The results of our 6th WebAIM Screen Reader User Survey have been
published at http://webaim.org/projects/screenreadersurvey6/- External link.
We received our largest response ever with 2515 survey respondents.
Thank you for participating!
ZoomText and Window-Eyes Data
The most surprising data is certainly the significant increase in the
usage of ZoomText and Window-Eyes- External link.
ZoomText and Window-Eyes Logos
Reported usage of ZoomText as respondents’ primary screen reader
skyrocketed in the last 18 months from 1.3% in January 2014 to 22.2% in
July 2015. ZoomText is used as a primary screen reader as often as both
NVDA (14.6%) and VoiceOver (7.6%) combined!
Window-Eyes increased as a primary screen reader from 6.7% to 20.7% in
the last 18 months. As a result, there were significant decreases in the
usage of JAWS (from 50% to 30.2%) and notable decreases in usage of NVDA
(18.6% to 14.6%), VoiceOver (10.3% to 7.6%), and System Access (7.7% to
1.5%) as primary screen readers.
There are currently 5 different screen readers that are commonly used by
more than 25% of respondents- External link. This is both exciting and
challenging.
Really?
I’ve already heard incredulity among peers in the web accessibility
field regarding these numbers. Great care should be taken in discounting
the validity of this data. 2515 respondents is not a small sample.
Perhaps the most prevalent criticism of the WebAIM surveys has been that
they are not representative enough. An opt-in survey will never be fully
representative of all screen reader users. With that said, this survey
had broader distribution than ever before. It reached small schools for
the blind. Many heard about it via word of mouth. We believe the
responses to be more representative of the overall screen reader user
population than ever before. The fact that in this survey we see a
reduction in reported proficiency- External link is consistent with the
notion that our sample has shifted from prior years.
We speculate that much of the shift in the screen reader market numbers
can be attributed to this broader sample. Respondents that reported
lower proficiency were more likely to use ZoomText.
Those of us in the web accessibility field tend to interact more with
screen reader power users and users that are more connected both with
technology and with our technical field. This would naturally cause us
to believe that the overall market reflects the demographics of those
screen reader users. These survey results suggest that those of us in
the web accessibility field may need to reconsider our perceptions of
screen reader users – the typical user may be different than our own
interactions and experience suggest.
What is driving these changes?
Window-Eyes became freely available to Microsoft Office users shortly
after the last screen reader user survey closed in January 2014. AI
Squared (who develops and markets ZoomText and Window-Eyes) has made
significant marketing efforts in the last year. These factors certainly
contribute to their increased usage.
Additionally, with a much broader dissemination of the survey, more
existing ZoomText users completed the survey. This simply suggests that
ZoomText users were probably underrepresented on previous surveys. On
the other hand, AI Squared did promote the survey heavily, though it was
also prominently advertised on mailing lists and publications for other
screen readers.
It should be noted that ZoomText functions as both a screen magnifier
and screen reader. We recognize that some respondents to the survey may
only use ZoomText for magnification and not for the screen reader
functionality. Only 13.4% of ZoomText users reported being blind (though
92.3% reported low vision). However, we don’t believe this consideration
should at all change how we consider ZoomText as being a very commonly
used access product. In fact, because the screen reader functionality of
ZoomText is often used as a supplement to magnification, this
strengthens practices that would ensure an equivalent visual and screen
reader experience.
What does this mean?
We must recognize that ZoomText and Window-Eyes are significant players.
These tools are often not part of web accessibility testing
methodologies. They should be. We often consider VoiceOver with Safari
as a testing platform and not Window-Eyes or ZoomText when in fact
Window-Eyes with IE, ZoomText with IE, and ZoomText with Firefox are all
more common combinations than VoiceOver with Safari.
This recommendation for increased consideration of ZoomText and
Window-Eyes is strengthened by the fact that those who use these screen
readers tend to be less proficient and also to use only one screen
reader, whereas more advanced users tend to use multiple screen readers.
In other words, lack of consideration for ZoomText and Window-Eyes
support can have a notable impact on many users – and these are the
users that are less likely to adapt to insufficient support.
--
David Goldfield,
Assistive Technology Specialist
Feel free to visit my Web site
www.davidgoldfield.info
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