Granted Patent B2

US 8,028,240 · App. 11/306,013 · Granted Sep 27, 2011

Abstract

Claims (60)

1. A method for assigning a user-defined label to a control element in a computer-rendered document in a computer having a screen reader comprising the steps of:

providing a computer having a screen reader function;

focusing on the control element in the computer-rendered document, whereby focusing identifies the control element to be described by output through the screen reader;

invoking a labeler function in the screen reader;

assigning the user-defined label to the control element, wherein the user-defined label is associated with the underlying code for the control element; and

saving the user-defined label in association with the computer-rendered document whereby upon the control element subsequently entering focus, the user-defined label is output to the screen reader.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein the control element is selected from the group consisting of text links, graphic links, form fields and buttons.

3. The method of claim 1 wherein the control element is a form input element.

4. The method of claim 1 wherein the control element is a navigational element.

5. The method of claim 1 wherein the computer-rendered document is selected from the group consisting of web pages, word processing documents and portable document formats.

6. The method of claim 4 wherein the navigational element is a graphic element, whereby the element is a bit-mapped control element that is not easily interpreted by the screen reader.

7. A method for assigning a user-defined label to a navigational control element in a web page in a computer having a screen reader, the method comprising the steps of:

providing a computer having a screen reader function;

focusing on the navigational control element in the webpage, whereby focusing identifies the navigational control element to be described;

invoking a labeler function in the screen reader;

assigning the user-defined description to the navigational control element, wherein the user-defined label is associated with the underlying code for the navigational control element; and

saving the user-defined label in association with the web page whereby upon the navigational control element subsequently entering focus, the user-defined label is output to the screen reader.

8. A method for assigning a user-defined label to a form input element in a web page in a computer having a screen reader, the method comprising the steps of:

providing a computer having a screen reader function;

focusing on the form input element in the webpage, whereby focusing identifies the form input element to be labeled;

invoking a labeler function in the screen reader;

assigning a user-defined label to the form input element, wherein the user-defined label is associated with the underlying code for the form input; and

saving the user-defined label in association with the web page whereby upon the form input element subsequently entering focus on the web page, the user-defined label is output to the screen reader.

9. A method for assigning a user-defined label to a control element in a computer-rendered document in a computer having a screen reader comprising the steps of:

providing a computer having a screen reader function;

focusing on the control element in the computer-rendered document, whereby focusing identifies the control element to be described by output through the screen reader;

invoking a labeler function in the screen reader;

assigning the user-defined label to the control element, wherein the user-defined label is associated with the underlying code for the control element;

saving the user-defined label in association with the computer-rendered document whereby upon the control element subsequently entering focus, the user-defined label is output to the screen reader; and

sharing the user-defined label with additional users whereby the sharing permits

the additional users to apply the user-defined labels.

10. The method of claim 9 wherein the user-defined label is saved to a medium selected from the group consisting of INI-files, structured XML files, comma delimited files, and a database.

11. The method of claim 9 wherein the user-defined label is stored on a remote store and retrieved by a real-time query.

12. The method of claim 11 wherein the real-time query comprises a SOAP request through a web-service.

13. A computer-readable medium having stored thereon a program which is executable by a processor, the program comprising instructions for:

focusing on a control element in a computer-rendered document, whereby focusing identifies the control element to be described by output through a screen reader;

invoking a labeler function in the screen reader;

assigning a user-defined label to the control element, wherein the user-defined label is associated with the underlying code for the control element; and

saving the user-defined label in association with the computer-rendered document whereby upon the control element subsequently entering focus, the user-defined label is output to the screen reader.

14. The computer-readable medium of claim 13 wherein the control element is selected from a group consisting of text links, graphic links, form fields and buttons.

15. The computer-readable medium of claim 13 wherein the control element is a form input element.

16. The computer-readable medium of claim 13 wherein the control element is a navigational element.

17. The computer-readable medium of claim 13 wherein the computer-rendered document is selected from the group consisting of web pages, word processing documents and portable document formats.

18. The computer-readable medium of claim 13 wherein the step of invoking a labeler function in the screen reader further comprises displaying a dialog box having a text entry box for accepting the user-defined label.

19. The computer-readable medium of claim 13 further comprising instructions for sharing the user-defined label with additional users whereby the sharing permits the additional users to apply the user-defined labels.

20. The computer-readable medium of claim 16 wherein the navigational element is a graphic element, whereby the graphic element is a bit-mapped control element that is not easily interpreted by the screen reader.

21. The computer-readable medium of claim 19 wherein the user-defined label is stored on a remote store and retrieved by real-time query as required.

22. The computer-readable medium of claim 21 wherein the real-time query comprises a SOAP request through a web-service.

23. A method for assigning a user-defined label to a control element in a computer-rendered document in a computer having a screen reader comprising the steps of:

focusing on the control element in the computer-rendered document, whereby focusing identifies the control element to be described by output through the screen reader;

invoking a labeler function in the screen reader;

assigning the user-defined label to the control element, wherein the user-defined label is associated with the underlying code for the control element;

saving the user-defined label in association with the computer-rendered document whereby upon the control element subsequently entering focus, the user-defined label is output to the screen reader; and

generating a list of form fields in the computer-rendered document responsive to a user request, the form fields displayed with the user-defined label for each form field.

24. A computer-readable medium having stored thereon a program which is executable by a processor, the program comprising instructions for:

focusing on a control element in a computer-rendered document, whereby focusing identifies the control element to be described by output through a screen reader;

invoking a labeler function in the screen reader;

assigning a user-defined label to the control element, wherein the user-defined label is associated with the underlying code for the control element;

saving the user-defined label in association with the computer-rendered document whereby upon the control element subsequently entering focus, the user-defined label is output to the screen reader; and

generating a list of form fields in the computer-rendered document responsive to a user request, the form fields displayed with the user-defined label for each form field.

Assignments (11)