[HPFGU-OTChatter] Quoting, attribution, etc.

[Mrs.) Lee Storm (God is the Healing Force]

Hi,

As a user of GW Micro's Window-Eyes Screen-reader and a long-time user of
newsgroups, lists, etc., I am familiar with all kinds of attribution
practices, formats, etc.  However, there are some things which work better
than others, particularly if there is more than one person quoted.

I do think placing attribution before your response to whatever quoted
material does help.  It doesn't matter how it's written, but some note above
posted material makes it easier to know who's saying what.

As far as "chevrons" are concerned, most users of screen-readers turn off
punctuation in reading mode; too many "Commas," "Greater-thans," and other
marks get to be very distracting and one can lose the meaning of the
message.  Personally, I do, in fact, keep my punctuations turned off for
reading and on for writing.

Just to give you an example:
"Would you (comma) seriously (comma) like to listen to (star) all your
messages (star) like this with all the punctuations turned on (question)?"

Probably not; you would prefer to hear the same sentence read like a
sentence:
"would you, seriously, like to listen to *all your messages* like this with
all the punctuations turned on?"

Another thing to note is that, in some cases, if the message comes in an
HTML format, there are no arrows, bars, or other marks to delineate one
speaker from another.

I don't know if this is of any help, but, even with vision, I think it's
only a common sense nicety to identify who your quoting as well as
identifying yourself in the message, and signing your post may seem
redundant, but I appreciate it!...especially if you are the original poster.
There's nothing more irksome than reading a post with no signage of any
sort.

I am aware that some cultures don't sign their posts; having been a list
mod, I had to deal with that from one poster who said that he never signed
his email and I told him that if he wanted to remain a member of the list
he'd better.  Well, he did, and all was right with the world. <Grin>

I hope this missive hasn't left the question of quotes and attributions
unanswered as to what works best for screen-reader users.

Personally, I'm flexible, but I'm also very experienced.  There are a lot of
novices who have a horrible time with Cut-&-Paste mail, so I know the
attribution of quoted parts is not only nice for them but essential!

Take care, and please write me off list if you have any questions about
screen-readers, blind people, access tech, etc.

Cheers,

Lee :-)

Do not walk behind me,    | Lee Storm
I may not care to lead;   | N2FGC
Do not walk before me,    | n2fgc at arrl.net (or)
I may not care to follow; | n2fgc at optonline.net
Walk beside me, and be my friend.