Is Screen Reader Able To Read Web Page Dynamically Created by JavaScript?

Question

I once thought screen reader for user with impaired eyesight can not read web page dynamically created by javascript, since I am educated to create web page that works even javascript is disabled.

Recently, I'm told that screen reader can actually read web content dynamically created in AJAX web application.

So, since screen reader can do it, why is it a discipline for accessibility to make web page work if javascript is disabled?

Answer 1

Refer to Web Accessibility

Run into this issue early and wrote an article on this, please refer to: http://www.zkoss.org/zk508/ARIArole.html

Answer 2

For a similar reason you should create web pages that keep markup and style separate, the html should be a readable logical document that gets enhanced by adding styles with css and then further enhanced with javascript for animation or dynamic styles, or just things css should do but doesn't. Thats the basis for it as far as I'm concerned, not that I achieve all of those things

Answer 3

This is coming from the perspective of someone who has used a screen reader for their entire life. JavaScript the language is not inherently screen reader unfriendly. If you want to use JavaScript to generate links, form fields, and other valid HTML elements it should work fine. Where JavaScript and other web technologies can cause problems is when you create nonstandard ways of performing an action on the page. An example of this is the voting system on Stack Overflow. It worked great with my screen reader when it was links you could click. After changing it to remove links it is much less accessible and I have to use a virtual mouse pointer to vote. I would say the best way to test is to try to use a site with nothing but a keyboard. Can you tab to all the elements on the page that allow the user to perform an action? Stack Overflow currently fails this test do to the way voting and accepting answers is set up. If you want to update content in real-time and notify the screen reader user that things have been updated take a look at http://www.w3.org/WAI/intro/aria.php If you would like to test with a screen reader take a look at http://www.nvda-project.org for a good quality free and open source windows screen reader.