RE: Cognition (was Re: Suggested issues that may be addressed in next version of guidelines)

Anne wrote:
>I'm curious about your clicking to provide the full image
>in a second window. Why do you choose to put it in another window?
>Is there an advantage to the visual user?

We are not sure yet.  It can be problematic to leave large spaces open for the
full size image.  Might as well put the image there.  If using a thumbnail,
growing the image to full size require reformating the content around the
image which then causes orientation problems for kids.  Where am I, were was
I, what's next?  When opening in a second window, we find that it is best to
open the image to the same screen location but I want to stress that we have
not decided that this is a desirable approach.

Anne also asked:
>Does CAST have, or have access to a narrative to the classic and award
>winning children's books that would include reading/interest levels and a
>hint at the subject?

I don't have such a list but will check around to see of others might.  I am
not surprised to hear how difficult it has been to find high quality content
for your purposes.  We have been working with schools in New Hampshire, Maine,
Massachusetts and Texas on this problem for a couple of years and many have
resorted to scanning books and putting them into supported reading engines.  I
just finished preparing and submitting a proposal to create a digital resource
library for kids with special needs with the hope that we can begin to share
some of this work rather than have it duplicated over and over again.  The
Texas Book Exchange has been doing this for college and university textbooks
with permission from the publishers.  We plan to do this in a completely legal
manner requiring validation of need.

Chuck





-----Original Message-----
From: Anne Pemberton [mailto:apembert@crosslink.net]
Sent: Thursday, August 05, 1999 10:48 AM
To: Chuck Hitchcock; Web Content Accessibility Guidelines
Subject: RE: Cognition (was Re: Suggested issues that may be addressed
in next version of guidelines)


At 08:31 AM 8/5/1999 -0400, Chuck Hitchcock wrote:
>Some of your recommendations are subjective opinions on how to present images
>or graphics that may require some discussion.

In this area, I am learning, not learned. I'm open to discussion.

We have been experimenting with
>the use of full images, iconic representations of images that may be clicked
>to provide the full image in a second window, single column text with images
>along side but not intruding into the text area, etc.

I'm curious about your clicking to provide the full image in a second
window. Why do you choose to put it in another window? Is there an
advantage to the visual user?

The software I use for web authoring does not provide the option to open
another window, but I can link an image to a full-sized version and the
user hits the back key to return to the original page.

We are discovering, as
>you might expect, that the best choice depends on purpose and individual
>preferences.  We'll keep at it.

Both purpose and individual preferences will always be factors. If the
audience is known, individual preferences may be known. With the wide
audience of the web it may be only possible to guess at individual
preferences, and the result of missing some will cost audience. Purpose
should be an important, if not the most important, consideration. If the
purpose of a site is to teach or inform, and individual preferences aren't
met satisfactorily, the audience will decline, and so will the
"effectiveness" of the site.

My efforts at finding suitable sites and e-text for a third grader were
more fruitful yesterday than in the past. I have enough e-text or online
reading selections to "last the year", but not enough to be able to sift
through for quality without running out of "stuff". Sites with activities
are available suitably labeled for approximate grade/age use. A big hurdle
is that a lot of sites list "classics", "award winners" and other lists of
books that contain only book title and author, no guess at an age or grade
level preference, or even the subject. It'll be pretty dreary if I have to
go to a library and examine every one of those books (couple hundred) to
find the ones that are useful, then have Taylor look at each of the useful
ones and find the ones with interesting subject matter. Many sites boast
lists of books, but the "classics" are always the same, title and author
only.

Does CAST have, or have access to a narrative to the classic and award
winning children's books that would include reading/interest levels and a
hint at the subject? If so, you may want to include it in your teacher
resources (and send me a copy or give me the URL please!).

				Anne


Anne L. Pemberton
http://www.pen.k12.va.us/Pav/Academy1
http://www.erols.com/stevepem/apembert
apembert@crosslink.net
Enabling Support Foundation
http://www.enabling.org

Received on Thursday, 5 August 1999 14:27:17 UTC