A first idea of enhancing the ADG with simple video demos

[jmuheim]

Regarding the question about how to make the ADG stand out from other resources, I thought about creating some video demos about how screen readers are actually used (seemingly still the most difficult challenge to master for web developers).

Here's a first attempt: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9GfheP-8W8w (includes subtitles).

Videos like that are created pretty quickly and could offer great benefits to readers: they could bridge the gap between just reading some text and actually trying screen readers on their own.

This would strengthen the ADG's reason for existence in being a thorough guide for beginners in accessibility and experts alike.

The videos can also serve as documentation and quality assurance, e.g. for re-testing examples every now and then with current browser / screen reader combinations.

We could add a video for each example (or at least wherever it makes sense), and we could also add videos about good and bad real life examples (e.g. show how good or bad heading structures are on microsoft.com or apple.com).

[renestalder]

Very nice. That's a very good start. I like that.

Two things that confuse me:

• The Mac keyboard: Considering Windows still being the major OS and as the video is showing screen readers on Windows, I would recommend using a keyboard with Windows or neutral key caps, as I assume it would be easier for the majority of non Mac users. I use Mac too, but based on a short research, Windows seems the most popular OS among software developers.
• I can't really tell what the OS is, if it's a restyled Windows 10 or an older version. Just to keep in mind, that everything older than Windows 10 is getting end of support on January 14th 2020, so that we consider the videos be recorded as sustainable as possible.

I think that's an absolute good MVP and if you get the chance to lend or get a better microphone, that would probably give it a slightly better finish. But apart from that, I think this would be more than a valuable addition to the guide.

[jmuheim]

Thanks for your reply, @renestalder!

Yes and yes:

• I just used my own keyboard, as I don't have another one right now. But a normal Windows keyboard would definitely be the right choice.
• It's my old Win7 VM, and I'm aware that it will be phased out soon. I will need to set up a new VM with Win10 I guess. I hope my old Macbook Pro will be able to handle it.

And yeah, a better microphone would come in handy, too. Maybe also a better NVDA voice synthesizer.

[jmuheim]

Thinking about it, having short videos like this could prove extremely valuable in different ways. For example, we could record how we set up our basic testing environment (like described in the Knowledge-part), or we can record a full-blown testing session (how A4a experts test a website), or we could record a single video for each typical requirement (how we test headings, how we test widgets, how we test forms...), etc.

Or we could put different personas into the focus, like a screen reader user (what's their way of browsing the internet, what's their typical barriers to overcome?), a motor-impaired user, a hard-of-hearing user, a deaf user...

Or we could demonstrate some typical restrictions, e.g. what barriers a user faces who only sees grayscale (by adding a monochrome layer to a website), or a user who has very low vision (blur layer) and thus needs to zoom a lot, etc.

While the effort of doing this is relatively low, I'm confident that many ADG users would immensely profit from it. We could even think about making money from it by introducing a paywall or something: basic videos free, expert videos at a small fee (we could even offer a Patreon membership).

[jmuheim]

Note to myself: I'm currently in the process of setting up a new Windows 10 virtual machine. So far, NVDA seems to run smoother on it than on the Windows 7 one, which is very welcome for making video tutorials.

[jmuheim]

Note to myself: instead of using the internal microphone to record both the output of NVDA and the human voice of the demo'er, we should setup something like https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PB_fwoinVPw (fix security issue: https://techwiser.com/record-internal-audio-on-mac/).

Edit: SoundFlower needs some CPU, and this adds a lot of crackling to the output. What a pity. Maybe it's still the best idea to simply only use the internal microphone and speakers.

[jmuheim]

Some more proofs of concept:

• Accessibility Developer Guide: Bad example case: Headings outline of airbnb.com
• Accessibility Developer Guide: Good example case: Headings outline of myswitzerland.com

At A4a, we are currently discussing the possibilities of adding video recordings for our own testing workflows, for example creating a live recording when reviewing a website and provide those videos to the client. From this material, we could also try to create before/after comparisons of typical violations of WCAG requirements, like having a bad headings outline on a page first ("before"), and then how it was fixed ("after"). This could be incredibly valuable for the accessibility community, so we are thinking of a way of incorporating those videos into the ADG.

It's only an idea at the time being, but one with a very high potential in my opinion. I will tell a bit more about it next week in my presentation about WCAG 2.1.

[lauraADDK]

Hi I am an Audio Describer in films and TV have you thought of how you Can/Will bring in AD to the videos? Have you seen Any articles about the AD angle ? Looking forward to hearing from you. Thank you LauraADDK

[jmuheim]

Dear @lauraADDK, I'm sorry that we never responded to your question. Are you still interested in this topic? If so, please contact me through josua@nothing.ch. I'm happy to hear from you! 🙂