Jen Gagne said:
I'm trying to build an accessible flowchart in PowerPoint using autoshapes
with text and arrow connectors. I have read the article about autoshape
Z-order, but I wonder if a screen reader will be able to follow the arrows
when given an option between two paths. Any advice appreciated!
It won't even be aware of them. It simply deals with the shapes in the order
that they appear on the slide. To see what that is, click OFF the slide
someplace, then press TAB repeatedly to select each shape in order.
It seems to me that the "question behind the question" here is "How can I make
a flow chart make sense to a screen reader user?" I'm sure Glenna's got some
good advice on this too.
Off top of head, one thought:
At each branch point, use alt or screentip text to indicate a) that this shape
indicates e.g. a Yes/No choice and b) tell the user how many times to press tab
to move to the next item in sequence for a YES answer or for a NO answer. The
most common/default answer should be one tab keystroke away.
Getting them all in the right z-order will make you crazy. If you decide to go
this route, visit
http://ppt2html.pptools.com and download the free PPT2HTML
demo. It's got an Accessibility Assistant feature that will save lots of time.
This is part of the free demo, by the way. No charge, no obligation other
than to pass it along to anyone else who might be able to put it to good use.
Another approach might be to break each chart up into a series of slides that
link to one another. Click YES at the first branch point, it takes you to a
different slide containing whatever the YES arrow would have pointed to before.
Lots more work, that one, and not as useful to sighted users for whom it'd be
easier to view the overall diagram/flowchart.
