Marking up "#", proper encoding and screenreaders
Hi,
I'm marking up a list of questions, each question has a number, the design says "Question #243" for instance.
Does the "#" sign have a proper encoding I should use, like "&" should be "&".
Also, how is "#" read out in a screen reader? I'd want it to read "question number 243". If it doesn't do this natively could I use
| Code: |
| <p>Question <abbr title="number">#</abbr>243</p> |
to make it read out "number" instead of "#"?
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Linda,
HTML Codes - Characters and symbols says:
| Quote: |
| # = & then # then 35 then ;' = number sign |
(Had to lay it out like that as it kept coming out as #!!!
Think that screenreader may announce the entity code as 'number' rather that 'hash' or 'pound'.
Anyone with more concrete info on this?
HTH
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Blogging at: AWTS (Accessible Web and Training Solutions)
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If anyone has a screenreader I would really appreciate if you could check if the properly encoded # is read as "number" or "hash".
(I tried with nvda, and it mostly reads as hash, but inside this forum it reads "number", is this forum adding somethign to it?
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Linda,
No, nothing added to code. I've sent out a Twitter request for help on this one.
You should get an answer soon!
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Blogging at: AWTS (Accessible Web and Training Solutions)
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Different speech engines will understand and announce punctuation conventions to differing extents. If your punctuation is conventional then you're already doing the right thing. There's a lot of unconventional and typo'd punctuation out there, so it's worth paying attention to it.
I would simply not use the # character in this particuarly context. The number is clearly a number, the question is clearly a question, so what would "Question 243" mean other than "the 243rd question"?!
It's easy to over-think things if you get too caught up in the technicalities of assistive technologies and semantic HTML.
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My CV type thing and my Life of Ben (Blog). Nigel Peck's Accessify Forum Requirements.
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so you think the "#" should be a background-image then? (The designers are insisting it should be there).
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Using "#" followed by one or more digits is a perfectly standard formula for "number X", albeit one proscribed by several reputable style manuals. It is also very easy to recognise. Honestly, if the designers are set on having "#" and won't give you any alternative, I'd probably just go with using the character on its own and unadorned by extra markup—I strongly suspect that ATs will be able to read the symbol accurately.
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