Screen Reader User Survey #2 Results

Introduction In October 2009, WebAIM conducted a survey of preferences of screen reader users. We received 665 valid responses to the screen reader user survey. This was a follow-up survey to a previous survey. Follow-up surveys were conducted in December 2010, May 2012, January 2014, July 2015, and October 2017. A few disclaimers and notices: Totals may not equal 100% due to rounding.

Total responses (n) for each question may not equal 665 due to respondents not answering that particular question.

The sample was not controlled and may not represent all screen reader users.

Care should be taken in interpreting these results. Responses are based upon user experiences with web content that is generally inaccessible. We cannot help but wonder if responses may have been different if screen reader interactions with web content were typically very positive.

Data was analyzed using JMP Statistical Discovery Software version 8

We hope to conduct a survey of this nature again in the future. If you have recommendations or questions you would like asked, please let us know. Additional analysis of this data and details on the responses to open-ended questions will be available in the future.

Demographics Disability Reported Do you use a screen reader due to a disability? Response # of Respondents % of Respondents Yes 586 90% No 65 10% Screen Reader Proficiency Please rate your screen reader proficiency Response # of Respondents % of Respondents Advanced 339 52.6% Intermediate 276 42.8% Beginner 30 4.7% Those who use screen readers due to a disability report themselves as being much more proficient with screen readers. Those with disabilities were nearly 6 times more likely to report themselves as having advanced screen reader proficiency. While it is not surprising that those with disabilities are more proficient with a screen reader, it was surprising that very few (1.6%) of them consider themselves beginners, as opposed to 32.8% of those without a disability. This may indicate that most screen reader users are confident with their technology, or perhaps more likely, that this online survey was primarily accessed by those with higher screen reader proficiency. Internet Proficiency Please rate your proficiency using the Internet Response # of Respondents % of Respondents Advanced 421 64.9% Intermediate 218 33.6% Beginner 10 1.5% Those who use screen readers due to a disability reported slightly lower Internet proficiency than those without disabilities. Primary Screen Reader Which of the following is your primary screen reader? Screen Reader # of Respondents % of Respondents JAWS 435 66.4% Window Eyes 68 10.4% VoiceOver 58 8.9% System Access or System Access To Go 32 4.9% NVDA 19 2.9% ZoomText 17 2.6% Hal 4 0.6% Supernova 1 0.2% Other 21 3.2% There was no marked difference in primary screen reader use between respondents with and without disabilities; however, those without disabilities were more likely to use NVDA (10.2% of respondents) than those with disabilities (2.2%). Screen Readers Commonly Used Which of the following screen readers do you commonly use? (select all that apply) Screen Reader # of Respondents % of Respondents JAWS 500 75.2% Window Eyes 156 23.5% VoiceOver 97 14.6% System Access or System Access To Go 148 22.3% NVDA 170 25.6% ZoomText 50 7.5% Supernova 18 2.7% Hal 18 2.7% Other 51 7.7% 49% of respondents commonly use more than one screen reader. 23% use more than two and 8% use more than three screen readers. System Access or SAToGo and NVDA are relatively commonly used (23% and 26%, respectively), yet are less common as a primary screen readers (5% and 3%). When compared to the results from our previous survey, JAWS and Window Eyes use is almost identical, yet NVDA, Voice Over, and System Access usage increased tremendously. Screen Reader Updates Has your primary screen reader been updated in the last year? Response # of Respondents % of Respondents Yes 537 83.6% No 105 16.4% The vast majority of respondents updated their primary screen reader within the previous year. This is slightly higher than the 75% who reported updating within a year in our previous survey. It's important to note, however, that a significant number of users may still be using screen readers that are several years old. Reasons for Use What is the main reason for using your primary screen reader? Response # of Respondents % of Respondents Existing Comfort/Expertise 270 42.9% Features 207 32.9% Availability 71 11.3% Support 45 7.1% Cost 37 5.9% Those with disabilities indicated "Existing Comfort/Expertise" nearly three times as often as those without disabilities. Those without disabilities favored availability (36% of respondents) over all other factors. Screen Reader Learning How did you learn to use your primary screen reader? (select all that apply) Response # of Respondents % of Respondents Self-taught 485 72.9% Informally, by asking friends, etc. 219 32.9% Took a training course 161 24.2% Other 70 10.5% When comparing many of the other responses, there is very little difference in responses between those that were self-taught and those who took a training course. How Obtained How did you obtain your primary screen reader? Response # of Respondents % of Respondents I bought it myself 223 34.7% It was received through a government program 147 22.9% It was provided to me by my employer 111 17.3% Other 62 9.7% I downloaded it free of charge from the Internet 32 5.0% It was provided to me by my school 26 4.0% I'm using a pirated version of a commercial screen reader 25 3.9% I'm using a trial version of a commercial screen reader 16 2.5% 36.6% of those with disabilities purchased their own screen reader as compared to only 9.7% of those without disabilities. While those without disabilities were most likely to get their screen reader from their employers (43.5%), they very rarely received them from government or school programs. 30.9% of beginning screen reader users obtained free, pirated, or freely downloadable screen readers compared to only 8.4% of advanced users. Browsers When using your primary screen reader, which browser do you use most often? Browser # of Respondents % of Respondents IE8 207 32.0% IE7 170 26.2% Firefox 3+ 122 18.8% IE6 82 12.7% Safari 54 8.3% Opera 2 0.3% Other 11 1.7% Note: The survey question asked which browser was most often used with the primary screen reader, but did not ask for any browsers used. Compare these answers with results from our previous survey results, which report all web browsers used. In line with the previous survey, those without disabilities were much more likely to use Firefox than those with disabilities (32% to 17%). The number of Safari and Opera users, as expected, are very similar to the VoiceOver users documented above (note that VoiceOver support for Opera is very new).

