Re: Low Vision Needs

Hi Jon,
I knew the larger print would bother someone.  Everyone has a sweet spot,
formally their feasible print range.  They read slower for smaller or
larger print.  Actually ctl (cmd) + or - grows or shrinks it.  That font is
my absolute minimum.

Regarding style.  I will write more this week, but for now I would like to
clarify that I do not think users should be responsibility for writing
their own style sheets or applying them.  There are three components to
such technology: (1) Diagnostic Software - a highly usable interface to
promote selection of appropriate style settings (prescriptions) for best
visibility. (2) A translator that encodes style prescriptions into
appropriate program readable formats (e.g. style sheets, JSON, scripts).
(3) User Agent plugins that read encoded prescriptions and pass them on to
the UA so that they can be applied effectively to web content.  While this
latter step may be difficult for extremely active content, there is no
reason why every user agent of every accessible data format should not
support this access for reading documents: articles, books, public policy
statements, law, conference proceedings etc.

That is how I view the access.  The user is given a way to chose style that
deem best for their reading needs. Programs map the choices to encodings.
User agents grant access to user friendly plugins that guide user agents
rendering of reading content in the exact form that the user request.

Think about this for a second.  It can be done now with existing
technology.  It will equalize access to reading for a huge class of people.
For many the transformation will be so dramatic that it will be like
removing their disability.  The technology community can do this.

Wayne

On Sat, Jul 18, 2015 at 4:05 AM, David MacDonald <david100@sympatico.ca>
wrote:

> great response Jonathan... I was hoping for your comments on this...
>
> Cheers,
>
> David MacDonald
>
>
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> On Fri, Jul 17, 2015 at 9:48 PM, Jonathan Avila <
> jon.avila@ssbbartgroup.com> wrote:
>
>>  Wayne,
>>
>> Ø  I hope the larger than normal font does not disrupt your reading.
>>
>>
>>
>> It’s actually ironic that you mention this.  Larger text like that found
>> in your document actually is much slower for me to read – at least with my
>> low resolution display.  I would prefer to view the text closer but have
>> the text at a smaller font for optimal reading efficiency.  You also
>> discuss spacing between letters – for me – I tend to use whole word
>> recognition and thus spacing between words – and even worse uneven spacing
>> causes a decrease in reading speed.  Larger line spacing is also
>> problematic for me – I don’t have an issue with line tracking and so extra
>> white can also cause a decrease in efficiency.  I use a low resolution
>> display mode and thus sites that are designed for high resolution display
>> tent to have a lot of extra white space that I would prefer to have
>> condensed.
>>
>>
>>
>> What this says to me is that we really need flexibility as you indicate
>> for the user’s preferences to be honored.  At the same time I don’t want to
>> have to apply a custom style sheet nor do I expect that most users will
>> know how to apply one – so in addition we need some practical guidelines
>> that will assist users with some sufficient level of support without
>> requiring customization – but still allow for complete customization.  The
>> link to the WebAIM survey is a good resource.  I think it’s also important
>> for us to put together some commonalities that many but not all people with
>> low vision might have, for example:
>>
>>
>>
>> ·        Decreased contrast sensitivity
>>
>> ·        Increased glare sensitivity
>>
>> ·        Reduced field --- either by looking closely or by visual
>> impairment field of vision
>>
>> ·        Need for magnification
>>
>> ·        Trouble locating or tracking mouse cursor
>>
>> ·        Etc.
>>
>>
>>
>> Because low vision is such a wide group of individuals we are likely to
>> have needs to conflict.  Creating personas and perhaps sending out a survey
>> might also assist.
>>
>>
>>
>> Best Regards,
>>
>>
>>
>> Jonathan
>>
>>
>>
>> --
>> Jonathan Avila
>> Chief Accessibility Officer
>> SSB BART Group
>> jon.avila@ssbbartgroup.com
>>
>>
>>
>> 703-637-8957 (o)
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>>
>>
>> *From:* Wayne Dick [mailto:wayneedick@gmail.com]
>> *Sent:* Tuesday, July 14, 2015 5:00 PM
>> *To:* GLWAI Guidelines WG org; Jeanne Spellman; Shawn Henry; Sharron
>> Rush; Jim Allan; jbrewer@w3.org; tom
>> *Subject:* Low Vision Needs
>>
>>
>>
>> Hi All,
>>
>> I have been working on a Low Vision needs document.
>>
>> http://nosetothepage.org/LVOverview/LV_Needs.html. I hope the larger
>> than normal font does not disrupt your reading.
>>
>> Wayne.
>>
>
>