Access by Design A Guide to Universal Usability for Web Designers
Notes
The Web comes with a global audience that is impossible to accurately define. Web sites often have an intended audience, but the actual audience is almost certainly much broader. As a result, the best approach to writing for the web is to write clearly and concretely, avoiding needless complexity and chatter.
ritz replies...
How are you ever going to learn anything new when the only people who understand you already do what you do?
On the other hand, text that is really text can be sized, colored, styled, copied, pasted, indexed and searched. Text is the most powerful and accessible element on the Web. With the text styling options available using CSS, there is little need to use graphic text, particularly for essential elements such as navigation and content.
ritz replies...
Sweeping generalizations are always bad, but for the most partâ??the web is about delivering content. Ideas, information, and meaning. For most people in most situations, text is the best way to go. Text rules!
If, however, the page already contains elements of emphasis, highlighting what is important becomes difficult since so many elements are already competing for attention. And if more and more emphasis is added in an effort to make each element stand out, the resulting design is chaotic and confusing.
ritz replies...
People have short attention spans. Especially on the web! Once you have more than three things pushing for attention(hopefully one is the main content), you need to take a step back, decide whatâ??s the most important, and figure out what can go.
The most basic principle is to design simply. This applies to all areas where design is in the service of function… On the web, design exists to enable access to content and functionality… A well-designed Web site has just enough emphasis to spark interest and draw attention to important events, but not so much as to distract the user from content or hinder the functionality.
ritz replies...
Can people do what they need to do or learn what they need to learn quickly, easily, and leave with a smile on their face? Thatâ??s successful design!
The term feels to big—too much as assessment of worth. We think things that are “designed” must look good. But design is, simply, the process of making decisions about how things are made—their size, shape, materials, and so on… Whenever we make a choice about how a thing is made—how it looks, how it operates, how it is put together—we are engaging in the process of design.
ritz replies...
For the most part, you shouldnâ??t notice designâ?Š Everything should be elegant and beautiful but the second someone says, â??Hey, thatâ??s blue. I like blue.â? Instead of, â??Hey, this helps me do that.â? You care too much for the aesthetics.
Description edit
In just over a decade, the Web has evolved from an experimental tool for a limited community of technically inclined people into a day-to-day necessity for millions upon millions of users. Today’s Web designers must consider not only the content needs of the sites they create, but also the wide range of additional needs their users may have: for example, those with physical or cognitive disabilities, those with slow modems or small screens, and those with limited education or familiarity with the Web. Bestselling author Sarah Horton argues that simply meeting the official standards and guidelines for Web accessibility is not enough. Her goal is universal usability, and in Access by Design: A Guide to Universal Usability for Web Designers, Sarah describes a design methodology that addresses accessibility requirements but then goes beyond. As a result, designers learn how to optimize page designs to work more effectively for more users, disabled or not. Working through each of the main functional features of Web sites, she provides clear principles for using HTML and CSS to deal with elements such as text, forms, images, and tables, illustrating each with an example drawn from the real world. Through these guidelines, Sarah makes a convincing case that good design principles benefit all users of the Web. In this book you will find: • Clear principles for using HTML and CSS to design functional and accessible Web sites • Best practices for each of the main elements of Web pages—text, forms, images, tables, frames, , links, interactivity, and page layout • Seasoned advice for using style sheets that provide flexibility to both designer and user without compromising usability • illustrations of actual Web sites, from which designers can model their own pages • Instructions for providing keyboard accessibility, flexible layouts, and user-controlled environments • Practical tips on markup, and resources
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Additional information
- Pages: 288
- ISBN: 032131140X
- EAN: 9780321311405
- Dewey: 006.7
- Binding: Paperback
- Publisher: New Riders Press
The areas where clarity is most crucial are labeling and instructions—the elements that guide users through the functions of a page. Navigation is not a place for unclear language—link labels must be self explanatory to guide users to their destination… In general, all instructions should use clear and concise language.
ritz replies...
Itâ??s worth taking the extra time on this at all possible stages. Surprises and unexpected outcomes chip away at everyoneâ??s trust and personal connection with the situation, even if they donâ??t realize it.