Free/Low-cost Screen Readers Do you see free or low-cost screen readers (such as NVDA or VoiceOver) as currently being viable alternatives to commercial screen readers? Response # of Respondents % of Respondents Yes 318 47.8% No 131 19.7% I Don't Know 216 32.5% Interestingly, only 242 (36.4%) of respondents reported using NVDA or VoiceOver, yet 47.9% of respondents indicate that such screen readers are viable alternatives to commercial screen readers. Advanced screen reader users were more likely to indicate that these are viable alternatives.

Mobile Screen Reader Usage Do you use a screen reader on a mobile phone or mobile handheld device? Response # of Respondents % of Respondents Yes 313 50% No 319 50% To us, the fact that 53% of those with disabilities use a screen reader on a mobile device was one of the most surprising results of this survey. Only 8% of those without disabilities use a mobile screen reader. This underscores the importance of an increased focus on accessibility of mobile content and devices, and that evaluators and other accessibility specialists need to increase their usage and knowledge of mobile accessibility. Not surprisingly, more proficient screen reader users were more likely to use a mobile screen reader (66% of advanced users to only 3% of beginners).

Javascript Disabled Do you have javascript disabled in your web browser? Response # of Respondents % of Respondents Yes 62 10.4% No 448 74.9% I Don't Know 88 14.7% This response may help strengthen the notion that scripted content must be made accessible. Many developers incorrectly believe that inaccessible scripting is permissible so long as it degrades gracefully or a non-scripted alternative is provided. The vast majority of screen reader respondents encounter scripted content.

Braille Output Do you use braille output with your screen reader? Response # of Respondents % of Respondents Yes 185 29.4% No 445 70.6% This does not necessarily suggest that 29.4% of respondents rely on Braille output, but only that they have access to it.

Images and Alternative Text "Smiling Lady" Images Images are commonly used in web pages to visually convey a feeling or mood. For example, a photo of a smiling woman might be included to convey that the company is personable and friendly. How would you prefer this image be handled? Response # of Respondents % of Respondents Described as "Photo of smiling lady" 356 57.1% Described as "Smiling lady" 126 20.2% Ignored entirely by my screen reader 80 12.8% Described as "Our company is personable and friendly" 62 9.9% These responses should NOT be interpreted to suggest that all decorative images should be given alternative text or that the alt text for all photographs should begin with "Photo of...". Screen reader users prefer to have this "Smiling lady"-type image identified, even if the full content or meaning of the image cannot be conveyed. However, those without disabilities were three times more likely to prefer the image be ignored, suggesting that they view it as being decorative. This apparent disconnect between responses of those with disabilities and those without disabilities was found in a similar question on the previous survey. We cannot help but think that blind screen reader users might find their experiences less enjoyable if all such images, which are typically unidentified now, were suddenly identified to them. This underscores WebAIM's long held notion that providing proper, equivalent alternative text is the most difficult aspect of web accessibility. We will likely follow up on this issue in a future survey. Complex Images Some images, such as charts, diagrams, or comic strips, are too complex to describe in only a few words. If a long, detailed description of these images is available, how would you prefer to have it presented to you? Response # of Respondents % of Respondents As text on the web page, immediately following the image 178 28.4% As optional text, available on the same page but only if I request it by following a link 167 26.6% On a separate page, available by following a link 124 19.8% As a very long description (alt text) on the image itself 89 14.2% On a separate page, announced by and available to my screen reader 57 9.1% Ignored entirely by my screen reader 12 1.9% There is no clear consensus in these responses. However, the in-page options outweigh the options that place the longer description on another page. Interestingly, the option of placing the alternative on a separate page but having it announced by the screen reader, the current behavior of images with the longdesc attribute, was a very unpopular option, second only to being ignored entirely.

