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jelf12
September 7, 2010
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Using screen reader with check boxes.

  • September 7, 2010
  • 4 replies
  • 4416 views

Hello All,

I have a check box on a form.  Upon tabbing to the check box the custom text is read by the screen reader.  The custom text provides an explanation of the field as well as the current state (unchecked).  Is there a way to have the screen reader announce the state of the check box upon changing from unchecked to checked?

If this required scripting or the use of alternate text, an example or explanation would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,

Jelf12

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Best answer by awkaccess

Jelf12,

You should be careful about providing too much information in the CSRT, I usually recommend that people just rely on the caption text for checkboxes -- if the information is sufficient for sighted users, then in combination with the information provided to the assistive technology via our accessibility API in Adobe Reader the information should be sufficient for non-sighted users.

For example, if you have a checkbox that has a caption that is "Please send me information about new offers", that would be fine for screen reader users because when they land on the checkbox they will hear "please send me information about new offers, checkbox checked" and if they uncheck it (you can assume that how to toggle a checkbox is common knowledge so don't need to convey this information) they will hear "Unchecked".  If the user tabs away and tabs back they will hear the full explanation again, except with the changed state reported.

It is tempting to overdo it, but for most checkboxes all you need to do is make sure that the screen reader precedence is set to "Caption" and move on.

AWK

4 replies

A
Anonymous
September 7, 2010

Not that I am aware of but I am looking into it to see if you can cause Jaws to say something on demand. Will let you know what I find out when I find

it out.

Paul

J
jelf12Author
September 7, 2010

Thanks.

A
awkaccessAccepted solution
September 8, 2010

Jelf12,

You should be careful about providing too much information in the CSRT, I usually recommend that people just rely on the caption text for checkboxes -- if the information is sufficient for sighted users, then in combination with the information provided to the assistive technology via our accessibility API in Adobe Reader the information should be sufficient for non-sighted users.

For example, if you have a checkbox that has a caption that is "Please send me information about new offers", that would be fine for screen reader users because when they land on the checkbox they will hear "please send me information about new offers, checkbox checked" and if they uncheck it (you can assume that how to toggle a checkbox is common knowledge so don't need to convey this information) they will hear "Unchecked".  If the user tabs away and tabs back they will hear the full explanation again, except with the changed state reported.

It is tempting to overdo it, but for most checkboxes all you need to do is make sure that the screen reader precedence is set to "Caption" and move on.

AWK

J
jelf12Author
September 9, 2010

Thanks AWK.  You were definitely right.  Thanks for the information, it's going to save me a ton of time.

J

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