[Nfbwv-talk] FW: WV Secretary of State's website accessibility

Wed Jun 7 03:16:01 UTC 2017

Hello from Sunny California, 
I took a very quick look at the home page of the WVSOS site, and although
there are some accessibility mistakes, I don't think I found any major
blockers that would keep us from accessing the info on the site.
Before I give the details, I want to make it perfectly clear that this is
coming from Darren the hilljack, not Darren the Yahoo accessibility
specialist.  Also, I only looked at the home page and not the entire site.
Similar issues will likely be seen elsewhere.  For more testing, I suggest
going to the Public Services link and testing the Customer Services
features. That is always an importabnt part of a gov website.

Overall, it was easy to navigate and read everything on the page.
I like the use of headings for easier navigation
I like the links at the top to choose a font size, very useful for seniors
and people with low vision.

On the slightly negative side, I don't like the placeholder text in the
search field. Although many use this technique, using placeholder text as
the label is lazy coding, and the field needs a real accessibility label.
Also, the placeholder doesn't go away when you type I your search term and
you have to manually delete it.
I didn't test the search results.

Several links are incorrectly labeled as "Select," and they do nothing when
activate with a screen reader like NVDA or JAWS.
However, each one of those links is under a heading that is well labeled and
links to it's proper site.
I would have to get some eyes on it to find out what those "selected" links
are supposed to do, but if they are supposed to go to the page of the
heading above them, then we have no functional problems as screen reader
users.
It is just a strange way to build a site but maybe there is some logic to
it.  I'm curious to see what one of you with some vision finds regarding
those links looking at the site.  I'd also be curious to see what the rest
of you think.  Fifteen or so years ago, I helped  work on the site's
accessibility when Joe Manchin was SOS and when a woman whose name I cannot
remember was the SOS.  She was a republican, maybe Goodwin was her name?

BTW, it was nice to see one of the Warner brothers as the SOS.  I don't know
what their political leanings are like, but Mac's brother Buffy was a friend
when I was in college and he was a state senator.  Buffy was phenomenal at
bar games like darts and ring toss, and we had many misspent hours at
Crockett's Lodge in Morgantown during my less than stellar college career.
He left us way too young.

Darren

-----Original Message-----
From: NFBWV-talk [mailto:nfbwv-talk-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Ed
McDonald via NFBWV-talk
Sent: Tuesday, June 6, 2017 2:37 PM
To: nfbwv-talk at nfbnet.org
Cc: Ed McDonald
Subject: [Nfbwv-talk] FW: WV Secretary of State's website accessibility

Not long ago I received the message below requesting feedback pertaining to
the accessibility of the WV Secretary of State's web site. If any of you
have reason to visit the site, you may want to share some thoughts about
your experience.

The request for feedback comes from Regina Desmond of Disability Rights of
West Virginia, the organization formerly known as West Virginia Advocates.
Ms. Desmond contacted me because we had met during a recent meeting of the
WVATS Advisory Council; however, she encouraged me to circulate the request
more widely among NFB colleagues.

I will visit the site before the end of June to submit the annual report for
our business, but I hope others of you can offer some constructive feedback
as well.

From: Regina N. Desmond [mailto:

rdesmond at drofwv.org<mailto:rdesmond at drofwv.org>

Sent: Tuesday, May 16, 2017 8:47 AM
To: Ed McDonald <ed at eioproductions.com>
Subject: WV Secretary of State's website accessibility

Good morning Ed,

This is Gina from Disability Rights of WV (used to be West Virginia
Advocates).  The Secretary of State's office reached out to DRWV regarding
the accessibility of their website.

www.wvsos.gov<http://www.wvsos.gov>

  They are working on restructuring it.   I was wondering if you would be
interested in giving me your feedback, then I can share it with the
Secretary of State's office.

Thank you
Gina

Regina Desmond, Advocate
rdesmond at drofwv.org<mailto:rdesmond at drofwv.org>
[Image removed by sender. https://www.drofwv.org/logo-email.png]
Disability Rights of West Virginia
Removing Barriers to Opportunity and Equality
800.950.5250 (toll free)

304.346.0847 (voice/tty) * 304.346.0867 (fax)
1207 Quarrier St Ste 400 * Charleston, WV 25301-1845
drofwv.org<https://www.drofwv.org>
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