ARIA Landmarks ARIA (Accessible Rich Internet Applications) introduces something called landmarks. These provide quick access to page areas, such as navigation, search, and main content. Which of the following best describes your use of landmarks? Response # of Respondents % of Respondents I didn't know this functionality existed 240 42.1% I sometimes use landmarks for navigation 183 32.1% I use landmarks for navigation whenever they are present 117 20.5% My screen reader does not support landmarks 30 5.3% With 42.1% of question respondents unaware of landmark functionality (95 respondents didn't even answer this question), this clearly suggests that additional training or dissemination about the utility of landmarks needs to occur.

Problematic Items Most Problematic Items The survey asked respondents to select their most, second most, and third most problematic items from a list. In giving each selected item a weighting, the following chart shows the amount of difficulty and frustration users encounter with each item. Problematic items identified are, in order (most difficult/confusing first): CAPTCHA - images presenting text used to verify that you are a human user The presence of inaccessible Flash content Links or buttons that do not make sense Images with missing or improper descriptions (alt text) Complex or difficult forms Lack of keyboard accessibility Screens or parts of screens that change unexpectedly Missing or improper headings Too many links or navigation items Complex data tables Lack of "skip to main content" or "skip navigation" links Inaccessible or missing search functionality The chart above shows a weighting of responses to three questions. When analyzing the single "Most Problematic Item" question, 28% of respondents listed CAPTCHA as the most problematic or confusing item encountered, with Flash (22%), Keyboard Accessibility (10%), and Ambiguous Links (10%) as other most problematic items. It must be noted that Flash content, like most other items listed here, can be made accessible (at least for users on the Windows platform). In fact, Flash content can have other general accessibility issues listed (e.g., ambiguous links, difficult forms, missing alt text, etc.). While treated here as a distinct item, it's important to note that Flash is not inaccessible merely because it is present in a page, but because the Flash author has not implemented accessibility. Least Problematic Items Of the items listed, which item causes the least amount of frustration or difficulty for you? Response # of Respondents % of Respondents Lack of "skip to main content" or "skip navigation" links 185 31.3% Images with missing or improper descriptions (alt text) 94 15.9% Too many links or navigation items 57 9.6% Complex or difficult forms 42 7.1% Missing or improper headings 39 6.6% Links or buttons that do not make sense 39 6.6% Lack of keyboard accessibility 29 4.9% Inaccessible or missing search functionality 28 4.7% Complex data tables 26 4.4% Screens or parts of screens that change unexpectedly 19 3.2% CAPTCHA - images presenting text used to verify that you are a human user 19 3.2% The presence of inaccessible Flash content 15 2.5% This shouldn't be interpreted to suggest that "skip" links or alternative text (note that alternative text is the 4th most problematic feature above) can or should be omitted. This data likely indicates that screen reader users tend to find issues with these items less problematic than other things, or more likely, that they encounter these problems so frequently they have developed alternative mechanisms to bypass or remedy these difficulties. The fact that missing skip links are identified as the least problematic accessibility issue in this list reaffirms our own feeling that skip links are much more valuable for sighted users that rely on a keyboard for navigation than for screen reader users who tend to navigate by headings (see below).

Web Accessibility Progress In general, which of the following best describes your feelings regarding the accessibility of web content over the previous year? Response # of Respondents % of Respondents Web content has become more accessible 286 46.3% Web content accessibility has not changed 206 33.3% Web content has become less accessible 126 20.4% Respondents generally think web accessibility has improved in the last year. Respondents with disabilities were less positive about progress than those without disabilities - they were 4 times more likely to indicate that web content accessibility has decreased in the previous year.

