When you use a screen reader program to read screen items in a WebDAV location in Windows Vista, the screen reader program does not work correctly

When you use a screen reader program, such as Narrator, to read screen items in a WebDAV location in Windows Vista common file dialog boxes, you experience the following symptoms:

• The screen reader program may read the contents of a dialog box one time, and then the screen reader program no longer works. If you press TAB or SHIFT+TAB to move the focus through elements in the dialog box, the screen reader still does not work.
• If you close and then reopen the dialog box, the screen reader again reads the dialog box items one time.

You experience this problem if you open a common file dialog box to a WebDAV location.

Note WebDAV is the set of extensions to the HTTP protocol. WebDAV lets users collaboratively edit and manage files on remote Web servers. Microsoft Office SharePoint Portal Server is an example of a WebDAV location.

This problem occurs because of a problem with the HTML view for WebDAV locations. The HTML view for WebDAV locations is not written so that screen readers can process the dialog box items.

In Windows Vista, the common file dialog boxes, such as the Open dialog box or the Save dialog box, display WebDAV locations in HTML view. The common file dialog boxes in Windows Vista do not let you switch from HTML view to the typical shell folder view for the display of WebDAV locations.

Note The shell folder view is the way in which Windows Vista displays objects in Windows Explorer. Screen readers can successfully process items that are displayed in this view.

Because screen reader programs cannot process WebDAV items in HTML view, the screen reader does not successfully read the items in an Open or Save dialog box when you visit a WebDAV location.

Warning Serious problems might occur if you modify the registry incorrectly by using Registry Editor or by using another method. These problems might require that you reinstall your operating system. Microsoft cannot guarantee that these problems can be solved. Modify the registry at your own risk.

To resolve this problem, modify the Windows Vista registry to configure the common file dialog boxes to use shell folder view instead of HTML view to display objects from WebDAV locations. This lets screen reader programs process the items in these dialog boxes successfully. To do this, follow these steps:

1. Click Start
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   , type regedit in the Start Search box, and then click regedit in the Programs list.
   
   
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   If you are prompted for an administrator password or confirmation, type your password, or click Continue.
2. Locate and then click the following registry subkey:
   HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\Explorer
   Note If the Explorer subkey is not listed, you must create it.
3. Right-click Explorer, point to New, and then click DWORD (32-bit) Value.
4. In the New Value #1 box, type NoHTMLViewForWebDAV, and then press ENTER.
5. Right-click NoHTMLViewForWebDAV, and then click Modify.
6. In the Value data box, type 1, and then click OK.
   
   Note To disable this registry value, set the NoHTMLViewForWebDAV value to zero (0).
7. Exit Registry Editor.

After you set this registry entry, WebDAV locations are displayed in shell folder view in Windows Vista common file dialog boxes. Therefore, screen reader programs can process the listed items in the same manner in which these programs read the contents of other Windows Vista folders.