dai11y 25/01/2021

We finish our #WeekOfScreenReader with a double article special: technical deep dives into data tables and dialog focus:

Article 1: How screen readers navigate data tables

  • Léonie Watson describes how she navigates data tables with NVDA (alternatively you can watch the video demonstration – 2 mins). Her demo table is marked up with a caption, a first row containing all <th> heading cells, and a first column containing all <th> cells. Léonie first navigates the heading columns and rows to figure out what’s in the table, then zones in on a particular row that may be of interest. Depending on whether she’s moving left/right or up/down, NVDA will either repeat the column heading or the row heading before announcing the selected cell contents. In other words, it relies on her remembering the value of the unannounced heading. This is to reduce verbosity.

Article 2: Dialog Focus in Screen Readers

  • Adrian Roselli discusses creating an accessible modal, using the inert keyword described in dai11y 18/01/2021. But where should the focus go when the modal is opened – the modal itself, the heading within the modal, or the close button?
  • Adrian tries out several screen reader / browser / OS combinations to hear what is announced in each of the 3 focus scenarios. The results differ wildly.
  • Adrian avoids concluding where the focus should go, saying that you should test with your users. In other words, consider which focus gives the best UX for the most popular screen reader combos your audience is using.

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