Re: User Testing of Accessiblity Features

Hi David, I agree, I avoid doing such things.  There are still many
designers out there that use such trivial images.  My thinking is that a
visual aesthetic can be represented aurally in a different way other than
alt text.



                                                                       
             "David Poehlman"                                          
             <poehlman1@comcas                                         
             t.net>                                                     To
                                       "Olivier GENDRIN"               
             08/30/2007 09:33          <olivier.gendrin@gmail.com>, "Tighe
             AM                        K. Lory" <tkl02@health.state.ny.us>
                                                                        cc
                                       "Alastair Campbell"             
                                       <ac@nomensa.com>, "HTML WG"     
                                       <public-html@w3.org>, "WAI Interest
                                       Group list" <w3c-wai-ig@w3.org> 
                                                                   Subject
                                       Re: User Testing of Accessiblity
                                       Features                        
                                                                       
                                                                       
                                                                       
                                                                       
                                                                       
                                                                       




So why put useless stuff on the page in the first place?  If it is there it

should be useful, if it is useful, we need to know it is there.

----- Original Message -----
From: "Tighe K. Lory" <tkl02@health.state.ny.us>
To: "Olivier GENDRIN" <olivier.gendrin@gmail.com>
Cc: "Alastair Campbell" <ac@nomensa.com>; "HTML WG" <public-html@w3.org>;
"WAI Interest Group list" <w3c-wai-ig@w3.org>
Sent: Thursday, August 30, 2007 9:22 AM
Subject: Re: User Testing of Accessiblity Features





> And my colleague Léonie would argue that if the image conveys something
(even "just" emotive), then she would like to know it's there and what it
is supposed to represent.
>
> That demonstrates the hard-core usability vs holistic experience divide
quite nicely.

Maybe we should think of this in the reverse. For example, if a designer
were to use aural stylesheets to give different voices to various parts of
a page -- should there be an alternative for those not using a screen
reader?   I would say yes, in most cases a designer would use a different
font face/size.  But the designer wouldn't put a notice on the page to
non-screenreader users that different voices are being used.  I think the
same could be done for background images that are just eye candy.  A
similar emotive feeling could be expressed in a different way then just
putting alt text on the page.  It is harsh to the way the page is read, and
gets in the way when the informative value is questionable.  It reminds me
of a point one of my former colleagues made in regards to the differences
between print and Web media.  He would say that they are different, and you
can't just take a print publication and dump it on a Web page and expect it
to be effective.  Our jobs as Web developers is to convey important
information to users, not document every visual/aural design choice on a
page, that is not what the user wants or needs.  I believe that
accessibility and usability must be considered together when designing,
What is the point of a accessible page that is completely unusable?



             "Olivier GENDRIN"
             <olivier.gendrin@
             gmail.com>                                                 To
                                       "Alastair Campbell"
             08/30/2007 06:45          <ac@nomensa.com>
             AM                                                         cc
                                       "Tighe K. Lory"
                                       <tkl02@health.state.ny.us>, "WAI
                                       Interest Group list"
                                       <w3c-wai-ig@w3.org>, "HTML WG"
                                       <public-html@w3.org>
                                                                   Subject
                                       Re: User Testing of Accessiblity
                                       Features










On 8/30/07, Alastair Campbell <ac@nomensa.com> wrote:
>
> Tighe K. Lory wrote:
> > An example would be a stockphoto of a person ...
> > Putting in alt text would just clutter up what the screen reader says,
and
> > I think make the site less useable.
>
> And my colleague Léonie would argue that if the image conveys something
(even "just" emotive), then she would like to know it's there and what it
is supposed to represent.
>
> That demonstrates the hard-core usability vs holistic experience divide
quite nicely.

I strongly opposed to that, because if you began to explain
illustrative images (which generaly convey emotive, or mood
informations), you will also have to explain the graphical choises of
the website, because a website that uses sharp lines has not the same
emotive  sense that a website that uses round corners...

So it leads directly to have alt even on CSS background images,
because of emotion...

--
Olivier G.
http://www.lespacedunmatin.info/blog/



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Received on Thursday, 30 August 2007 13:40:18 UTC