Why Worry About Accessibility?

disaster-master's picture

She has: 2,154 posts

Joined: May 2001

Read this article from a person who has disabilities and find out.

Smiling

He has: 1,758 posts

Joined: Jul 2002

Hmmm its made me think a bit.

I'm already starting to design using CSS and XHTML so thats a start.

Is it better to make the original site accessable for everyone but loose some of the visual effect for (and i hate to put it this way but...) "normal users" or have a swanky flashy front end and an alternate accessable version for other people?

Andy

Renegade's picture

He has: 3,022 posts

Joined: Oct 2002

Does accessable mean fluid design as well? I always thought it did. However, that site is not fluid :S Sticking out tongue

Anyways, another good bookmark Laughing out loud

disaster-master's picture

She has: 2,154 posts

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That site (mezzoblue.com) does not belong to the author of that article. It tells in the very first paragraph and has a link to his site. Wink

mairving's picture

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Joined: Feb 2001

Not meaning to be callous or anything but by making your site more accessible friendly, you basically have to make your site a little less friendly to the 99.9% of people that don't have problems.

I don't know I guess I am still trying to figure out why they have Braile on drive up ATM's.

Mark Irving
I have a mind like a steel trap; it is rusty and illegal in 47 states

They have: 25 posts

Joined: Sep 2003

For the passengers ???

Accessability has always been an issue for me. My eyesight is none to good and I usually use view-text size-largest when on the web. This solves my problem most of the time but some sites have this feature disabled. I dont stay on them long.

Graham.
Backlinkers.com
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Sites Looking To Exchange Links.

Suzanne's picture

She has: 5,507 posts

Joined: Feb 2000

I disagree that you make the site less friendly for the 99.9% of people who don't have problems. Notably because it's not that high a number of people without some special need, but also because the more accessible a site is, the easier it is for everyone to use.

Braile on drive up ATMs - why make new key pads for one ATM. They are the same regardless of location. It doesn't HARM you to have braile on the keys when you're not blind -- most people won't even notice, like the little dots on the F and J on the keyboard to help you position your hands while typing.

There is nothing that makes a site accessible that makes it harder to use for other users.

Suzanne's picture

She has: 5,507 posts

Joined: Feb 2000

Quote: Originally posted by Renegade
Does accessable mean fluid design as well?

No, it doesn't.

The fluidity or rigidity of the design has nothing to do with accessibility. It may have a lot to do with USABILITY, i.e. people with different resolutions (smaller) being able to view the page without scrolling, however the content is styled through stylesheets and is ACCESSIBLE in a variety of ways that have nothing to do with the design.

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