Skip to content

Support Matrix a11y tool

Jump to bottom Edit New page
Peter Krautzberger edited this page Jun 10, 2016 · 124 revisions

Features for screenreader users

Support

Browser support

All latest browsers are support, i.e., IE11, Edge, Firefox, Chrome, Safari.

MathJax output options

The explorer works with MathJax's CommonHTML, SVG, and HTML-CSS output.

Screenreader support (see test results below for details).

  • NVDA
  • JAWS
  • WindowEyes
  • ChromeVox
  • VoiceOver
  • ORCA
  • Dolphin

Using the explorer

The application for keyboard navigation allows users to explore sub-expressions simultaneously visually and aurally. The application uses the following keys bindings:

  • SHIFT+SPACE: start application (requires focus)
    • NOTE: Depending on the implementation quality of the particular browser/screenreader/OS combination (especially Chrome and IE), users might have to disable screenreader reading modes (e.g., "browse mode" in NVDA, "virtual cursor" in JAWS) before being able to launch the application.
  • ESC: stop application.
    • NOTE: When restarted, the application will continue where the user left off.
  • UP/DOWN: move up or down the sub-expression tree.
    • When moving down, navigation will start at the left-most sub-expression of the level.
    • The application plays an aural indicator (earcon) if the user is at the bottom/top level of the tree.
  • LEFT/RIGHT: navigate the current level in the sub-expression tree horizontally.
  • ENTER: switch collapsed state of the current sub-expression and regenerate speech-text to match (e.g., provide summary upon collapsing).
  • SPACE: get positional information, i.e., the current level in the sub-expression tree as well as collapsibility/expandability of the current subexpression.

Notes on browse vs focus mode (and equivalent

Most screenreaders have two modes for interaction: browse (or virtual) and focus (or forms) mode. For more information see Leonie Watson's excellent overview.

Since some browser+screenreader combinations do not detect applications correctly, you might have to manually switch to focus mode, e.g.,

  • NVDA (Browse/Focus Mode) is switched via NVDAkey+space (default: INS or CapsLock). If MathJax's SVG output is used, NVDA might switch to Focus Mode automatically (in particular on older Windows Versions).
  • Window Eyes (Browse/Focus Mode) is switched via ctrl+shift+a
  • JAWS ("Virtual PC Cursor") is switched via JAWS+z (default: INS)
  • VoiceOver has no modes but shift+ctrl+cmd+KEY will trigger direct input
  • ChromeVox requires no extra switching
  • ORCA: ORCA+A (default: INS)

Other useful tricks.

JAWS has a feature Move to (Previous) Clickable Element which should allow users to jump (back) to the math just read out by browse/virtual mode and start the walker. However, it often does not detect clickable elements (i.e., the MathJax menu) and does not have a feature for to move to previous application).

Results.

The table below summarizes the results from testing and user reports.

Some notes on current bugs:

