RE: Accidental Example of Usability and Cognition.. (Was: 2.1.1 keyboard - clarification)

Apologies to all who might have had accessibility problems with reading the
article about drop down menus on my blog, www.dingoaccess.com

My intention in doing the various research projects (including the one on
the use of drop-down menus) has always been to promote the importance of
website accessibility. At the same time, I hope the articles I write about
accessibility provide some practical information for site developers. 

I am not sure why Cindy was having problems with the text on the left edge
of the page but I have now included a left-hand margin to the content area
and hopefully this will help alleviate some of the problems. The default
page text size is relatively large and can be resized with the browser.
Also, it has a contrast ratio of 12.6:1. I aim to make pages that are
accessible, not inaccessible.

Thanks

Roger 

-----Original Message-----
From: w3c-wai-ig-request@w3.org [mailto:w3c-wai-ig-request@w3.org] On Behalf
Of Cindy Sue Causey
Sent: Thursday, 11 November 2010 8:45 AM
To: Sandi Wassmer
Cc: Gavin Thomas; w3c-wai-ig@w3.org
Subject: Re: Accidental Example of Usability and Cognition.. (Was: 2.1.1
keyboard - clarification)

On 11/10/10, Sandi Wassmer <sandi@copious.co.uk> wrote:
> Glad you mentioned it, as this raises even another issue for me. I am VI
> (registered blind with residual vision) and have ADHD. To be frank, I
found
> the article impossible to read from the ADHD perspective and had to have
it
> read to me in a bizarre tutorial fashion wherein I asked questions as we
> went along.
>
> So, I did have reservations about posting the link, as although I will be
> delirious when the Internet is wholly inclusive, I figured that not
posting
> it would be denying those who could access it the opportunity to do
so.....



Hi, Sandi..

Thank you for typing back.. I completely understand what you are
saying.. To me, it was a *perfect* webpage to share, both for your
message and that it crossed these Fingertips..

Someone typed to me offlist (waving to them) so I thought a little
deeper on it..  You typing back holds the door open to add to the
original..

For me, it feels purely visual, although some level of ADHD'ish may
explain my brain not letting go of trying to move the letters away
from the side (and thus ignoring what those letters are trying to
convey).. As a fix, how I accommodate this when I've come across it on
the Net is to just copy and paste into a favorite text editor..

Just plugged the page into two other browsers I use even though all
three are basically the same (Icecat, Iceweasel, Konqueror).. When I
tested Konqueror, I noticed something else about it because I use that
browser's file view to surf..

In Konqueror, there ends up being a gray margin on the left that
effectively separates the text from the very edge of the window.. That
still does not help.. It's about there actually being a margin that
doesn't have to be much at all but really does need to be the same
color as the background behind the text being viewed..

Borders that are the same color as the background or nested containers
could create the same effect.. The idea is just about the visual
illusion that the text is separated from a "virtual hard edge" or hard
"stop" that cognitively *feels* like a brick wall on the side of a
screen's viewable window..

Thank you so much again for responding.. Closing with a public "thank
you" to the webmaster of the page because it presented the opportunity
to being able to say, "Here, right here, this affects how the verbiage
is received," in response to the occasional requests for just what
does affect cognition on the Net.. Was perfect.. Thank you..! :grin:

Wandering off *very seriously* wondering out loud how this works for
cognitive comprehension of languages that are written right to
left..........

Cindy Sue

- :: -
Celebrating Disability Independent Living!

http://delicious.com/SilkWhispers
Georgia Voices That Count, 2005
Talking Rock, GA, USA

Received on Thursday, 11 November 2010 04:32:19 UTC