Reading Order

What is Reading Order?

The reading order of a document or presentation determines the order that a screen reader will read out content. Users who use screen readers can easily become confused, lost or miss parts of the content entirely if the reading order of a documnet is incorrect.

Verifying the reading order is imperative to ensuring that all students have equal access to the materials. Even if objects in your document or presentation appear to be ordered logically, you should always manually check the reading order.

Reading Order Example

The following is a PowerPoint slide that visually presents a school lunch menu.  The items on the slide include in order that we visually read them: a title, a date range, a table with days of the week and menu items, and a company logo.  How does this example sound when read aloud, though?  Keep in mind that a screen reader user also needs to have heading information (such as Heading 1) read aloud to understand where things are located on a screen or page.

Reading Order Screen Reader Audio File with Incorrect Table Reading Order

 

Now listen to a similar table being read aloud, this time with the correct reading order.

Reading Order Screen Reader Audio File with Correct Reading Order

 

What are the Benefits of Reading Order?

Correctly setting the reading order of your document:

• Allows text-to-speech or screen reading software to read information sequentially.
• Ensures that keyboard and screen reader users can navigate menus, links and form field items sequentially when using the tab key.