Much of the primary focus of accessible web design is often on relatively young users with clearly defined medical conditions such as little or no vision or an inability to use their hands. But what about the older population — many of whom have progressively deteriorating abilities?
At this time of year, we’re surrounded by pictures of a rather jolly man dressed in red. Take a closer look. See the white hair? The facial wrinkles? Yes - Santa’s a silver surfer. So what kind of problems might he face?
Our first indication that Santa might have some web surfing problems are the spectacles he sometimes wears. He’s also a little vain as he doesn’t wear them all the time. Or perhaps he just needs them for reading? Either way, it’s more than likely that he won’t be wearing them at the very moment he’s trying to sort out an online order for reindeer food. At this point, he might want to increase the text size in his web browser but, if the font size has been set in pixels instead of % or ems, Rudolph may end up with having to make do with Standard Lichen rather than the Premium brand he’s more used to [1]. If this results in a nose that isn’t quite so red, don’t say I didn’t warn you!
Santa Is A Silver Surfer: continue reading …
Published: December 18th 2007
According to clickdensity, there appears to be a link between user screen resolutions and text size settings.
Users with low screen resolutions (such as 640 x 480) appear to be more likely to use large text compared with larger resolutions of 800 x 600 or above.
Text Sizes and Screen Resolution: continue reading …
Published: November 17th 2007
A copy of PAS 78: a guide to good practice in commissioning accessible websites was previously available on the web site of the Disability Rights Commission (DRC). However, on October 1st 2007, the DRC joined forces with the Equal Opportunities Commission and the Commission for Racial Equality to form a new body - the Equality and Human Rights Commission. Of course, along with the new organisation came a new web site and, unfortunately, the previous link to download a copy of PAS 78 disappeared.
Free Copy of PAS 78 Back Again: continue reading …
Published: November 15th 2007
How do people cope when they forget a login password or username? Well, hopefully they use the “Forgot password” or “Forgot username” links that you so thoughtfully provided.
Or do they?
Research by social network watcher, Danah Boyd, suggests that your teenage visitors may simply re-register or create a new profile instead. Unlike us “oldies” who may view an online profile as an integral part of our personal identity, teenagers view it more as a temporary vehicle whose main use is to talk to friends “right now”. In comparison, the post-teens may use the same, or similar, login names for every service they sign up for as a way of presenting a unified virtual identity.
Reinventing A Headache: continue reading …
Published: October 31st 2007
