Google’s AxsJax for Ajax Applications

Accessibility on a live web browser is one of the main features of an Ajax based application especially when they are made in the light of Web 2.0 functionality. As the flagship web technique for Web 2.0 Ajax provides smarter access options for developers as secured access to applications will be executed with little bandwidth and better experience for users.

However, Ajax accessibility is not universal. Screen readers will always be struggling to read the Ajax based application because the client side scripting of JavaScript does not have the expected coding for screen readers.

Google has found a way in answering this problem. Called AxsJax (pronounced “access Ajax”), this application could be injected to the general coding of the application so that it could transform an Ajax based application to be readable for screen readers. This is an open source application that could be easily launched by any developer for better screen reading capability.

AxsJax banks on its adaptive technology in reading various Web 2.0 website. When AxsJax was launched this application was initially available for Google applications only. GWT is also able to add this application for better accessibility. Today, AxsJax is available for any Ajax based website.

By following W3C ARIA specifications, Google was able to formalize the coding of AxsJax so that it could be recognized and will recognize different languages and coding particularly for JavaScript. AxsJax primary role is to scan the application for possible screen reader friendly version. As soon as it has determined the functions for this application is available for screen reading, it automatically renders a version for screen readers.

For AxsJax to work, specific requirements should be met by developers. These requirements also affect the accessibility of users of the application:

Modern Browser – because of coding requirements, AxsJax will only work in browsers that matches the capability of Firefox 2.0 and higher.

Adaptive Technique – developers should build an application that will be friendly for AjxJax. The coding for accessibility is set out by W3C ARIA.

Live Regions Feature – developers should have a coding in their applications wherein live region changes are possible. That means developers should be able to build an application wherein specific changes in parts of the application is possible without refreshing the entire webpage.

There are also three types of integration of this application:

Bookmarklet – a simple yet powerful tool of JavaScript wherein the application could be bookmarked by users.

Greasemonkey – for more customization, Greasemonkey could be used to properly integrate AxsJax to the application. This type of integration develops an extension for the application based on the developer’s specifications.

Fire Vox – developers can also upgrade their website to be friendly with this Firefox extension. When the application is upgraded for Fire Vox, users will just have to switch the “on” function in Fire Vox to read the application.

This open-source application of Google for developers presents a brand new opportunity for developers to enhance their functions. With this tool, websites and online applications are readable and accessible.