- From: Anne Pemberton <apembert@crosslink.net>
- Date: Fri, 17 Mar 2000 09:57:54 -0500
- To: "Gregory J. Rosmaita" <unagi69@concentric.net>
- Cc: Web Content Accessiblity Guidelines Mailing List <w3c-wai-gl@w3.org>
Greg and all, I have been pretty cranky the past few days, and I apologize to the list for being less than useful in my remarks/posts. At 06:27 AM 3/17/2000 -0500, Gregory J. Rosmaita wrote: >fact... it isn't a question of whether graphics are necessary, but how >best to use them to benefit those who interact most efficaciously with >images, whilst making their content and contextual meaning clear to users >whose interaction with the web is not visually oriented Illustrations (etc) as links, followed by the text link. An illustration on the opening screen of a page. This helps folks determine if they want to tackle the text on the page or move on. most >people still use a phone, even if they have to stand out in the cold and >rain to do so via a public telephone... Hate to share the road with someone using a cell phone ... but, you are right, and many cognitively disabled folks would probably also choose telephone over computer, but TV also delivers the web, and TV is also present in most homes (tho I've never seen anyone stand in the rain to see a TV!<grin>) (will >voice-recognition technology alone ever truly be sufficient? If you will indulge me a "slice of life": An LD 10 yo I tutor after school got a copy of Dragon, and began to set it up to accept her distinct southern accent. It's not yet something that can be used "on the fly". >1. who is to decide what semiotic schema to use in order to provide a >non-reader (as defined above) with a purely graphical slash symbolic >version of the textual contents of a page? There seem to be no agreement on a universal symbolic "language" other than international road signs. Perhaps this can't be accomplished until we have the capicity to interpret languages "on the fly". But it is possible to ask authors to illustrate opening screens and links separate from graphics used for style and design. >2. who knows best the needs and cognitive capacity of an individual >user? my answer to this question is the individual user -- and, perhaps, >those who interact with that individual, as an individual, and who respect >his or her opinions and listen to his or her statement of needs, rather >than those who simply quote know what is best unquote for the user, based >upon a physical or psychological classification... My suggestions have come from observing how a (small) number of cognitively disabled adults and children are using the web, and observing how a larger number of mixed disabled and not young students are learning to use the computer and the web. Not based on classification, but on observations of folks I know, not the least of which is my darling husband. Hope I have been more specific. Anne Anne L. Pemberton http://www.pen.k12.va.us/Pav/Academy1 http://www.erols.com/stevepem/Homeschooling apembert@crosslink.net Enabling Support Foundation http://www.enabling.org
Received on Friday, 17 March 2000 12:17:02 UTC