Screen reader

Lets play with one!

This UX Engineer is best buds with QE

I'm a UX engineer, who loves helping people create accessible web products.

And host of Web Access Club, an accessibility podcast for web creators. Launching later this year.

I've been in the NZ tech industry for about 8 years now, specialising in UI front-end work. Accessibility is an important part of my practice.

I have a lot of experience working with exploratory testers. So I have a deep appreciation for that art of breaking my badly written code.

I do owe a significant part of my career to you detail oriented folks, bringing me all sorts of usabilty issues that the designers and I hadn't even thought possible.

Over the last few years, I've been trying to convince people in different roles accross the business about importance of accessibility... and implementing accesssible experiences

I get many different reactions... Most of them, are like this

😑 😱 😵‍💫

Common reactions to
anything related to accessibility

Unimpressed, horrified by more work, no idea how to add it to their workflow

For testers, that means a lot more things to consider. I get it. It's overwhelming.

I was disheartened at first...

But what I realised... is that those reaction are caused by fear of the unknown.

I mean, how many of us have dealt with people with disabilities on our daily lives?

Sure, I know people who need glasses, struggle with contrast, has colourblindness... Those are the problems a sighted person like myself can understand and solve without much convincing. I can still use my eyes to fix it. The same tool they're also using.

But how many people do I personally know, is someone who relies upon screen readers? None

So of course it's unknown, more unfamiliar. Of course it's scary. I have no frame of reference. So I kept putting off learning to use a screen reader.

But it doesn't have to be that way

That is why I'm here, to show you how approachable it actually it. And quite useful

What's a
screen reader?

Assistive software that
reads digital content and interfaces

Who use it?

Blind
Neurodiverse
AI assistant
Lazy ol' me

When I first learnt about screen readers, I thought only those who are completely blind uses it.

When I heard the word 'blind', I immediately visualised people who use a guide dog or a stick to move around.

Oh... how wrong I was. There are so many different access needs that is helped by screen readers. Here are a few that I'm aware of

As I mentioned, many blind users use screen readers. But it's important to note that people can be 'blind' in different ways.

There is a spectrum!

Some people are fully blind from birth. Some lose their sight afterwards. Accidents and eye disease can happen to anyone.

Some are not completely blind, but are 'legally' blind, which means they have partial use of their sight. Can still see shapes and forms, but perhaps not well enough to drive without glasses.

Some of these legally blind users could also have different visual impairments like tunnel vision, where they can only see through a tiny gap.
Perhaps not as common. But neurodiverse users, which could include people with ADHD, Autism, and other cognitively diverse attributes, also use screen reader to help consume information.

If you're wondering how... Have you ever been read to, or joined reading class at school? There's benefit in providing multiple ways to consume the same information. Especially when learning.
This may come as a surprise to you, but tools like Alexa, Siri, Google home essentially functions as screen reader when you ask it to look things up and read out to you. It's reading information from an app or a website to users.
Then, there's little old me. Too lazy to read blogs these days, so I sit back, close my eyes, and listen to articles using my screen reader.

Classic curb cut case, where tools for access needs users, like a completely blind, also benefit to other user groups.

A live demo!

Introducing OSX/Mac's VoiceOver

It's exploratory

screen reader and
keyboard only navigation can be fun!

Be curious with me!

@PraeSongprasit or @WebAccessClub

I've always admired how curious and creative the testers I've worked with are.

The last thing I want, is to be the only one who knows screen reader basics in my team.

Software development is a team activity. I need more people to learn different assistive tools, to help ensure I'm doing the right thing by those users.

I want to laugh, cry, and rage at assitive tech issues we're going to find, and fix, together.

I want to encourage us to be curious, rather than fearful. Not just about screen readers, but about any assistive tools and disabilities as a whole.

Satisfying your own curiosity doesn't feel like work. It makes making accessible software satisfying and fun.

So yes, please be curious with me. And lets nerd about optimising accessible experiences together