Ethan wrote:

...

...

One example is keeping extraneous text hidden until it is selected; I imagine that someone using a screen reader/portable device would appreciate being able to read a "overview" page variant and then being able to expand as necessary.

An overview at the top of a page is good usability. This is referred to as inverted pyramid [1]. The inverted pyramid is a type of writing style where conclusions are presented first not last. It begins with a conclusion then moves to the key information followed by background information. Usability studies show that web users want instant gratification. That is why the inverted pyramid style is important.

Brad Knowles wrote:

...

I would much prefer to do this without JavaScript. Because you can't guarantee that you know the way that page would be rendered if you send all sorts of "hidden" text that isn't shown until such time as someone does something to make it appear, and you can't control what kinds of mailicious cross-scripting attacks people may throw at you, it's best to simply not send anything that the user cannot currently see.

Bryan Carbonnell wrote:

I have to agree with Brad on this.

An option may be to give the site admin the ability to turn the JS on/off site wide with a mm_cfg.py variable.

Default set to off?

For the non JS option maybe provide a table of contents or overview at the top of the page with plain old anchors to jump down to detailed information.

Personally, I usually also dislike expandable/collapsible content is that relies on user action. But I haven't used Ethan's version yet. Hope it is keyboard friendly.

BTW, some degree of accessibility checking for the app can be done simply by using keyboard techniques like tabbing (using no mouse). Blind users often browse web sites by tabbing from heading to heading or link to link.

Keyboard techniques, such as tabbing through a page (tabbing through a page usually goes in the same order as a voice browser would read), is a good quick test. By tabbing you can check for any elements that cannot be accessed with the keyboard or that are in an illogical tabbing order.

The first exercise I have my Web Accessibility class do is disable their browser. The the idea is to give them an idea as to what it's like to have access to the web restricted. It's goal is to help them to understand what it feels like, and hopefully get them thinking about how these problems can be overcome.

These are their instructions:

<begin exercise>

No, don't unplug the phone cord or Ethernet connection! Instead we are going to selectively disable certain features in your web browser.

1. Go into your preferences in your browser and turn off any and all of the following, if you can. (You may have to poke around a bit in "preferences" or internet settings, and not all browsers will allow you to disable everything. But the general intent is to turn off as much as you can.)

• Images
• Sound
• Java
• JavaScript
• Style Sheets

2. Take your mouse/track ball/pointing device, unplug it, and throw it out the window. Okay, don't really do that, you might not be able to find it again. But don't use the mouse for the purpose of this exercise.

3. Look up the keyboard shortcuts for your browser in the help files or manual pages. Oops, I should have told you to do that before removing the mouse. Well, just remember that people with disabilities aren't magically born knowing how to run computers either, and if the help system is not accessible, they are in as much trouble as you are now!

4. With your "disabled" browsing system, look at five different web sites and attempt to use them. These should meet the following criteria:

• They are sites you've used before.
• They are sites where you can actually do something, and that something is of interest to you personally.
• They are different types of sites (not all news, not all e-commerce, not all personal pages, etc). Look at a variety of sites.
• Try to use these sites as you normally would, and record where you encountered any difficulties.

What Was Your Experience Like?

1. What sites did you visit?
2. Were you able to perform your normal tasks?
3. What kind of obstacles, if any, did you encounter in accessing those sites?

</end exercise>

Best Regards, Laura

[1] http://www.d.umn.edu/goto/usability#pyramid

Laura L. Carlson Information Technology Systems and Services University of Minnesota Duluth Duluth, MN U.S.A. 55812-3009 http://www.d.umn.edu/goto/webdesign/