Re: Issue 80 and F3

Mike,
this is the document I normally point people to 
https://developer.yahoo.com/blogs/ydn/techniques-high-contrast-friendly-icons-153038779.html

Regards,
James

On 1/13/2016 3:40 PM, Mike Elledge wrote:
> Hi Wayne--
>
> Can you describe or point me to information about using sprites in an 
> alternative, accessible way? The issue has come up before and I would 
> like to be able to give direction to our developers and designers.
>
> Thanks!
>
> Mike Elledge
>
> On Jan 12, 2016, at 7:00 PM, Wayne Dick <wayneedick@gmail.com 
> <mailto:wayneedick@gmail.com>> wrote:
>
>> There are many ways to bring in sprites using CSS but using a 
>> background image is harmful to people with low vision. Providing a 
>> simplified background is critically important to people who 
>> experience loss of detail or become fatigued when working with fine 
>> detail. A busy background just buries the detail of text. Even with 
>> sufficient contrast the variable pattern just confuses the textual 
>> content. That is why High Contrast settings kill background images. 
>> The need for high contrast is not the problem, it is the need for a 
>> uniform background.
>>
>> The critical feature of the CSS background-image is that it 
>> identifies its intended use.  If an author uses background images as 
>> background, then the user or the user's software can remove the image 
>> and replace it with a useful background. If the author uses 
>> background-image for another reason there is no programmatic way for 
>> the user or user software to identify that image as potentially 
>> meaningful.
>>
>> The nice thing about the Windows High Contrast mode is that it gives 
>> you a full 16M colors to set up your own environment. So, people with 
>> photophobia don't have to suffer with bright colors to get a 
>> simplified background.

-- 
Regards, James

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