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Text Reader Characteristics

We will be demonstrating the IBM Home Page Reader 3.0 in class. It is a good, basic text reader that effectively reads web pages and text. It is relatively easy and straightforward to use, and quickly demonstrates the current technology of text readers.

The JAWS text reader permits complete computer control, and has more robust web-reading functions such as Link Listing. See Slatin Maximum Accessibility, p. 247. It is the text reader of choice in the College's Disability Support Services office. However, it is a much more complex program and takes time to learn to use effectively. For purposes of this course, the IBM Home Page Reader 3.0 is quite sufficient. You can download it for a free 30-day trial version.

Here are some of the basic characteristics of text readers with which you should be familiar.

1. Text readers read left to right, then carriage return to the next line, and start reading left to right again.
2. Once the text reader reads text, it moves on, unless you stop it and return. You can program the keyboard and arrow keys to control the text reader movement. You can also customize how the text reader reads a page -- whether continuously, a word, line, or paragraph at a time.
3. Text readers can be set to read at a speed which you find comfortable. However, intelligible speech proceeds much more slowly than "speed read" rates at which most people with good vision will scan web pages. You need to take this into account when building accessible web pages. Hearing is believing, and there is no good substitue for running your page through a text reader to determine the level of assistance you have built into your pages.
4. Text readers read the "dash" mark as "minus." That's its ASCII code name. Text readers are programmed to read out the word "minus" because the "dash" is also used for substraction in computer math formulas. Our eye "reads" the "dash" in alpha sentences as a "dash." The textreader is programmed only to read out the phrase "minus" when it sees the ASCII character "-." One must think literally when composing text.
5. Solution? Use the colon (:) separator instead of "dashes."
6. Text readers read US as "us", not U.S. You must use letter-perfect punctuation. See Williams College Library Citation Styles page, including links to the Chicago Style Manual. See also English grammar references at www. EduFind.com.
7. Note the various "Reading" modes.  On the IBM Home Page Reader, you can find the following reading modes with keyboard shortcut keys under "Read" on the Main Menu: