Support for Screenreaders

[Elessa]

As for screen readers while it's nice to support it's also a huge limiting factor since JAWS is always 3-5 years behind current web stuff (and I don't see how they'll be able to handle ajax at all).  Personally I don't think much about keeping support for the readers since it's such a small (albeit very vocal) userbase.

part of the reason for there being a small, but vocal userbase is that fact that LoGD is a game that they can play using screen readers.  they are left out of so much of the gaming world simply due to their sight handicap.

the game serves a purpose in allowing people who would otherwise be left out of fantasy play an opportunity to participate.

i would prefer to find a happy medium that retains this as simple text-based game that can be customised to an individual's server.

[Talisman]

I believe the philosophy needed at the core level is to provide accessibility to the greatest number of potential users.  Those with screenreaders remain within that group.

Of course, once someone installs the game on their site, they can adopt whatever philosophy they want.

I would be very much opposed to anything which removed our current levels of support.

[RaynDarren]

@Kickme, Elessa and Talisman,
I'd just like to thank all of you for your support of screen reader users. I would hate to see something that is so much fun, both to code for and play go the way of so many other games.

@GenmaC
Yes, JAWS is typically a few years behind the times, but that's just the way of things. No use griping over things that cannot be changed.

~Rayn

[CavemanJoe]

RANT BEGINS

I don't like JAWS.  I don't like how it costs nine hundred dollars (no, seriously - that's not a joke).  I don't like how there are no free developer versions so that we can test how our site "looks" to a VI user.  I don't like how it's clearly set up to take advantage of the visually-impaired.  I don't like its monopoly.  I don't like how its business model actually makes it harder for us to make the Web more accessible.  It ranks up with Internet Explorer and Norton Antivirus on a personal list of my most maligned programs - the software that I personally believe is actually hindering society in general, rather than helping it.

I just plain don't like it.

RANT ENDS, USEFUL (hopefully, anyway!) INFORMATION BEGINS

NVDA is free, open-source and regularly updated.  I've been encouraging my VI players to use it instead of JAWS, since I cannot legitimately beta test in JAWS.  Response so far has been overwhelmingly positive:

You have received a new Distraction on Improbable Island at http://www.improbableisland.com/

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
From: Newbie Otaku-dono
To: Admin CavemanJoe
Subject: NVDA
Body:
Thank you so much for posting about NVDA. One of my dear friends is blind and currently at straights because after spending much money and time learning JAWS at the Braille Institute she can't afford an at home version. I told her yesterday about it at church and her face just lit up like a candle.
God bless.
Melody aka Newbie Otaku-dono
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

It's a bit buggy from time to time, but like I say, it's updated frequently and the bugs get sorted.  Rayn, the closest I can get to testing with NVDA involves wearing headphones and having my eyes closed - not the most intuitive method.  If you could ask some of your players to give it a shot instead of JAWS and see whether they like NVDA more, then we might be on to something.  And hell, if this thing takes off and replaces JAWS, us developers will actually be able to - gasp - test our code.   

[RaynDarren]

Joe,

First, I absolutely agree with you, however, JAWS is what's taught in rehab centers and schools unless you specifically request to learn something else.

Any-who.. back on topic...
Sure, why not... I'll point some of my players at it, and have a look myself. . One comment though, you can beta test with JAWS, you just need to use the demo version wich requires a restart every 40 minutes.

Feedback coming

~Rayn

[White Knight]

I'd like to point out that screen reader discussion is worthy of its own thread.

Prepare for auditory overload with NVDA.  It's a great little piece of software with a lot of potential. Be sure to set up its setting to your liking. I wish it could read IFrames and the title attribute of HTML tags.

About JAWS. Unfortunately, the only thing a developer can legally do with the evaluation version of it is look at it because of its licensing terms. There's an article that describes this problem. In a nutshell, if you don't have the authorization to use the full version, you can't really do anything at all with it. Not legally, anyway.