Re:DRAFT: Now with URL included!

Regarding "Designing Pages Accessible to Limited
Textual Comprehension User" by Kynn Bartlett.

One group of users that Kynn mentions is users who are not native
speakers/readers of the language of a site. In this regard,
cultural issues are very important.

1. images often mean less
In my view, a word like "home" is much more useful than an icon.
When "home" is used on an English language site on the
web, it is clear that it referres to the website's home page. On
the other hand I recall browsing in some Swedish website (in
Engish) and it took me some time to realize 
(due to my Swedish culture disabilities) that the icon of
"a trip to an exotic snowy country with a wooden hut in a 
thick forest" means "home". 
 
2. Don't use  words in their localized jargon meaning. Use
the official dictionary meaning to avoid mis-understandings. 

The usage of the term "religious" in a negative manner in
regard to the usage of images is counter productive. One
should note that there are religions that have heavy
restrictions on the usage of images (notably Islam, and to a certain 
extent Judaism), some people may be offended by the implication
that there is something wrong with their religion.

Regards,

Nir Dagan

http://www.nirdagan.com
mailto:nir@nirdagan.com
tel:+972-2-588-3143

"There is nothing quite so practical as a good theory."
-- A. Einstein

Received on Monday, 14 June 1999 09:30:12 UTC