Re: Okay, is this better?

re:  http://www.csinet.net/taymade

Joyce: 

I received a couple of emails after my reply to your initial request for
review suggesting this probably isn't the most appropriate discussion for
this list. Well, maybe not, but you asked, so we're dealing with it. I'm
sure somebody will spank us or move this to another list if this isn't
topical. One quick follow-up, then we're probably done. Most importantly, I
wanted to give you public praise for your dedication to making your site
accessible. AttaJoyce! <pat><pat><pat>

What fast implementation! My hat's off to you for effecting the changes so
quickly. I'd still take issue with the background, however, and suggest
something non-textual. Noticed you validated this time too. Yippee!
<organizing the "Joyce passed validation" parade...heh, I actually wrote it
on my *calendar* the first time I got the "No errors found!" message>
Wasn't mentioned in Bobby, but it would be nice if you included a text-only
version of the page as well and had that link in the upper-left hand corner
of your page so it's the very first thing someone encounters. Heck, though,
if it's readable in Lynx, don't knock yourself out. Since you use Notepad
and don't have a nifty html-to-text formatting tool, I've found the easiest
way to make the "conversion" is to highlight the page in your usual
browser, then do a copy/paste and save it as filename.txt.  Just make sure
you go back and add the URLs to the text version since the addresses aren't
seen in the hypertext links and won't be listed in the "paste."

Chris Maden suggested you use ALT="--------------------" or something like
that in place of "line.gif," saying most voice synthesis software is
programmed to ignore punctuation. Typically, that's true and the general
default configuration, but for someone like me who frequents Internet Relay
Chat (IRC) and encounters nicknames which include punctuation characters
(`Avers, for example, or Avers^), I have to set up my software so it DOES
read punctuation so also hear it pronounced in other applications. Quite
frankly, If I encountered ------------ on a web page, it would annoy me, so
I stand by the advice I give in my tutorial on creating speech- and
text-friendly web sites by suggesting use of an empty ALT tag (ALT="") in
this instance.

Okay, stick a fork in me, I'm done! Again, good job, Joyce. Good luck with
retrofitting the rest of the site.

Best regards,

Reé Dolloff
mailto:averil@concentric.net

Creating Speech- and Text-Friendly Web Sites:
http://www.concentric.net/~Averil/speech.html

Received on Wednesday, 25 March 1998 11:48:03 UTC