Authored by Dan Shelley a blind student herein referred to in the first person – (I), and Terry Hammon one of the authers of the proposed Web Accessibility Guidelines for Santa Rosa Junior College.
Since I heard from you yesterday, and obtained some advice from a diabetic access trainer, who himself is confronted with the threat of losing vision and relying on the techniques you or I use to operate a computer, I will pass on his comments below. His name is David Isaacs, and in an email we heard from him before as we prepared the paper. I have read the comments myself, and I think they will be helpful to you:
Constructively, let me suggest some important things. First, if you are attempting to write from a sighted perspective, you really need someone to explain the truth of internet design to you so you can understand the vast limitations of HTML and the wide spread lack of basic design knowledge that pervades the internet.
I'll give it a quick go here. First consideration. Ease of use. As a general rule, all major elements of hard copy, paper and ink design tools are rarely used or significantly misunderstood by web page designers. They just don't get it. And in some cases the code does not have sufficient range. For example, the smallest HTML text size is half the size of newspaper printing in both overall size and the thickness of the line. The characters are difficult to see. Resolution at 800 by 600 dots per inch still generates an image that is fuzzy. Fuzzy means difficult to identify, hard to read, like a braille page that has been stored in a damp place. In addition, it appears that there is also limited ability to control the space between letters [ called kerning ] as well as the space between lines [ called leading ]. The combination of poor control of the text on the page and low levels of design sense means that all users, blind and sighted alike, suffer equally.
Secondly , lets speak of context and content. There are over one billion web pages. And there are no rules whatsoever. Every page is different from every other page. Graphic elements are included because they are cool, hip and awesome. Not because they make for clear visual communication. And, the more these memory hungry tools that are on the page, the slower it loads. This does not stop page designers from using them.
A relatively simple home page from yahoo, excite, or blue light is a mix of random elements combining multiple columns of differing width. In these columns you will find completely inconsistent text sizes, and boxes formed between headlines in different colors. The boxes display data about sports, stock markets, latest news headlines, the weather, lists of search engines, tv programs, and advertising copy. Some are animated, some still.
To get down to the experiential nitty gritty, imagine the task of reading a braille page with random sized dots and irregular spacing between the lines. And sometimes the dots are there and sometimes a section is completely flat. That's what faces the sighted user. To use any page or site, the user has to go through an initial spatial re-orientation. How is it organized? Is there a map? Are there topic links? Are there top of page links? Can I contact the owner of the page? Where is the information? And remember, every page is a new, unfamiliar page, blind or sighted.
I wish I was exaggerating Dan, but I'm not. The only page element that is consistent consists of the command bars . They are almost always at the top of the page. Different text size, different colors, sometimes tabbed sometimes not.
The best thing that could happen for blind access, in my opinion, is some set of standards. Any consistent set of rules would be fine. For example, when the page reaches the finally loaded stage, there is always an auditory signal. Page numbers are always in the same place. Links to top and bottom of page are always included and can be reached with a standard hot key. Command bars are replaced with pull down menus that can be scrolled and activated by the enter key. Error messages always get focus and contain their own sound files so that they speak automatically. Keyboard access is considered access of choice. The mouse bites the dust. This would also be a revelation for sighted users.
As far as your web presentation goes, generally I'd suggest never using any jargon and spell out all abbreviations. And on an overall perspective, it was difficult for me to identify your intended audience and goals.
Hope this has been helpful. Congratulations on reaching the rank of published authors. Sock it to em.
Happy Trails,Since I heard from you yesterday, and obtained some advice from a diabetic access trainer, who himself is confronted with the threat of losing vision and relying on the techniques you or I use to operate a computer, I will pass on his comments below. His name is David Isaacs, and in an email we heard from him before as we prepared the paper. I have read the comments myself, and I think they will be helpful to you:
Constructively, let me suggest some important things. First, if you are attempting to write from a sighted perspective, you really need someone to explain the truth of internet design to you so you can understand the vast limitations of HTML and the wide spread lack of basic design knowledge that pervades the internet.
I'll give it a quick go here. First consideration. Ease of use. As a general rule, all major elements of hard copy, paper and ink design tools are rarely used or significantly misunderstood by web page designers. They just don't get it. And in some cases the code does not have sufficient range. For example, the smallest HTML text size is half the size of newspaper printing in both overall size and the thickness of the line. The characters are difficult to see. Resolution at 800 by 600 dots per inch still generates an image that is fuzzy. Fuzzy means difficult to identify, hard to read, like a braille page that has been stored in a damp place. In addition, it appears that there is also limited ability to control the space between letters [ called kerning ] as well as the space between lines [ called leading ]. The combination of poor control of the text on the page and low levels of design sense means that all users, blind and sighted alike, suffer equally.
Secondly , lets speak of context and content. There are over one billion web pages. And there are no rules whatsoever. Every page is different from every other page. Graphic elements are included because they are cool, hip and awesome. Not because they make for clear visual communication. And, the more these memory hungry tools that are on the page , the slower it loads. This does not stop page designers from using them.
A relatively simple home page from yahoo, excite, or blue light is a mix of random elements combining multiple columns of differing width. In these columns you will find completely inconsistent text sizes, and boxes formed between headlines in different colors. The boxes display data about sports, stock markets, latest news headlines, the weather, lists of search engines, tv programs, and advertising copy. Some are animated, some still.
To get down to the experiential nitty gritty, imagine the task of reading a braille page with random sized dots and irregular spacing between the lines. And sometimes the dots are there and sometimes a section is completely flat. That's what faces the sighted user. To use any page or site, the user has to go through an initial spatial re-orientation. How is it organized? Is there a map? Are there topic links? Are there top of page links? Can I contact the owner of the page? Where is the information? And remember, every page is a new, unfamiliar page, blind or sighted.
I wish I was exaggerating Dan, but I'm not. The only page element that is consistent consists of the command bars . They are almost always at the top of the page. Different text size, different colors, sometimes tabbed sometimes not.
The best thing that could happen for blind access, in my opinion, is some set of standards. Any consistent set of rules would be fine. For example, when the page reaches the finally loaded stage, there is always an auditory signal. Page numbers are always in the same place. Links to top and bottom of page are always included and can be reached with a standard hot key. Command bars are replaced with pull down menus that can be scrolled and activated by the enter key. Error messages always get focus and contain their own sound files so that they speak automatically. Keyboard access is considered access of choice. The mouse bites the dust. This would also be a revelation for sighted users.
As far as your web presentation goes, generally I'd suggest never using any jargon and spell out all abbreviations. And on an overall perspective, it was difficult for me to identify your intended audience and goals.
Hope this has been helpful. Congratulations on reaching the rank of published authors. Sock it to em.
Happy Trails, David Isaacs