Screen reading software uses synthesized speech to read selected portions of a web page.
For example, the user can search through the links and buttons on a page, hearing the text associated with each. The evaluators are cued to the types of errors to look for by a set of usability principles, or heuristics. In the case of this project, we not only needed to develop heuristics for use of web sites, but specifically needed to identify those heuristics that apply to web access by persons with visual disabilities. Further heuristics were based on access recommendations found in the literature, as well as on our own knowledge of how people use screen reading software. The full population of individuals with visual disabilities includes many with low vision as well as individuals who are blind.