[BlindRUG] Text-based progress bars and screen readers?

[Voica Gavrilut]

Hey Henrik,

I think that it depends on screen reader and on how this is
configured. The first 2 alternatives will beep with an increased pitch
for me ( by NVDA) and with the third alternative in addition of beeps
I would have the possibility to read the text.

All best
Voica
On 5/22/19, Henrik Bengtsson via BlindRUG <blindrug at nfbnet.org> wrote:
> Hi,
>
> I'm interested in how text-based progress bars in the terminal works
> with screen readers.  I'm hoping someone with experience with R and
> screen readers can comment on this.  In short, do these text-based
> progress bars play well with screen readers or are they painful to
> listen too?  What would be a better alternative for auditory feedback
> on progress be?
>
> Detailed questions:
>
> In R, we have utils::txtProgressBar() for producing progress bars in
> the terminal.  Like other solutions, it works by outputting a
> single-line of symbols where the number of symbols relative to the
> width of the terminal reflects the amount of progress.  Calling:
>
> example("txtProgressBar", package="utils")
>
> illustrates three kinds of progress bars typically used.  I can
> imagine several issues with these when using screen readers because
> they are designed to be perceived visually.  For example,
>
> Q1. The screen reader will read out every single symbol as is, i.e. a
> sequence of 20 equal signs (the symbol used by default) will be a long
> repetitive readout.  Here is an example of such a progress bar at
> length 20:
>
> ====================
>
> Here is the same progress bar of length 40:
>
> ========================================
>
> How well do these convey progress when used with a screen reader?
>
> Q2. Some progress bars will append to the existing output as it grows.
> This means that there will be 80 equal signs outputted if the maximum
> width is 80.  Other solutions will rewrite the whole line at each
> update, which is down by skipping back to the first position and
> outputting the whole line.  If each of the 80 steps is outputted, I
> can imagine the screen reader will first render a progress bar of
> length 1, then redo the same of length 2, and so on.  That is a lot of
> voiced output if that is what happens.  Is that the case?
>
>
> Q3. Other progress bars output includes both a visual bar and textual
> information.  Here is an example of a progress bar at 40% completion:
>
>   |============                  |  40%
>
> How does this kind of progress bar work with screen readers?
>
> Best,
>
> Henrik
>
> _______________________________________________
> BlindRUG mailing list
> BlindRUG at nfbnet.org
> http://nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/blindrug_nfbnet.org
> To unsubscribe, change your list options or get your account info for
> BlindRUG:
> http://nfbnet.org/mailman/options/blindrug_nfbnet.org/voica.gavrilut%40gmail.com
> The list archive can be viewed at:
> http://www.nfbnet.org/pipermail/blindrug_nfbnet.org
> More information and useful links about using R as a blind person can be
> obtained at:
> http://R-Resources.massey.ac.nz
>
> Look for help using R commands by reading the accessible e-book "Let's Use R
> Now" compiled by Jonathan Godfrey at:
> http://R-Resources.massey.ac.nz/lurn/front.html
>