A First Look at the iPad – Pt. 3 – Safari

by Josh de Lioncourt

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In part three of our ongoing coverage of iPad accessibility with VoiceOver, we’ll be taking a look at browsing the web with the iPad version of Safari.

I’ve long been a fan of web browsing on the iPhone. I liked the sense of relationship and context one was able to get from touching the various sections of a page and having instant feedback, something that Windows screen readers deliberately, inexplicably, and frustratingly, hide from users, and which VoiceOver on the Mac only gives in part with its "Group" navigation for HTML content.

Browsing on the iPad is uniquely satisfying, and needs to be experienced to be fully appreciated. The extra screen real-estate changes everything.

Exploring Sites

When exploring a web page with the iPhone and VoiceOver, it is sometimes necessary to scroll the page horizontally to reach information that is too wide to fit the screen. Also, in some cases, elements of a page are so small that it is difficult to touch them without VoiceOver‘s flicking gestures to navigate.

In contrast, on the iPad, the screen size means that the web site being displayed is not cramped on the screen. One can easily run their finger across the screen and get both a sense of layout, as well as a sense of context. Tasks that might have taken multiple keystrokes on a desktop, can be done instantly with a single touch.

For example, on a message forum I frequent, there is a "Reply" graphical link near the upper right corner of the page. With both Windows screen readers, as well as the Mac’s VOiceOver, this link took multiple keystrokes to reach, using the screen reader in question’s find functionality to do so. For instance, with VoiceOver, I would press VO-U to bring up the Web Rotor, type "rep" (for reply), and press enter. That’s a minimum of five keystrokes, more if the WEb Rotor is set on something other than "Links". With Window-Eyes under the Windows OS, the keystrokes are different, but the number is the same.

With the iPad, the location of the icon is easily learnt. Now, when I want to reply to a message, a single touch places me on that icon, and by placing a second finger on the screen when I touch it, (split-tapping), I’m well on my way to responding to the post.

Just like on the iPhone, VoiceOver‘s rotor gives you the option to rapidly cycle through various elements, such as links, images, form controls, and more. As always, flicking left/right is the VoiceOver gesture to move through all elements, regardless of type, in DOM order.

A combination of all of VoiceOver‘s options for web navigation, along with the larger screen, makes browsing with Safari the best browsing experience I’ve had to date.

It may be important to note that, like most iPad applications, Safari is far more comfortable to work with in Landscape than portrait orientation.

Application Layout

The bulk of the Safari screen is dedicated to the page you’re viewing. Across the top is a title bar, underneath which are Back, Forward, Tabs, Utilities, and Bookmarks buttons, an Address bar, and a Google search field. Unlike on the iPhone, these controls are always visible and available.

Web Forms

VoiceOver‘s Cut/COpy/Paste functions work with text fields in web forms now, something that has been a source of frustration on the iPhone in version 3.1. Pop-up buttons, (which Windows users will know as combo-boxes), have a much nicer mechanism for displaying than on the iPhone. Essentially, a pop-up window appears with a list of all of the items you can choose from. Simply double tap the item you wish to select. If there are more items than can be displayed, your standard gestures for scrolling the list with VoiceOver work here.

Make a Wish

Though not an accessibility feature, I still wish there was a way to search the contents of a web page for a particular string of text. This matters much less on the iPad than it does on the iPhone, due to its larger display area, but for sites with unwieldy page sizes, it would be a nice feature.

The Upshot

Yes, I’ve heard the visually impaired folks who rip on the value of contextual information in their screen readers. I’ve heard the oft repeated, "Why do I care? I don’t need to understand the layout of my screen/web site/etc." For those of you who are happy in a world insulated from your sighted colleagues, iPad browsing offers DOM navigation through VoiceOver‘s flick gestures. If, like many of us, you do find value in context, layout, and the ability to understand when your colleague says, "It’s in the lower right corner of the page", you will love what the iPad has to offer in this regard.

I’ve been browsing the web on a variety of platforms for fifteen years now. I’ve used Jaws, Window-Eyes, outSpoken for Windows, outSpoken for Mac, VoiceOver, and others for screen access while doing so. For me, personally, the iPad provides the best web browsing experience I have had to date.

Now, when I want to browse a site, I no longer open my MacBook. I tap my iPad.