[d2l-a11y] Taking a quiz with a large number of questions on a single page with a screen reader

SE
Sandra Earl
Thu, Nov 15, 2018 9:02 PM

Hi All,

We recently had an inquiry on the D2L Community regarding issues with taking a quiz with a screen reader in 10.8.6 the release in which we introduced autosaving of quiz questions.

You can see the conversation thread here: Are there any known issues with using JAWS and quizzes with the new autosave feature?https://community.brightspace.com/s/question/0D50A000003r9jRSAQ/are-there-any-known-issues-with-using-jaws-and-quizzes-with-the-new-autosave-feature

As a result of this inquiry we completed additional screen reader testing of the quiz taking experience and uncovered the following problem. This information will be shared in the next version of our known issues list, but I wanted to share it directly with this community.

Problem:
Quizzes with a large number of questions per page (80+) may cause screen reader navigation issues.
*This is appears to be true with or without the autosave update in 10.8.6 but the threshold of questions per page affecting screen reader performance may be lower with autosave.

Cases:
We experienced issues in JAWS with Chrome and Firefox, NVDA with Chrome and Firefox and VoiceOver with Safari on Quizzes. We started to notice issues at around 80 multiple choice questions per page when moving at a quick pace through questions.

Specific behavior by screen reader:

  • JAWS - We found that focus could jump around the page vs. moving in a linear order between questions. Use H2 shortcuts to find and return to appropriate questions.
  • NVDA - We found that focus could jump around on the page and forms mode could be randomly triggered. Use H2 shortcuts to find and return to appropriate questions. Be careful that you don't erroneously enter forms mode and make changes to previously saved questions.
  • VoiceOver - We found that the screen reader would stall for up to 5 seconds as we moved between questions. This is not likely to cause errors, but is frustrating and slow.

Workarounds:

  • Consider creating quizzes with no more than 20 questions per page. The quiz will load faster and be more performant for all users. Alternatively, set up a special access version of your quiz organized this way.
  • VoiceOver with Chrome and NVDA with Firefox worked best in our tests.

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Sandra Earl
Product Manager, Daylight & Quizzes
D2L Corporation
www.brightspace.comhttp://www.brightspace.com/

D2L's Brightspace is the #1 LMS Technologyhttp://www.d2l.com/resources/assets/ovum-report/ for Next-Gen Online Teaching and Learning.

Hi All, We recently had an inquiry on the D2L Community regarding issues with taking a quiz with a screen reader in 10.8.6 the release in which we introduced autosaving of quiz questions. You can see the conversation thread here: Are there any known issues with using JAWS and quizzes with the new autosave feature?<https://community.brightspace.com/s/question/0D50A000003r9jRSAQ/are-there-any-known-issues-with-using-jaws-and-quizzes-with-the-new-autosave-feature> As a result of this inquiry we completed additional screen reader testing of the quiz taking experience and uncovered the following problem. This information will be shared in the next version of our known issues list, but I wanted to share it directly with this community. Problem: Quizzes with a large number of questions per page (80+) may cause screen reader navigation issues. *This is appears to be true with or without the autosave update in 10.8.6 but the threshold of questions per page affecting screen reader performance may be lower with autosave. Cases: We experienced issues in JAWS with Chrome and Firefox, NVDA with Chrome and Firefox and VoiceOver with Safari on Quizzes. We started to notice issues at around 80 multiple choice questions per page when moving at a quick pace through questions. Specific behavior by screen reader: * JAWS - We found that focus could jump around the page vs. moving in a linear order between questions. Use H2 shortcuts to find and return to appropriate questions. * NVDA - We found that focus could jump around on the page and forms mode could be randomly triggered. Use H2 shortcuts to find and return to appropriate questions. Be careful that you don't erroneously enter forms mode and make changes to previously saved questions. * VoiceOver - We found that the screen reader would stall for up to 5 seconds as we moved between questions. This is not likely to cause errors, but is frustrating and slow. Workarounds: * Consider creating quizzes with no more than 20 questions per page. The quiz will load faster and be more performant for all users. Alternatively, set up a special access version of your quiz organized this way. * VoiceOver with Chrome and NVDA with Firefox worked best in our tests. [cid:image001.png@01D00D57.26BB9D90] Sandra Earl Product Manager, Daylight & Quizzes D2L Corporation www.brightspace.com<http://www.brightspace.com/> D2L's Brightspace is the #1 LMS Technology<http://www.d2l.com/resources/assets/ovum-report/> for Next-Gen Online Teaching and Learning.