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Are most screen readers able to read markdown files? (self.Blind)
submitted by No_Programmer_7256
Are most screen readers able to read markdown files including when you view/preview them to show the headings, links, etc?
AndAdapt 3 points 2y ago
Markdown files work well with screen readers. Just make sure to increase the punctuation level of your screen reader. As you will need the punctuation to understand the formatting.
In terms of viewing/previewing, you can easily export markdown to HTML, PDF, Word etc. So choose the export you feel more comfortable using with your screen reader.
Personally, i use VSCODE to create markdown as with keyboard shortcuts i can view and export to lots of different formats.
In terms of viewing/previewing, you can easily export markdown to HTML, PDF, Word etc. So choose the export you feel more comfortable using with your screen reader.
Personally, i use VSCODE to create markdown as with keyboard shortcuts i can view and export to lots of different formats.
Marconius 1 points 2y ago
Yes, they are. I use Markdown Reader in MacOS to view my md files after writing them up in TextEdit. Stick to proper semantics when writing the files, so don't just use bold text where you mean to have a heading. While screen readers do have the ability to announce text attributes like bold, italic, etc., they do not do this automatically and it takes a lot more interaction from the user to find text attributes when reading a document, so you need to incorporate actual words to denote anything you are trying to emphasize.
For example, do this:
*Important: Point away from face!*
Rather than just doing this:
*Point away from face!*
While all the text is bold, the "important" addition indicates that you are trying to call out emphasis on this sentence, and again, this is because screen readers don't call out text attributes automatically.
For example, do this:
*Important: Point away from face!*
Rather than just doing this:
*Point away from face!*
While all the text is bold, the "important" addition indicates that you are trying to call out emphasis on this sentence, and again, this is because screen readers don't call out text attributes automatically.
No_Programmer_7256 [OP] 1 points 2y ago
But if you know markdown wouldn’t just reading the text tell you if something is a heading?
For example when you read a markdown file it would say
# this is a heading.
With the # you would know it’s a heading 1 right?
For example when you read a markdown file it would say
# this is a heading.
With the # you would know it’s a heading 1 right?
Marconius 1 points 2y ago
Right, that's if I'm reading the markdown file outright, but the purpose of markdown is to create an HTML-style rendering of the content, and I usually read markdown through an HTML interpreter so I can use all my screen reader navigation functions, such as jumping to specific heading levels, links, lists, etc. without having to listen to the entire document line-by-line.
No_Programmer_7256 [OP] 1 points 2y ago
So you can do either, but it’s better and easier to read the rendered content? Wait you can actually go back and forth to different headers and links?
Marconius 1 points 2y ago
My Markdown Reader app renders md files as HTML, so I can interact with files as webpages. Screen readers can navigate between links, headings, landmarks, lists, images, form controls, tables, basically all HTML elements. They are all broken down into navigable lists for us. While it's perfectly possible to navigate an md file as plain text, it's much easier to read through them rendered as HTML.
mdizak 1 points 2y ago
Yeah, of course. Can you read Wikipedia? It's markdown.
ukifrit 1 points 2y ago
You can set it to read more or less punctuation, so its not a problem to read markdown. The previews also shouldn’t be of any trouble.
No_Programmer_7256 [OP] 1 points 2y ago
Will it tell you if there’s a heading, bold word, etc?
ukifrit 1 points 2y ago
It bold and italics, but headings, links, alternative text on images, quote blocks, this is all announced. I think NVDA can read some highlighted text but I haven’t been able to make it work.
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