- From: David Woolley <david@djwhome.demon.co.uk>
- Date: Fri, 18 Jan 2002 07:46:03 +0000 (GMT)
- To: w3c-wai-ig@w3.org
> sailboats, palm trees, and red-roofed houses. None of these images has > anything to do with the text that it appears next to, but all of them > are indeed there to send a message. This is one of the great problems that commercial users have with the HTML philosophy. HTML was designed for clear conveyance of information, but these mood images are not. You can get away with completely misleading people with background images in advertisements, with, maybe, some small print to indicate that the image isn't really related to the product. The same goes for colour and layout, although the message is more subtle. > > How do we get this same message across to blind users? The message is probably an order: "you *will* feel very comfortable about the idea of moving to this area". A lot of the use of colour etc. is putting over similar messages. If you give a straightforward text description of the true message, at the best it will fall flat, at worst it will be clear that one is trying to associate ideas when there is no justification with the association in reality. Given that touch and smell are not yet standard browser features, the alternatives might have to be sounds which invoked similar moods in the blind to those which the pictures invoked for the sighted. I'm not sure how well designers actually think about the real message they are sending, or just use conventions; to translate the real message requires a deep understanding. It's unlikely that someone retrofitting accessibility will think in terms of the real message - they are after almost mechanical rules. Actually, at least for customer relationship type adverts (especially IT consultancies), at least in the UK, it is often the text that is misleading. The text says what the prospect would really like such a company to be like and this is juxtaposed with a logo, or even the suggestion: "call xxxx now", but nowhere is an explicit statement made that the xxxx is provably like that ideal, rather than like the rest of the field. I think the advertising agencies often write these without any knowledge of the company at all. Most advertising is about being economical with the truth or deliberately confusing issues, but the WAI guidelines assume absolute honesty. (My suspicion is that the very best advertising designers understand exactly what they are doing, but probably would not admit to it outside their own professional circles.)
Received on Friday, 18 January 2002 02:49:27 UTC