Sunday 19 August 2012

Use of Screen Readers for Websites

A website should not only be attractive, it should also be easily accessible and navigable. This is especially true for persons who suffer from disabilities like blindness or hearing problems. It should be kept in mind that approximately ten percent of the internet savvy population suffers from disabilities. Your company website must cater to these individuals as well.

Screen Reader

People with vision problems use screen readers to access a web page. These aids make on- screen information available as a refreshable Braille display or as a synthesized speech. This software can only translate text information. Images can be translated only if an alternative text is present to describe the image. To use the alternative text or ALT attribute in image tags, just include the ALT attribute in the image tag. A period can also be added to the end of the ALT attribute text- this is done so that the individual hearing the page can understand where one image ends and the other begins. According to website design Sydney professionals, the image should be numbered or the image map links should have a number at the start of the “ALT” attribute text. This assists in orientating the person hearing the page. If text links are present adjacently, you must separate the links with a space and a period. A vertical bar can also be used to separate the links. Standard images must contain alternative text attributes. In case an image is inconsequential, empty alternative text attributes should be set.

According to Sydney web design professionals, in case of animated images, alternative text should be employed to describe each frame. This is evident when you use the Internet Explorer browser. Hover the mouse pointer over the button, and a small text box should appear. The text box contains the alternative text message.

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