Request for assistance

Hi All  - -

I sent this before but this time the appeal for help is up top so it 
won't be missed.   When I report accessibility problems to a website I 
want to be able to help by saying where to learn more and I ask your 
help as to where they should look.   What can I quote?

Low vision is not a single disability with a single fix or accommodation 
and the fixes and accommodations needed depend on the disability of the 
viewer's eyes. These three weaknesses of eye strength are the most 
common for eye readers, those that still read with their eyes but not well:

(1) Most everybody knows about poor acuity, sharpness of focus, and that 
magnification is the usual fix, but many are not aware that it also 
calls for word wrap to keep the copy on the screen when magnified.

(2) Fewer people know about poor contrast sensitivity, the ability to 
distinguish between shades of gray or colors, and that the fixes are 
heavier lines and bold fonts. Magnification helps to see the print, but 
a larger skinny character is still skinny and hard to read. The viewer 
needs choice of font.

(3) Limited visual field is usually caused by retinal damage, but also 
by poor acuity requiring a short eye to screen distance. The fix here is 
minimizing the screen width and pulling in the margins to give a narrow 
column of copy. which in turn calls for word wrap to keep the copy in 
the column. Many IT professionals are unaware of the limited field problem.

 >>> If these things are covered in the guidelines, please let me know 
about it so I can quote them when I tell websites about where they 
offend. I don't want just to complain, but to be helpful.

===gm===

Received on Friday, 21 September 2012 13:09:50 UTC