Impact on Accessibility Which of the following do you think has a bigger impact on improvements to web accessibility? Response # of Respondents % of Respondents Better (more accessible) web sites 431 68.6% Better assistive technology 197 31.4%

Reasons for Inaccessibility Which of the following do you think is the primary reason that many developers do not create accessible web sites? Response # of Respondents % of Respondents Lack of awareness of web accessibility 242 38.0% Lack of web accessibility skills or knowledge 176 27.6% Fear that accessibility will hinder the look, feel, or functionality 164 25.7% Lack of budget or resources to make it accessible 55 8.6% Respondents with disabilities were most likely to select "Lack of Awareness" as the primary reason developers do not create accessible web sites. However, respondents without disabilities favored "Lack of Knowledge" nearly twice as often as those with disabilities.

Social Media Social Media Tools Frequently Used Which of the following social media sites or tools do you frequently use? Social Media Tool # of Respondents % of Respondents Blogs 317 47.7% Facebook 279 42.0% LinkedIn 89 13.4% MySpace 60 9.0% Twitter 254 38.2% YouTube 341 51.3% Interestingly, YouTube (perhaps the most visual of the tools listed) has the highest usage. People without disabilities were more likely to use all of the social media tools, with the exception of MySpace, which had a higher prevalence among those with disabilities (though the lowest usage overall). Blog Accessibility How accessible are blogs to you? Response # of Respondents % of Respondents Very Accessible 209 44.8% Somewhat Accessible 226 48.4% Somewhat Inaccessible 28 6.0% Very Inaccessible 4 0.9% Of those who use blogs or are familiar with blog accessibility, nearly all (93.2%) report that they are very or somewhat accessible. Facebook Accessibility How accessible is FaceBook to you? Response # of Respondents % of Respondents Very Accessible 36 10.0% Somewhat Accessible 175 48.7% Somewhat Inaccessible 100 27.9% Very Inaccessible 48 13.4% LinkedIn Accessibility How accessible is LinkedIn to you? Response # of Respondents % of Respondents Very Accessible 16 9.8% Somewhat Accessible 47 28.7% Somewhat Inaccessible 50 30.5% Very Inaccessible 51 31.1% MySpace Accessibility How accessible is MySpace to you? Response # of Respondents % of Respondents Very Accessible 42 39.3% Somewhat Accessible 49 45.8% Somewhat Inaccessible 11 10.3% Very Inaccessible 5 4.7% Twitter Accessibility How accessible is Twitter to you? Response # of Respondents % of Respondents Very Accessible 172 61.9% Somewhat Accessible 81 29.1% Somewhat Inaccessible 14 5.0% Very Inaccessible 11 4.0% We're confident that the high accessibility of Twitter is a result of accessible Twitter clients, particularly AccessibleTwitter.com. YouTube Accessibility How accessible is YouTube to you? Response # of Respondents % of Respondents Very Accessible 111 26.1% Somewhat Accessible 223 52.5% Somewhat Inaccessible 61 14.4% Very Inaccessible 30 7.1% Social Media Accessibility In general, how accessible are social media web sites to you? Response # of Respondents % of Respondents Very Accessible 45 8.3% Somewhat Accessible 285 52.7% Somewhat Inaccessible 107 19.8% Very Inaccessible 25 4.6% I Don't Know 79 14.6% While social media tools and sites are generally considered to have good accessibility, the details above highlight that accessibility varies greatly across such tools.

Flash Accessibility When you encounter Flash content on web sites, how likely is it to be accessible to you? Response # of Respondents % of Respondents Very Likely 29 4.8% Somewhat Likely 169 27.8% Somewhat Unlikely 165 27.1% Very Unlikely 216 35.5% I Don't Know 30 4.9% It should be noted that while respondents indicate generally poor likelihood for Flash accessibility (62.6% say it is somewhat or very unlikely), there is no general baseline for comparison. In other words, there's no way of knowing how much more likely it is for Flash content to be inaccessible than non-Flash web content. Still, these results are very similar to our previous survey results which showed 71.5% of screen reader users reporting that Flash is difficult. As noted above, unlike graphical CAPTCHAs, Flash can be made fully accessible on certain platforms, but it remains an issue primarily because authors do not implement Flash accessibility.

Finding Information When trying to find information on a lengthy web page, which of the following are you most likely to do first? Response # of Respondents % of Respondents Navigate through the headings on the page 321 50.8% Use the "Find" feature 145 22.9% Navigate through the links of the page 102 16.1% Read through the page 64 10.1% These responses underscore our previous findings which indicate that a good heading structure is a very important aspect of web accessibility and usability.