Accessibility Requirements for People with Low Vision

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Ike Presley <ipresley@afb.net
<javascript:_e(%7B%7D,'cvml','ipresley@afb.net');>>
Date: Fri, Mar 18, 2016 at 2:07 PM
Subject: Accessibility Requirements for People with Low Vision
To: "Jim Allan (jimallan@tsbvi.edu
<javascript:_e(%7B%7D,'cvml','jimallan@tsbvi.edu');>)" <jimallan@tsbvi.edu
<javascript:_e(%7B%7D,'cvml','jimallan@tsbvi.edu');>>
Cc: Ellen Bilofsky <ebilofsky@afb.net
<javascript:_e(%7B%7D,'cvml','ebilofsky@afb.net');>>, George Abbott <
gabbott@afb.net <javascript:_e(%7B%7D,'cvml','gabbott@afb.net');>>


*Hi Jim,*



*I have reviewed the guidelines and made some comments below.*



*If these guidelines are designed for web and e-text programmers I think
the more examples, the better, so that they can see the differences between
traditional displays of text & elements and those adjusted for people with
low vision. *



*Section 3.1.1 – “*Some people turn down the brightness of their screen or
use an overlay.*“ I would suggest, “*Some people turn down the brightness
of their screen or use an overlay, while others like to increase the
brightness especially on mobile devices.” Or something like that.



*Section 3.1.2 – I really like the examples and the emphasis on “**User
Need - Contrast:*

Users can set the background color and the text color from the full color
spectrum.*”*

*Section 3.1.3 – I really like the color wheel examples from 2.4.5. If you
think people might be jumping around in this resource it might be worth
repeating the color wheels here.*



*Section 3.2.1 & 3.2.2 – I am so happy to see these sections. For me
personally this is one of the most important accommodations when reading
electronic text regardless of device or software application. I wish every
piece of software was required to have these feature.*



*Section 3.3.2 – I think this section should also include something like
the following. “Avoid the use of serif fonts such as **Times New Roman**
because the serifs produce visual clutter that makes it more difficult to
distinguish characters and impedes reading efficiency.” Include examples
like how the lower case “**g**” in Times New Roman looks like the number 8.
I am not sure if you want to mention or include the work that Dr. Elaine
Kitchel (APH) did when she developed APHont. It would be nice to offer that
as one of the font choices available. *

*I think there will also need to be a note about using Accessibility
options available in the browser such as in IE under Tools:Internet
Options:Accessibility. Looks like this might be covered in Section 3.7.3.*



*Section 3.3.3 – I would suggest adding, “Avoid the use of italics when
possible.”*



*Section 3.5.1 – The contrast in Fig. 12 is not very good and illustrates a
poor example.*



*I do not recognize the names on the Low Vision Task Force. Do any of them
have low vision? I’m guessing at least one of them does, but I  just don’t
know the names well enough.*



*Please give my thanks and sincere appreciation to the task force for
working on this much needed topic. At times it seems that much of the
attention to accessibility is geared towards users with no usable vision so
it’s nice to see this initiative. Please let me know if I can help further.*



*Hope this helps,*

*Ike*







*Ike Presley, TVI, CLVT, CATIS*

*National Project Manager*

*American Foundation for the Blind*

*739 W. Peachtree St. N.W., Suite 250*

*Atlanta, GA 30308*

*404-525-2303 <404-525-2303>*

*www.afb.org <http://www.afb.org/>*

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-- 
Jim Allan, Accessibility Coordinator
Texas School for the Blind and Visually Impaired
1100 W. 45th St., Austin, Texas 78756
voice 512.206.9315    fax: 512.206.9264  http://www.tsbvi.edu/
"We shape our tools and thereafter our tools shape us." McLuhan, 1964


-- 
Jim Allan, Accessibility Coordinator
Texas School for the Blind and Visually Impaired
1100 W. 45th St., Austin, Texas 78756
voice 512.206.9315    fax: 512.206.9264  http://www.tsbvi.edu/
"We shape our tools and thereafter our tools shape us." McLuhan, 1964