- From: Ian Jacobs <ij@w3.org>
- Date: Tue, 04 Jan 2000 15:06:28 -0500
- To: Jonathan Chetwynd <jay@peepo.com>
- CC: po@trace.wisc.edu, "GL - WAI Guidelines WG (E-mail)" <w3c-wai-gl@w3.org>, hfi@humanfactors.com
Jonathan Chetwynd wrote:
>
> I am somewhat at a loss to reply to your comment on whitespace.
Ah. I think I understand better now. I read "white space" to
be "spaces, tabs, newlines, etc." and with my very small I18N
hat on, asked why white space (characters) were important
for accessibility.
If I understand better, you were referring to blank areas ("open
space"?), and I understand better the accessibility requirement
(and general utility) of uncluttered pages.
_ Ian
> Gregg C Vanderheiden Ph.D. Fw an email (29/12/99) concerning
>
> >What research-based guidelines are available for designing websites?.....
> >The focus was on using research-based information to improve the user
> interfaces of websites. ....
>
> within:
> >PAGE DESIGN -- SPECIFIC
> it was stated:
> >DO minimize the use of 'white space' in search tasks.
>
> It is not clear what the meaning or intention (of 'use' and "search tasks")
> is.
>
> However in my experience no search engine provides sufficient white space
> for people with cog-dif.
> WWW.google.com homepage is close to ideal.
>
> unfortunately there remains the problem that the browser window also has a
> place to enter keywords.
> this (also) confuses people of normal ability, when new to browsing.
>
> If I have misunderstood the intended meaning, it may be that this bullet
> point needs rephrasing.
>
> Ian perhaps we could (need to) develop the theme of whitespace and its use
> in the
> guidelines?
--
Ian Jacobs (jacobs@w3.org) http://www.w3.org/People/Jacobs
Tel/Fax: +1 212 684-1814
Cell: +1 917 450-8783
Received on Tuesday, 4 January 2000 15:06:47 UTC