The Screen Reader Experience
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Screen readers are a type of assistive technology which
transforms digital content into auditory content.
Screen readers interact with HTML code of a website and allows users to navigate websites by the underlying tags including: landmarks, headers, links or by every line.
Individuals in the blind community rely on screen readers to gain access to the internet and digital content.
Screen readers use synthesized speech to narrate a site and can present the information in a braille display. The most popular screen readers are JAWS, VoiceOver and NVDA.
Individuals with various other impairments may also use screen readers if they are not able to use a mouse.
Web accessibility allows individuals the same online experience regardless of their method of acquiring information.
Websites that are not coded following the Section 508 accessibility guidelines can have a negative interaction with screen readers, making content difficult or impossible to access.
Individuals should not be denied access to information just because they use this assistive technology.