David Macdonald, co-editor of Using WAI ARIA in HTML5
#Mouseless browsing chrome full
“People who are blind need full keyboard access. Like sighted users, non-sighted users want to be able to scan pages for interesting information, so the screen reader has keyboard shortcuts for navigating via headings and links, and relies on keyboard focusable elements for interaction.
#Mouseless browsing chrome software
Users with severe visual disabilities use software called a screen reader, which is software that reads out content on the screen as synthesized speech. The closest thing to a number I can find is an article on PowerMapper, which suggests that 7% of working-age adults in the US, UK, and Canada have “severe dexterity difficulties.” This would make them “unlikely to use a mouse, and rely on the keyboard instead.” But there are plenty of stats available around things like color blindness, browser usage, connection speeds and so on - why the caginess around keyboard statistics? If the numbers are as prevalent as sites seem to suggest, surely having them would enable a stronger business case and make defending keyboard accessibility to your stakeholders easier. If you can make a change that empowers even one user, it is a change worth making. Yes, it is true that the scale of non-mouse usage is a moot point. Anyone trying to get an approximate number is usually preachily dismissed with “stats don’t matter - your site should be accessible, period.” Most keyboard accessibility guidance sites simply take for granted that “many users” rely on keyboards to get around. I’ve trawled the web for statistics on keyboard usage, and I couldn’t find a thing.
Today, I forced myself to navigate the web using just my keyboard. Last time, I used the web for a day without JavaScript. I hope to raise the profile of difficulties faced by real people, which are avoidable if we design and develop in a way that is sympathetic to their needs. This article is part of a series in which I attempt to use the web under various constraints, representing a given demographic of user. Why is that, and what is it like in practice? Chris Ashton did an experiment to find out. Many of us are taught to make sure our sites can be used via keyboard.
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