Quiz and Screen Readers

Question

Hi, I have been looking for information about any quiz-taking accessibility tips or issues regarding Screen Readers. I'm not looking for tools like ReadSpeaker, I'm looking for users who access the quiz tool using their own screen reader software such as JAWS, NVDA, or VoiceOver. What guidance can we provide such students?

I found this page from Marquette, but the quiz tool has had a user interface update, so I don't know if it is accurate anymore.

https://www.marquette.edu/digital-learning/guide-using-d2l-jaws.php

Renee.J.194 · Answer

Thanks, @Carin.H.549 that is super, super helpful.

Carin.H.549 · Answer

Hi there. Sorry I was so slow to respond. I don't have a lot of tips for quizzing, but the headings tip and the one about reading question text out of forms mode are my biggest tips. Another one, which may or may not be relevant as screen readers evolve, is if you have a math question where there is math embedded in the multiple choice answer choices, you have to read them outside of forms/focus mode. Otherwise, the screen reader will read MathML code. Yuck! So, for example, if the question was "Which number is bigger?" and there were a series of fractions as choices and they were written with the equation editor, which is the way to go, if you read them in forms/focus mode, the code would be read instead of what it's supposed to say. I could have sworn I threw these things in the screen reader tips file, but perhaps I will have to check.

Renee.J.194 · Answer

Thank you, @Lindsay.S.331 ! I expect that your tip for navigating the quiz questions will be extremely helpful. The story of the student who did not find quizzing accessible came to me third hand, with no details as to the technology or even the course, much less the specific issue. I may come back to this thread when/if I have more information. Wouldn't it be great if d2l tools had screenreader- and location-specific tool tips sharing guidance on how to make use of the tool! Or maybe they do and I don't know it, because I'm rubbish with a screen reader.