Skip Navigation
BlueModus

4 Key Takeaways from WebAIM’s 2019 Screen Reader User Survey

4 Key Takeaways from WebAIM’s 2019 Screen Reader User Survey

WebAIM has been conducting surveys on web accessibility for years (see WebAIM projects), including a survey of Screen Reader users since 2009. The most recent survey was published in September 2019. 

I encourage everyone to read through their results and analysis as it won’t take long, but here are the four key insights I found. 

Note: Numbers rounded to the nearest full number

#1 - The technology landscape for screen readers is fragmented, but usage is not

A predominant number of users rely only on a handful of platforms and technologies. More is always better when it comes to testing, but given the scarcity of time, talent, and treasure, I would expect the best ROI by prioritizing the following list: 

  1.  JAWS on Chrome on Windows 
  2.  NVDA on Firefox on Windows 
  3.  VoiceOver on iOS/Safari 

This gets you coverage for: 

  • 87% of Desktop OS usage 
  • 70% of mobile OS usage 
  • 94% of screen readers 

Where is MacOS? Based on the data, Mac usage is less than 10%, and that 85% of those users in the survey appear to be developers without disabilities using it for testing purposes. 

Trend wise, for the first time, Chrome usage surpassed Firefox’s and NVDA surpassed JAWS. 

#2 - Page Headings are the top navigation feature. 

When asked about how they navigate a lengthy webpage 69% said they try to use page headings first, and 86% said that heading levels are useful. 

For context, more than twice as many people (7% vs 3%) will just read the whole page rather than use landmarks. 

Rather than styling div, p, and span tags to look different, structure your content using actual headings (h1-h6) which provide explicit hierarchy. 

#3 - JavaScript use is normal 

As with the general population, JavaScript usage for screen reader users is over 99%, so JavaScript on its own is not an issue but, just as on the visible web, the way you use it could be a problem. 

For reference, WCAG 2.0 removed the requirement that sites work with scripting disabled, so it is possible to have a compliant site that requires JavaScript to work. 

 #4 - Documents are problematic, especially PDFs. 

This can be a controversial topic, but documents on websites are not inherently good or bad; they have their place and should be used appropriately. 

75% of respondents indicated that PDFs are likely to cause significant issues, while only 31% thought so for Word docs. 

If you have documents, make them as accessible as possible. If you have a choice between a word doc and a pdf, the word doc is probably the better accessibility choice. 

For help making your docs more accessible just do a web search for "make accessible documents in [name of the software you are using]". 

In my opinion, the American Library Association has a great "Should this be a PDF a Word Document or a Webpage? Flow Chart" to help make the evaluation easier. 

Summary 

  1. Use data to decide on your testing program 
  2. Page headings go a long way towards the usability of your content 
  3. Using JavaScript is okay 
  4. Be wary of documents. Generally, Web > Word > PDF 

If you have any feedback or had different takeaways, I would love to discuss it. 


Interested?
Interested?

Interested?

Send us a message using the form below or call us at 303.759.2100

Yay, you did it!!

Thanks for reaching out. We've received your message and will get back to you soon.

Oops. There's a problem.

This one’s on us, not on you. Please try submitting the form again, or if you prefer, you can email us at curious@bluemodus.com.