User Experience Narrative: Listening to Amazon.com
Let's begin our examination with something simple—let's visit a well-known e-commerce site and try to buy something. Experience the first in a series of
visits
that I (John) made to Amazon.com's Web site as we developed the material for this book. Figure 2-1 shows Amazon's "recommendations," which are based on powerful software that correlates previous purchases with those of other shoppers who've bought the same or similar items.
A recommendation for a new CD by an Irish
band
, the Chieftains, appears in the center of the screen. The recommendation is
surrounded
by links to other items and other sections of the massive Amazon.com site. On the left side of the screen, for example, we are invited to search among all products or browse for our favorite books and other items. On the right side, we are
offered
the opportunity to save 50 percent on food processors or to take a look at something new.
But shoppers who use screen readers and talking browsers have a different experience. What I hear from my screen reader, JAWS, sounds like this:
Amazon.com dash dash Earth's biggest selection
Image map link href=nsb underline gateway slash one hundred two dash seven million two hundred sixty eight thousand one hundred fifty seven dash seven million six hundred sixty five thousand seven hundred forty five
Image map link href equals nwl underline gateway slash one hundred two dash seven million two hundred sixty eight thousand one hundred fifty seven dash seven million six hundred sixty five thousand seven hundred forty five
Image map link href equals nia underline gateway slash one hundred two dash seven million two hundred sixty eight thousand one hundred fifty seven dash seven million six hundred sixty five thousand seven hundred forty five
Image map link href equals nfd underline gateway slash one hundred two dash seven million two hundred sixty eight thousand one hundred fifty seven dash seven million six hundred sixty five thousand seven hundred forty five
Image map link href equals nh underline gateway slash one hundred two dash seven million two hundred sixty eight thousand one hundred fifty seven dash seven million six hundred sixty five thousand seven hundred forty five
Image map link href equals nh underline gateway slash one hundred two dash seven million two hundred sixty eight thousand one hundred fifty seven dash seven million six hundred sixty five thousand seven hundred forty five
Image map link href equals nw underline gateway. . . .
And so on, through seven more image map links that sound numbingly similar to the ones transcribed above, until we come to something that's a little more intelligible—but still frustratingly hard to understand:
Link graphic mini dash tab slash top navbar dash button dash books
Link graphic mini dash tab slash top navbar dash button dash electronics
Link graphic mini dash tab slash top navbar dash button dash music
Link graphic mini dash tab slash top navbar dash button dash dvd
Link graphic mini dash tab slash top navbar dash button dash drugstore
Then, at last, after 14 image map links and five navigation-bar
buttons
that link to other sections of the giant online store, a greeting of sorts:
Hello, John Slatin. We have link recommendations for you.
Let's stop here for a few moments. What you have just read (or listened to) is what the JAWS screen reader
reports
in the absence of ALT text
. And I never
will
hear the link to that Chieftains album: not only is it link number 60 of 163 links on the page (!), there's no ALT text for it, either. JAWS says only this:
P slash B zero zero zero zero zero three G five Oh dot zero one point one eight TLZZZZ
Catchy, isn't it? Figure 2-2 shows the Links List that appears in JAWS when I browse the Amazon.com home page.
Closing the Sale
Let's suppose, for the sake of argument if nothing else, that I've actually decided I want to learn more about this new album. I've followed the link (P slash B and so on) to the Buying Info page for the album,
Santiago
(Figure 2-3).
Some of the options are different than those shown in Figure 2-1, yet the screen layout is very similar. Information about the CD in question appears in the middle of the screen surrounded by navigation options and advertisements. The all-important purchasing tools are on the right-hand side, set off in a rectangular box whose background is a different
color
than the plain white of the page itself.
What I really want to do is to buy this album now and get on with my life—I want to use the 1-Click options I set so painstakingly some time ago to make my purchase, and I'll be on my way.
There's just one hitch. The Buy now with 1-Click button doesn't have any ALT text! This means that there is no way my screen reader can identify it. I could go to 1-Click Settings and make my purchase from there, as some of my
friends
who are blind have
reported
they do—but that's not "one-click" shopping, is it? But I have no choice. There's a link called Buy, but as far as I can tell it seems to be about buying gift certificates for my family and friends—a nice thought, but not what I had in mind tonight. There is also a correctly labeled button called Add to Shopping Cart, but using this option to make purchases requires several steps, not just the one click that's available to sighted users. Using the Add to Shopping Cart button also means
listening
to all those graphical links and image map links without ALT text—not just once but twice (at least if I want to review my shopping cart). Making any changes to the shopping cart requires listening
carefully
to hear the Delete option when it's spoken.
The barriers
encountered
in this experience are by no means rare. Usually they arise because companies are unaware that alternatives exist that increase the
numbers
of people who can use their services. We have the stick of government
mandates
(see Chapter 3) driving the move to accessibility, but we also have two juicy
carrots
to use: it is the right thing to do and, increasingly, it is the smart business thing to do, as we will see in Chapter 6, The Business Case for Accessibility.
|
