Blind and Visually Impaired Community
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mouse hovering and Jaws (self.Blind)
submitted by blearghhh_two
Hi all - I'm working on a web application, and I've been told that one of the requirements is that buttons and links need to be read by screen readers when the mouse hovers over them.
In my earlier testing, Jaws did this fine, and NVDA did not, so the developer went away and did some stuff. And, at the same time I changed computers, so I had to reinstall Jaws.
Now, Jaws is no longer reading out the buttons and links as I roll over. NVDA still does not.
So did the developer do something wrong that made it worse? Or did I change something in Jaws when I reinstalled that made it work differently?
Also - has anyone ever heard of this requirement before as an assist for partially-sited people?
In my earlier testing, Jaws did this fine, and NVDA did not, so the developer went away and did some stuff. And, at the same time I changed computers, so I had to reinstall Jaws.
Now, Jaws is no longer reading out the buttons and links as I roll over. NVDA still does not.
So did the developer do something wrong that made it worse? Or did I change something in Jaws when I reinstalled that made it work differently?
Also - has anyone ever heard of this requirement before as an assist for partially-sited people?
CloudyBeep 2 points 3y ago
This feature is called "mouse echo". It exists in both JAWS and NVDA, but is not enabled by default. It's primarily used in these applications so that blind people can use the mouse as a last resort to understand the screen layout and activate inaccessible controls.
However, some people with low vision find it useful. People who are visually impaired generally use ZoomText or other screen magnification software; they rarely use screen readers, and if they do, they are more likely to use screen reading and screen magnification together, like with the product Fusion, which combines JAWS and ZoomText.
Whatever software is being used for testing, you shouldn't need to change the code to have mouse echo unless the user has specifically chosen to receive that information by changing options in their screen reading or screen magnification software. It also shouldn't be something you need to design and test for since it nearly always works.
Here is some information you might find useful about mouse echo in Fusion: https://www.zoomtext.com/futest/
However, some people with low vision find it useful. People who are visually impaired generally use ZoomText or other screen magnification software; they rarely use screen readers, and if they do, they are more likely to use screen reading and screen magnification together, like with the product Fusion, which combines JAWS and ZoomText.
Whatever software is being used for testing, you shouldn't need to change the code to have mouse echo unless the user has specifically chosen to receive that information by changing options in their screen reading or screen magnification software. It also shouldn't be something you need to design and test for since it nearly always works.
Here is some information you might find useful about mouse echo in Fusion: https://www.zoomtext.com/futest/
blearghhh_two [OP] 2 points 3y ago
Aha! Thank you. Once I knew what the feature was called it was much easier to find info about it.
Laser_Lens_4 1 points 3y ago
Screen reader users don't usually use a mouse.
blearghhh_two [OP] 1 points 3y ago
See, this was my thought, but the accessibility people at work said that it was a requirement because some partially-sighted people or people with cognitive issues use a mouse for navigation but need text to be read out.
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