Dealing with Difficult Pages
JAWS makes reading and using the Internet easy and fun. However, Web page authors must follow certain guidelines to make their pages accessible to JAWS and other screen reading software. JAWS reads most pages well, even if they are not designed with accessibility in mind. Occasionally, you may come across a page that is poorly designed or difficult to use with JAWS. In this section, you will learn some tricks for dealing with these difficult Web pages.
Reading Pages that Refresh Automatically
Some Web pages automatically refresh - or reload - after a certain period of time. Usually this is done to update information on the page in a timely fashion. When a page refreshes, JAWS moves you back to the beginning of the page. This can interrupt what you are doing. To see an example of a page like this, go to the refreshing version of the E-Stocks sample page and try to read through it. This version of the E-Stocks sample page is designed to refresh every twenty seconds so you can practice this lesson.
JAWS Tip: Notice that JAWS informs you how often this page reloads. You must be using Beginner verbosity to hear this message.
EXERCISE: Follow along with the steps below to make pages that automatically refresh easier to work with:
- Go to the refreshing version of the E-Stocks sample page.
- Press INSERT+V. Quick Settings opens with focus in the search edit box.
- Type page refresh in the search edit box. The tree view below the search edit box filters out all items that do not match the search phrase.
- Press DOWN ARROW to move to Page Refresh for the virtual cursor options.
- Press the SPACEBAR to choose "Off."
- Press TAB to move to the OK button, and then activate it with the SPACEBAR. Quick Settings closes and the changes are saved.
- Try reading through the refreshing version of the E-Stocks sample page again. The page still refreshes every 20 seconds, but you can read the text without being interrupted or returning to the top of the page.
Working with Improperly Tagged Images
Sometimes a Web page author does not assign alternate text, a title, or a long description to images on the page. JAWS ignores images like these because the program cannot provide you with any useful information. However, if the image is also a link, then JAWS announces the location (or file path) of the image. You can also view the destination URL of the image link.
JAWS Tip: You can also have JAWS announce images on the page with no descriptive text that aren't links. Alternatively, you can tell JAWS to ignore all images on the page. To do this, press INSERT+V to open Quick Settings. Look for "Graphics Show - Tagged" and choose "All" to hear all images on the page, or choose "None" if you don't want JAWS to announce any images.
The image below this paragraph is the Freedom Scientific corporate logo. It is also a link to the Freedom Scientific Web site. This image does not have any descriptive text. When you move to the image, JAWS reads the name of the file. Unfortunately, in this case the file name is also not descriptive.
EXERCISE: Follow the steps below to obtain some more information about this image:
- Press INSERT+V. The Quick Settings dialog box appears. Focus is in the search edit box.
- Type in untagged. Quick Settings filters out everything else that does not match the search term.
- Press DOWN ARROW to move to "Untagged Graphical Links Show - Image Source" in the virtual cursor options.
- Press the SPACEBAR to choose "Untagged Graphical Links Show - URL."
- Press TAB to move to the OK button, and then activate it with the SPACEBAR. Quick Settings closes and the changes are saved.
- Press G to make sure focus is back on the Freedom Scientific logo image link. Notice that JAWS now reads the destination of this graphic link, which is www.FreedomScientific.com.
NOTE: Be sure to follow the steps above and change this setting back to "Untagged Graphical Links Show - Image Source" when you are finished testing this.
Getting More Information about Links
Sometimes the text of a link will not be very descriptive. For example, a Web page may have a link called "Click here." To change how JAWS reads links on a Web page, do the following:
- Press INSERT+V. Quick Settings opens with focus in the search edit box.
- Type text links in the search edit box. Quick Settings filters out everything in the tree view below the search edit box except for items that match the search phrase.
- Press DOWN ARROW to find "Text Links Show Using - Screen Text" in the virtual cursor options.
- Press the SPACEBAR to cycle through the available options. You find the following choices:
- Alt Attribute - JAWS looks for and reads information provided by the Alt attribute if assigned.
- Longest - JAWS speaks the longest string of information for each link.
- Custom Search - JAWS searches for information in the order specified in the "order list" in Settings Center and reads the first information found.
- Title - JAWS first looks for and reads information provided by the <title> attribute. If no title text is found, JAWS reads the on screen text.
- Screen Text - JAWS reads the on screen text. This is the default setting.
- For now, press ESC to get out of the Quick Settings dialog box.
The following is an example of a link with both screen text and a title attribute:
EXERCISE: Follow the instructions below to switch between the screen text and the title and notice how JAWS reads each:
- Press INSERT+V to open the Quick Settings dialog box.
- Type text links in the search edit box. Quick Settings filters out everything in the tree view below the search edit box except for items that match the search phrase.
- Press DOWN ARROW to find "Text Links Show Using - Screen Text" in the virtual cursor options.
- Press the SPACEBAR to cycle through the available options until you find Text Links Show Using - Title.
- Press TAB to move to the OK button, and then activate it with the SPACEBAR. Quick Settings closes and the changes are saved.
- Now re-read the link.
- Open the JAWS list of links with INSERT+F7 and notice the title now appears there as well.
- Press ESC to get out of the list of links when you are finished.
NOTE: Be sure to follow the steps above when you are finished and change JAWS back to Text Links Show Using - Screen Text in the virtual cursor options again.
EXERCISE: The next two links both have the same screen text, but contain a different title. Which of the two links pertains to learning more about Fusion? Follow the instructions above to change JAWS from Text Links Show Using - Screen Text in the virtual cursor options to Text Links Show Using - Title. Open the JAWS list of links now using INSERT+F7 and find these two links. How do the links read in the list of links? When you are finished be sure to change JAWS back to the default setting, Text Links Show Using - Screen Text. Look again at the links with the JAWS list of links.
Skipping Past Site Navigation
Many sites have site navigation elements, such as navigation bars or a long series of links, at the top of each page. These links are a useful way to help visitors get around the site. However, designs like this can make it difficult for users of screen readers to get to the content of each page on the site, since you have to read through all the links first.
TIP: Some sites may provide a link at the top of each page called "Skip to Main Content," "Skip Navigation," or something similar. You can use these links to move past the site navigation and get to the page content.
To skip past site navigation links, buttons, and other elements, use the navigation quick key N. Pressing N moves you to the next block of text that is not a link. Usually, pressing N a few times will take you right to the main content of the page.
Accessing Browser Notifications
From time to time, your browser may display a notification or alert depending on what you are doing. These alerts may include but are not limited to blocked popup windows, running active content, saving website logon information, or downloading files.
JAWS will announce when a notification appears followd by the text of the alert. If focus does not automatically move to it and remains on the web page, press F6 or SHIFT+F6 to move to the notification. There will most likely be one or more buttons that you can move to by pressing TAB or SHIFT+TAB. The notification closes once you choose one of the available buttons to perform an action.