Text Re-sizing User Information (Full Version)

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Donkey -> Text Re-sizing User Information (2/17/2007 11:26:38)

I am working on some much needed updates to our main site and trying to make (at least the new bits) more accessible. Rather than sod about with text resizing buttons on each page, I decided to add a page that acts as a sort of "idiot's guide" to how to resize text in various browsers and how to re-size system fonts.

I have researched this as well as I can and put together a fairly comprehensive page which I think covers all the main browsers. Although I'm not to worried about how my pages look at screen resolutions below 800 x 600 and on old versions of IE and Netscape there is some info there which may be helpful.

This is my test page

I would be grateful if a few of the accessibility experts could take a look at it and tell me If anything is wrong or if I have missed something.

Most of the links on that page won't work the updates are all still work in progress.



jaybee -> RE: Text Re-sizing User Information (2/17/2007 11:53:53)

Very impressive. The only thing I could find was this and this which, as you have a WCAG AAA badge, is not good.



Tailslide -> RE: Text Re-sizing User Information (2/17/2007 12:10:39)

I'd be very careful about claiming AAA conformance if I were you. It's very very hard to actually achieve. It's the sort of thing that people will actually just start looking for faults and with the regulations as they stand they'll always manage to find them. I'd just stick with - "we've done our absolute best, please let us know if you have a problem."

Apart from the points Jaybee mentioned - I'd remove the tabindexes - they're unnecessary far as I can see and can be counter-productive and a pain to maintain.

Your first two skip links aren't working yet.

I'd say (and I haven't checked) that the heading text colour is too pale if you're going to be going for triple-A (it's pretty much ok actually as the text is quite big - but it's the sort of thing that triple-A trips people up on) and the hover/focus effect is also too low on contrast.

I'd warn people about external links and I'd add in a visited style for links.

(Just on a side point - you're using a lot of break tags in there when it'd be easier to just increase the margins for the paragraphs etc?)

The information in there is really excellent Peter - very well put together. I suppose you could mention about IE7's zoom facility (even if it is broken!).



jaybee -> RE: Text Re-sizing User Information (2/17/2007 12:45:29)

I should point out here that I didn't go look at the code just an overview of the content and the fact that you had that badge at the bottom needed an automated check at the very least. [;)]



Donkey -> RE: Text Re-sizing User Information (2/17/2007 12:46:19)

Jaybee, those are left over bits from the current site that I haven't changed yet, the current site uses frames and a lot of other non accessible stuff . The new bits will comply when they are finally published.

Tailslide, as this is a test site I'm not claiming conformance yet I will try and achieve that level and if I don't make it I'll not claim it.

Re tabindexes, I thought they helped people who are using the keyboard navigate from link to link. If they are unnecessary I can take them out - this is just work in progress.

I have checked out the heading colour contrasts on the colourblind testing site and it looks OK to me.

I assume you mean the validation links, the other links in the nav bar will not be external. I will do that.

I don't usually put in a separate visited style for links - personally I have never seen much use in having the visited style any different from the link or a. On my site it wouldn't help much anyway because of the way the navigation is structured.

The break tags are because I will be using the using the same classes across several pages and I want to try and minimise the number of classes used. Eventually some of the break tags will go but in some cases they are a more logical solution .



jaybee -> RE: Text Re-sizing User Information (2/17/2007 12:50:44)

Triple A is tough and unless you can satisfy every single point, even those that aren't flagged in the auto check, you shouldn't put the badge on there.

As Helena says, fully accessible to one person might not be the same for another and it's difficult to hit all the bases. I've removed a badge from one site that seemed fine. I tested it in all the browsers, got a friend who is blind to check in Supernova then got a query from a Jaws user.

So now I just try to hit AAA but don't badge it. When I have time the AAA will come off the other sites too and either get replaced with a AA or just mentioned in the text.

quote:

Re tabindexes, I thought they helped people who are using the keyboard navigate from link to link. If they are unnecessary I can take them out - this is just work in progress.
If the page is properly structured and you have skip links you shouldn't need the tab indexes. They can actually be more confusing than helpful.



