Xerte  is designed to be as accessible as possible to end users and many Xerte page types are accessible to screenreader users but it varies with the page type, the screenreader and the device the objects are viewed on.

Most page types are compatible with screenreader technologies.

Some pages are not compatible due to the nature of the media they use (for example Flickr feed  images, Google Maps or FlashPaper pages).

Some page types are technically accessible but cognitively do not add value to the learner (for example matching pairs drag-and-drop).

However most of the core pages for presentation and self assessment work with screen readers. A testing programme is ongoing with JISC TechDis and partners at the Open University. If you find a problem we've not yet spotted please report it to the Accessibility part of the forum.

What doesn't work?

Xerte page types optimised for visual media for deaf and dyslexic people are unlikely to be helpful for screen reader users. The drag and drop activities (eg category sorting) do generally work technically but - depending on their complexity - may add little to the learning experience other than the ability to self test in a slower way than sighted peers.

Xerte testing to date shows that NVDA works with more page types than JAWs and both worked better than SuperNova but retesting in due in summer 2013 after the Xerte2.0 changes have stabilised.