IE7, Screen Readers And Screen Enlargers
With the release of Internet Explorer 7 (IE7), questions have been raised as to how well the new browser will integrate with current screen readers and magnifiers and whether users of these products should update to IE7 immediately or remain with Internet Explorer 6 (IE6) for now until they upgrade their existing software.
The Microsoft IE Accessibility Team suggest that users of Assistive Technology (AT) should check with the manufacturer of their product about compatibility with IE7. That said, they believe there are several currently available products, or public betas, that do support IE7 and that users of these products should install IE7 as soon as possible.
For products that do not have an official version that supports IE7, they’ve tried to detail what issues the user may encounter and recommend that a user assesses the potential impact of these issues before installing IE7.
Screen Readers and Screen Enlargers
Experiences will vary according to the software used. Microsoft believe that there are several instances where a user can install IE7 immediately and be working with little or no problem (although they don’t really elaborate on what instances). However, they believe that, by the end of November 2007, products that require an official IE7 version will be available. That said, I do wonder how many users will be want, or be able to, pay for a new version of their AT.
Known Current Issues
JAWS
JAWS 8, due out in November 2007, adds enhanced support for IE such as announcement of syndicated (RSS) feeds on web pages and improved navigation of web pages with dynamically updating content.
JAWS 7.1, the version, works well with IE7 with the exception of drop downs on web pages that are expanded or that the user expands. JAWS 7.1 does not read the item with focus in these cases. Freedom Scientific plans to release a free update to JAWS 7.1 that fixes this issue shortly.
Earlier versions of JAWS have several problems including:
- Missing content from frames on web pages
- Characters occasionally lost when typing in edit boxes
- Failure to read items with focus in web drop downs
- JAWS configuration files which add specific enhancements for IE do not load
An upgrade from to JAWS 7.1 from JAWS 7.0, or the 7.1 patch, is free via the Freedom Scientific site.
Window-Eyes
Window-Eyes 6.0, presently in public beta, will be the official version of this software to support IE7 and is expected to be released before the end of November 2007. The biggest difference between 6.0 and 5.5 is that 6.0 automatically announces some of the newer security notifications for anti-phishing, secure and Internationalized Domain Name (IDN) web pages. Window-Eyes 6.0 also has better performance when loading web pages into the product’s Browse Mode with IE7.
Window-Eyes 5.5 (the current version) works without any blocking issues with IE7. Users will find that the program’s Browse Mode does not come on automatically if a web page sets focus to an edit box. In addition, Browse Mode can not be enabled when in an edit box on a web page. In both cases tabbing to another item on the web page makes Browse Mode available.
ZoomText
ZoomText 9.04 Magnifier and MagReader, is the official version to support IE7. Users running any ZoomText 9.x version can obtain a free update to version 9.04 using ZoomText’s update feature or via a download from the company’s web site.
ZoomText 9.03 Magnifier currently works with IE7 if the user makes a one-time change to IE7’s Use Clear Type setting. The user must turn this off from the Internet Options dialog. This is found in Internet Options:Advanced Tab:Multimedia:Always Use Clear Type. ZoomText 9.03 MagReader application and DocReader do not work correctly with IE7. The issues have been resolved in ZoomText 9.04.
Hal, Lunar and SuperNova
Dolphin recently released updated map files to support IE7 with their 6.5 and 7.01 product versions. The new map files are available for both Hal and Supernova through the Internet Updater, (simply go to ‘Map‘ and ‘Update from Internet‘) or they can be downloaded from the support area on the YourDolphin.com web site.
There is the possibility that users of Dolphin products will experience a crash with IE7 but the fix is a one time rename of a file detailed in a Dolphin Knowledge Base article.