Comments on: Ask.com Turns Up the Heat http://www.fastforwardblog.com/2007/10/15/askcom-turns-up-the-heat/ Fri, 28 Oct 2011 01:28:22 -0500 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.4 hourly 1 By: Derek Featherstone http://www.fastforwardblog.com/2007/10/15/askcom-turns-up-the-heat/comment-page-1/#comment-61677 Derek Featherstone Wed, 17 Oct 2007 03:31:29 +0000 http://www.fastforwardblog.com/2007/10/15/askcom-turns-up-the-heat/#comment-61677 Ooooh, great question, Paula! The short answer is this: the web starts out being accessible by default, and then when we develop, we start to take that accessibility away. Looking at the auto-recommender I notice a few things: 1. when I start typing, and the "Search Suggestions" pops on to the screen, how does someone that can't see even know that it is there? 2. where in the source order/flow of the page is the "Search Suggestions" box? it appears to be at the end - after all of the links in the footer (once it shows up, start tabbing and you'll see the tab focus move through the footer links and then through the suggested search terms) 3. does the JavaScript that reads the keystrokes for using the up and down arrows in the Search Suggestions box work properly when a screen reader is being used? 4. will the Search Suggestions box show up at all when voice recognition software is being used? maybe, maybe not... 5. I like the "Disable" link - a nice feature, but one that doesn't persist. If I refresh the page the Search Suggestions are enabled again. If the functionality interferes with assistive technology use then the fact that it doesn't persist makes it much less usable. Ah, a lovely case study, requiring some testing :) Thanks for pointing it out, Paula! Ooooh, great question, Paula! The short answer is this: the web starts out being accessible by default, and then when we develop, we start to take that accessibility away.

Looking at the auto-recommender I notice a few things:

1. when I start typing, and the “Search Suggestions” pops on to the screen, how does someone that can’t see even know that it is there?
2. where in the source order/flow of the page is the “Search Suggestions” box? it appears to be at the end – after all of the links in the footer (once it shows up, start tabbing and you’ll see the tab focus move through the footer links and then through the suggested search terms)
3. does the JavaScript that reads the keystrokes for using the up and down arrows in the Search Suggestions box work properly when a screen reader is being used?
4. will the Search Suggestions box show up at all when voice recognition software is being used? maybe, maybe not…
5. I like the “Disable” link – a nice feature, but one that doesn’t persist. If I refresh the page the Search Suggestions are enabled again. If the functionality interferes with assistive technology use then the fact that it doesn’t persist makes it much less usable.

Ah, a lovely case study, requiring some testing :) Thanks for pointing it out, Paula!

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