Re: Making Inkscpe SVGs accessible to screen readers

On Thu, Jun 6, 2019 at 9:15 AM brynn <[email protected]> wrote:
>
> Did you ever try using a screen reader on it yet?

Yes :) I used "JAWS"*, but, unfortunately, unlike the "non-accessible"
SVG file, the "screen reader accessible version" presents no text data
to JAWS and it isn't able to read it. For the plain unmodified SVG
though, JAWS rambles off the text rapidly and it's really quite bad.
:(

*( https://www.freedomscientific.com/products/software/jaws/ )

>
> Is the problem that you still can't select the text from the html page?
>

I don't know if that's the problem or not. According to the reference
specs from the W3C, the "aria-label" properties in the SVG file should
fix that, or at least make the SVG file screen reader accessible.

> I'm not sure, but I think I found the section of the CSS Tricks article you're
> using, which you need the most.  It's about halfway down the page (a little
> less) called "Complex images - An Accessible Graph".
>
> #1 - "Setting up the file" starts with ordering the layers.  You only have one
> layer, so it might be that you need to make some more?

Well, if you mean groups, then I did add <g> elements with "role=list"
and "aria-label" properties to groups of text elements that are
related, but that doesn't seem to make the screen reader work.

I'm not sure what "role" I should use -- img, group, list, text?

> It also mentions
> optimization (among several other things).  It recommends using a particular
> tool.  However, Inkscape has some optimization features as well.  You'll just
> have to sort through it and figure out what you need.

I'm afraid I don't know much about SVG optimization :/ I guess I'll
have to read up on it.

>
> It mentions something about using the keyboard to guide the screenreader through
> the webpage.  So it sounds like you'll need some idea how screen readers work.
>
> #2 - "Let's make it accessible" sounds like your pot of gold!  But I wouldn't
> skip #1.

Well, I followed the examples and advice mentioned in the article, but
with no success :/

>
> You'll have to plow through it all yourself.  I didn't look past that point, but
> you probably should.
>
> All best,
> brynn
>
>

Thanks and regards,

Jonathan