom Scientific. http://www.freedomscientific.com/fs_products/software_jaws.asp JAWS
stands for Job Access
With Speech and provides speech technology that works with your Windows
95/98/Me or Windows NT/2000 operating system to provide access to today's
popular software applications and the Internet. JAWS uses an integrated
voice synthesizer and your computer's sound card to output the content of
your computer screen to speakers or a headset.
JAWS also outputs to refreshable Braille displays. This technology
provides access to a wide variety of information, education, and job
related applications. No additional software or hardware is required. What Does ToolBook Provide? The following information has been extracted from the AccessibilityGuide.pdf that shipped with ToolBook 2004: "You can begin a new book with a simple, accessible design in two ways. After you start ToolBook, the Startup dialog box displays several tabs at Author level. You can select: * an accessible template book from the Templates tab * an accessible style from one of the Book Specialists ToolBook will display the Accessibility Catalog in a new book that is started in one of the ways listed above. The Accessibility Catalog contains ready-to-use objects such as multiple-choice questions, buttons, text fields, media players, and navigation links. Choose objects from the Accessibility Catalog in ToolBook to display your text, graphics, and other content." This document also addresses a few issues related to how you develop your ToolBook application. It is suggested that you provide tooltip descriptions for graphics and then check Convert tooltips to alternate text attribute when publishing to the Web. It is also suggested that you create logical tab order. This requires you as a developer to make sure that you do NOT check Exclude from tab order for your buttons. For audio, it is suggested that you create a text transcript and provide a button that displays a popup page that contains the text. In this manner, the Screen Reader will read that text on the popup page. These are just a few of the issues you must consider when designing and developing an application that is going to be effectively read by a Screen Reader such as JAWS. The 508 Link Tool If you follow the guidelines in the Click2learn document mentioned above, you will likely still find that you have an unsatisfactory product for reading by the Screen Readers such as JAWS. 508 Link was created by Jocelyn Martel, formerly of Sunset Learning. Platte Canyon Multimedia Software Corporation is the distributor for this software. Here's what Platte Canyon has to say: "ToolBook does not do an optimal job when exporting DHTML content that needs to be Section 508 compliant." This is a true statement from a number of perspectives. One issue is HTML tags. If you went through the output and did all that is necessary by hand, you would spend hours. Using the 508 Link Tool, many issues are fixed automatically and others you are prompted to enter information such as alt text for graphics. The cost of this tool is $625 from Platte Canyon and it really is a good investment if you want to be sure that all HTML Tag issues are taken care of. What's Left? After using the components in ToolBook that are suggested for providing 508 Compliance, following the guidelines as you design and develop, and then running your output through the 508 Link tool, you will likely still be a bit unhappy with how the output is read by the Screen Reader. There is no question that the ToolBook application will launch in the Browser (unless a Popup Blocker is turned on and you are launching the Index.html page). There also is no question that a Screen Reader such as JAWS will begin to read what is viewed within the Browser windows. What I am offering is documentation, training, and consulting that fills in the void since following all of the above falls short of providing a good learning experience for those using the Screen Readers. If you use the Templates, Book Specialists, and Catalog objects, there are what I consider to be significant design and development issues that need to be dealt with in order to provide a satisfactory product. I also provide information on how to develop a single application for those not using the Screen Reader as well as those using the Screen Reader that does not force you to sacrifice a lot of the things that makes ToolBook a good Web Development tool. If you have a need for this and are just getting started in the development of 508 Compliant materials or you have developed a product and followed the guidelines and you are unhappy with the outcome, you can contact me and I can provide you options for your ToolBook Web applications.
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