Tailslide -> RE: Text Re-sizing User Information (2/17/2007 13:00:13)

Tabindexes are one of those things that can sometimes be helpful - if your page is very oddly ordered. If your page is ordered in a fairly reasonable manner then they're not worth adding. They can be a real pain if you need to add a new link in the middle of a page for instance - you'll have to change all the others on the page. So basically they're not worth the effort. There's nothing wrong with the order of your stuff as it stands now.

Yep it was the validation links that I was referring to.

As far as the visited style for links - it's something I didn't use to add either but I see stressed a lot by accessibility types so I've started adding it in now. This is the sort of thing that could trip you up with the triple A thing - as with the colour contrast of the headings. You and I can see that because the text is much larger for the headings it's reasonably visible but it's not technically within the allowed contrast levels - have a look here: http://juicystudio.com/services/colourcontrast.php I'm not saying you need to change it - just be aware that it's a possible point of contention.

With the break tags - you don't need to add any new classes to the paragraph tags - just give add a rule (not class - not paying attention, sorry!) to "p" in the stylesheet to give the required margins. Same with headings etc - just refer to the heading tag itself (if necessary you could refer to it as #rightcolumn h2 for instance - no extra classes required).

Edit: I must be a really slow typist - I didn't see Jaybee's reply at all! I agree about the badges though - Valid CSS, HTML, accessibility level - I wouldn't put them on a site because they serve no purpose except to act as a target for people to beat you with! Saying instead that you do your best is hard to argue with!




Nicole -> RE: Text Re-sizing User Information (2/17/2007 18:37:17)

Just a minor thing Donkey, but the skip links go from dark to light underlined, and the links in the footer go from light to dark underlined.



Donkey -> RE: Text Re-sizing User Information (2/17/2007 19:30:45)

Nicole, that is intentional I don't see why everything should be exactly the same that would be boring. Different links have a different function so they act differently there is no accessibility issue there. (If the die hard accessibility/usability "experts" claim there is they are talking unmitigated hogwash!) There could be a problem if adjacent links in a set acted differently, but there is no problem when all the links of the same type act the same.

I really only put this up to see if I had missed anything in the content, the comments about AAA etc although interesting, are a bit off the mark because the page is not published so I'm not claiming anything yet, when it's finished I might.
<edit>
While I stand by my comments in the first paragraph I have looked at it again and I will be changing the bottom links to go from dark to light because I do think it looks nicer on this page. Thanks Nicole for bringing it up.
</edit>



womble -> RE: Text Re-sizing User Information (2/17/2007 20:13:28)

V. nice Donkey! Wombley likey muchley! [img]http://ecanus.net/smileys/coolup-blue.gif[/img]

(and good point about the scroll wheel thingy - I'd forgotten about that one)



mtfm -> RE: Text Re-sizing User Information (2/21/2007 10:14:33)

Oh, wow, that's nice! [8D]

I never knew about the mouse scroll wheel, but I am adding that functionality to my "resize the text" page.

Thanks!



caz -> RE: Text Re-sizing User Information (2/21/2007 12:27:42)

That certainly is very comprehensive content and what's more it's concise and clear. Thanks Donkey for doing the donkey work for me. [:D]



jaybee -> RE: Text Re-sizing User Information (2/21/2007 12:50:31)

So hang on, does this mean copyright theft is allowed if you're married or will he sue? [:D]



womble -> RE: Text Re-sizing User Information (2/21/2007 13:46:19)

I'm sure if he wants his dinner ready when he gets in from work he won't. [;)][:D]

It's probably licenced under some obscure variation of the GPL like the FGPL which means that feline spouses are allowed to "recycle" it once they've signed the necessary documentation - and we have photographic evidence of the feline one signing said document [:D]



caz -> RE: Text Re-sizing User Information (2/21/2007 19:06:07)

quote:

we have photographic evidence of the feline one signing said document :)


You mean the one where I forgot my own name? [:D]

No question of copyright theft though since I also suffered in it's production. [;)]



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