  • IE
    • currently, the a11y tool does not support IE<10.
  • Mobile
    • we do not yet support mobile browsers / touchscreen interfaces but have plans for it.
  • We have implemented an indicator to inform the user that the tool is present.
  • We have implemented an indicator to indicate when hitting an "edge" (both horizontally and vertically)
  • Regarding the "Usable?" numbers below: +1 means "minor bugs", 0 means "significant bugs but usable", -1 means "serious bugs, not usable"; DNA means "does not apply" (usually means AT does not support that browser/OS combination).
Screenreader Browser OS Usable? Bugs
ChromeVox Chrome any +1 notes: if navigating too quickly, ChromeVox might read "d i v" instead of the speech text (the aria live region is on a <div> ).
NVDA Firefox WinXP +1 no bugs
NVDA Firefox Win7 +1 no bugs, (not a bug: in browse mode reads "application clickable" before the aria-label on each expression; says "space" when space is used to display level/collapsible)
NVDA Firefox Win8.1 +1 no bugs
NVDA Firefox Win10 +1 no bugs
NVDA Chrome WinXP +1 [requires mode switching]
NVDA Chrome Win7 +1 [requires mode switching] (not a bug: in browse mode reads "application" before the aria-label on each expression)
NVDA Chrome Win8.1 +1 [requires mode switching]
NVDA Chrome Win10 +1 [requires mode switching]
NVDA MS Edge Win10 DNA [Edge issues prevent support by NVDA]
NVDA IE11 Win10 +1 [requires mode switching]
NVDA IE11 Win8.1 +1 no bugs
NVDA IE10 Win7 +1 no bugs
VoiceOver Safari OSX +1 Fences highlighting bug, https://github.com/zorkow/speech-rule-engine/issues/29
VoiceOver Chrome OSX +1 no bugs
VoiceOver Firefox OSX DNA FF not exposing live regions yet
Window Eyes (9.1) Firefox WinXP +1 voices dashes (plus-or-minus)
Window Eyes Firefox Win7 -1 ignores aria-hidden (thus speaks chars from visual rendering in addition to label); other: speaks some dashes (plus-or-minus), adds "application landmark ... end application landmark" to each expression
Window Eyes Firefox Win8.1 +1 voices dashes (plus-or-minus)
Window Eyes Firefox Win10 +1 voices dashes (plus-or-minus)
Window Eyes IE 10 Win7 +1 no bugs
Window Eyes IE 11 Win8.1 +1 voices dashes (plus-or-minus)
Window Eyes IE 11 Win10 +1 no bugs
Window Eyes MS Edge Win10 +1 no bugs
Window Eyes (9.1) Chrome WinXP -1
Window Eyes Chrome Win10 -1
Window Eyes Chrome Win8.1 -1
Window Eyes Chrome Win7 0 requires manual switch to focus mode to trigger walker; speaks "application landmark ... end applicatin landmark" around aria-label; in walker: makes "pling" at each key press;
JAWS Firefox WinXP +1 [reads raw MathML from AsssitiveMML when focusing on expression]; voices dashes (plus-or-minus)
JAWS FF Win7 +1 speaks dashes ("right dash paranthesis"), in browse mode adds "application" after each expression's aria-label, speaks "space" when space is used to display level/collapsible
JAWS Firefox Win10 +1 speaks some dashes (plus-or-minus)
JAWS Chrome WinXP +1 speaks some dashes (plus-or-minus)
JAWS Chrome Win7 +1 speaks some dashes (plus-or-minus); in browse mode adds "empty application" after each expression's aria-label, speaks "shift space" when activating walker, speaks "space" when in walker, sometimes speaks "blank" for each keypress in walker;
JAWS Chrome Win10 +1 voices dashes (plus-or-minus)
JAWS MS Edge Win10 DNA [Edge issues prevent MathML support by JAWS]
JAWS IE11 Win8.1 +1
JAWS IE11 Win10 +1
JAWS IE10 Win7 +1
JAWS FF Win8.1 +1
JAWS Chrome Win8.1 +1 "blank" precedes speech output; reads raw MathML from AsssitiveMML when focusing on expression
JAWS 13 Chrome Win7 +1 voices dashes (plus-or-minus)
JAWS 13 Firefox Win7 +1 voices dashes (plus-or-minus)
Orca Firefox Ubuntu 15.10 0 does not voice aria-labels and ignores aria-hidden (thus reading character in visual output; will sometime add "clickable" after those characters)
Orca Web Ubuntu 15.10 DNA [WebKitGTK not fully accessible]
Orca Chrome(ium) Ubuntu 15.10 DNA [Chrome not accessible]
Dolphin Screenreader IE11 Win10 -1 reads arial-labels; does not seem to support live regions, ignores aria-hidden (thus speaks characters in the visual output)

Demo

Videos

We have been creating short videos to demonstrate how the accessibility tool works on various combinations of browsers, operating system, and screenreaders.

The videos can be found at https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL1ATLkPgTEBoIBkY6Ee9rdgAJaJtISOE8.

\begin{array}{l}I=\int_0^R{\rho(r)r^2\hspace{0.2em}2\pi r\hspace{0.2em}dr\hspace{0.2em}L=\int_0^R{(\rho_0+\alpha r)r^2}}\hspace{0.2em}2\pi r\hspace{0.2em}dr\hspace{0.2em}L\\hspace{0.2em}\hspace{0.2em}=\frac12\rho_0\pi R^4L+\frac25\alpha\pi R^5L\end{array}

Add a custom sidebar
Clone this wiki locally