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One thing that always surprises me is how many people take offense to the suggestion to make their software/websites more accessible, as if it's trampling on their artistic freedom. Even here on enlightened HN, the top-most comment seems to worry about some "Orwellian" future where non-accessible websites are verboten. I prefer to look at making things accessible in two more positive ways: 1. It's a challenge; any de…
That is why the up vote and down vote buttons are what is known as intuitive is use.
But if you design something with KISS (Keep It Simple Stupid) then you can at least have a good interface to tap into.
I would love a site that allowed you to go into edit mode and drag and drop and move and select the elements of the site you wanted and had that as a default style sheet for that site. You can then have voted user style sheets/templates for the site that enable somebody who is say colour-blind to select the one best for them. Though for colour blindness I'm surprised none of these smart TV's have the ability for the user to custom remap aspects of the colour palate to accommodating them. Though I'm not colour blind, but it is a common enough issue and a fine solvable example with regards towards a accommodative user interface.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
I like to use ihackernews.com
Whoa, this is great! Thanks for the pointer. I might even start using this on my desktop, too, it's so nice.
When calling a deaf person, you may need to call a relay or translation service, meaning two phone numbers. Virtually no company, even those with a "notes" area have an established protocol for this. And many just don't have even that.
And no notes is a huge pain. You know how it's a pain in the ass to get the cable/Internet guy to come at a convenient time? They often insist on calling first to ensure their trip isn't wasted. Now imagine you're deaf, and the guy calls every time, and he doesn't use a relay/translator, and never actually communicating... He never comes.
God it has to be annoying sometimes. It was for me and I was getting paid for those calls.
"One of the newer groups under the accessibility umbrella, this group has become more vocal in the past few years. Those with dyslexia and ADD or ADHD have begun to press for a less busy Internet, one where ads don’t distract them to the point of being unable to use a site, or where proper contrast is used, rather than the more artistic combinations of light text against an only slightly lighter background." IMO, bro…
I'm pretty sure my time would be better spend making it visually better than learning about accessibility.
So.. I'm working on a website that is primarily for reading. Just looking at the statistics, there is 7.9 million people out of 300 million in the US that will have either be blind or effectively blind. That's 2.6% of the population that won't be able to access my site. That's below my threshold for dropping browser support. I'm pretty sure my time would be better spend making it visually better than learning about a…
* Can someone who can't use a mouse navigate your site? How about if they can't use a keyboard? * Can your default styles be over-ridden? Does it grow gracefully, or is content suddenly hidden? * Have you checked your color contrasts for the color blind? * Are ads constantly looping animations? * What fonts are you using? * Does it have a consistant navigation? * What about the content? Is there any attempt to make it as readable as possible? Or are the authors long-winded? * Is text broken up into reasonably sized paragraphs? Are sections effectively used? * Is there abuse of all-caps or italics?
Those are just off the top of my head. If you think that the blind and visually impaired are all you have to worry about, you'd be wrong.
So.. I'm working on a website that is primarily for reading. Just looking at the statistics, there is 7.9 million people out of 300 million in the US that will have either be blind or effectively blind. That's 2.6% of the population that won't be able to access my site. That's below my threshold for dropping browser support. I'm pretty sure my time would be better spend making it visually better than learning about a…
So it's more than just 2.6%. There are other bonuses to be had.