RE: alt text & punctuation - best practice?

>one of the rules of usability is not
>to do things differently from what people are used to. >

A bit defeatist methinks!

Do we accept 6 pt type terms and conditions? Non-plain English insurance
documents? Inadequate contrast on shiny paper? - just because that is
what people are used to?

For web documents we impose other design decisions by default on all our
users, whether they need it or not:
	numbered bullets;
	punctuated bullets;
	underline only used for links;
	lots of layout and colour decisions;
	etc etc.

OK. Perhaps asking people to punctuate their headings sounds more
radical at first sight than these, but believe me, you will only find it
distracting for about 4 microseconds. I'd have thought it should be
recommended practice on any text that is likely to be read
electronically, and those of us that work in disability related fields
should be setting an example with our own web sites now.

It makes a lot of difference. Blind users have commented that our
website is the most intelligible they have come across. (Oops! That's
probably an invitation for people to pull it apart :<( !)

Regards
Ian Litterick
www.dyslexic.com
www.iansyst.co.uk
---------------------------Disclaimer---------------------------

Unless obviously public, this email is confidential to the intended
recipient(s). If you received it in error please tell the sender and then
delete it. We check emails from dyslexic.com and iansyst.co.uk, but you
should virus check incoming emails. Emails do not always represent our
official policy or a contract. Errors and omissions are excepted.

iANSYST Ltd, Fen House, Fen Road, CAMBRIDGE, CB4 1UN. T +44(0)1223 420101;
Fax +44(0) 1223 42 66 44; Sales@dyslexic.com.

Received on Monday, 21 June 2004 14:22:34 UTC