Category: survey

Results of the 10th WebAIM Screen Reader User Survey are now published (Feb 22, 2024). Thank you WebAIM for continuing this valuable research and other research such as the WebAIM Million and the Survey of Web Accessibility Practitioners.

Highlights

As with previous surveys, WebAIM announced the results in a blog post containing notable items which include:

• JAWS remains the highest reported primary desktop/laptop screen reader at 40.5% of respondents, though usage dropped compared to NVDA which is now the primary screen reader for 37.7% of respondents. VoiceOver usage remains relatively stable at 9.7%.
• JAWS with Chrome, NVDA with Chrome, JAWS with Edge, and NVDA with Firefox are the most common screen reader/browser combinations.
• 91.3% of respondents use a screen reader on a mobile device, with VoiceOver being the most popular by far at 70.6%.
• Only 34.6% of respondents indicated that web accessibility has improved over the last year, a decrease from 39.3% in 2021.
• Navigating through headings on a page remains by far the most common (71.6%) method of exploring page content. Heading levels (heading 1, heading 2, etc.) are reported as being very useful.

Self Describing

Not code-related, but another interesting noted item in the survey involves the trend of people describing their visual appearance to user at the beginning of a presentation (such as “I’m a dark haired white woman in my 40s wearing glasses and black lipstick”).

68.2% of respondents indicate that individuals should not describe what they look like during a virtual meeting or webinar.

My suggestion is to refrain from doing so.

Problematic Items

The most problematic items reported by screen reader users are as follows. WebAIM states the items are “largely unchanged over the last 14 years”.

1. CAPTCHA – images presenting text used to verify that you are a human user
2. Interactive elements like menus, tabs, and dialogs do not behave as expected
3. Links or buttons that do not make sense
4. Screens or parts of screens that change unexpectedly
5. Lack of keyboard accessibility
6. Images with missing or improper descriptions (alt text)
7. Complex or difficult forms
8. Missing or improper headings
9. Too many links or navigation items
10. Complex data tables
11. Inaccessible or missing search functionality
12. Lack of “skip to main content” or “skip navigation” links

As you may have heard, the results of the fourth WebAIM screen reader survey are now available. The survey provides valuable information on about screen reader users such as primary screen readers used, browsers used, and reasons for use.

WebAIM reports that problematic items have changed little over the last 2 years. The top ten are:

1. The presence of inaccessible Flash content.
2. CAPTCHA – images presenting text used to verify that you are a human user.
3. Links or buttons that do not make sense.
4. Images with missing or improper descriptions (alt text).
5. Screens or parts of screens that change unexpectedly.
6. Complex or difficult forms.
7. Lack of keyboard accessibility.
8. Missing or improper headings.
9. Too many links or navigation items.
10. Complex data tables.

Conclusions from the survey include:

• JAWS is still the primary screen reader, but usage continues to decrease as usage of NVDA and VoiceOver increases.
• The perception of accessibility of web content is decreasing.
• 72% of the respondents use a screen reader on a mobile device, up from only 12% three years ago.
• iOS device usage is significantly increasing and well above that of the standard population. Screen reader users represent a notable portion of the iOS device user market. Usage of Android devices is well below that of non-disabled users.
• The use of properly structured headings remains of great importance. 

Here are a few great analyses of the survey:

• My Take on the WebAIM Survey (by @TerrillThompson) Highly recommended.
• WebAIM’s Survey: Headings Matter to Users of Assistive Technologies (by CommonLook)
• Free and Mobile Screen Readers on the Rise (Media Access Australia)