Tagged Questions

a general term used to describe the degree to which a product, device, service, or environment is available to as many people as possible. Accessibility is often used to focus on people with disabilities or special needs and their right of access to entities

learn more… | top users | synonyms

29
votes
8answers
4k views

Is a cancel button necessary in a web form?

Personally I have never used it. I don't put information in a form and then decide everything needs to be cleared. I would edit one field. Plus cancel in a UI suggests canceling an action which is in ...
112
votes
12answers
6k views

Why shouldn't we use words such as 'here' and 'this' in textlinks?

Over the years of surfing on the web I have found numerous examples of people saying that you shouldn't use the word "here" in a textlink etc. Personally I like the idea of using the word, because it ...
18
votes
9answers
3k views

What are the negative and positive aspects of dark color scheme?

I am using Light-on-dark color scheme (dark background with light text) in my application. My question is, what are the negative and positive aspects of this color scheme and why this color scheme ...
22
votes
9answers
1k views

What are good resources for testing UI design for color-blind users? [duplicate]

Possible Duplicate: How can I check if my user interface is suited for colorblind people? I'd like to ensure that color blind users experience the UI with sufficient contrast between ...
8
votes
3answers
791 views

Patterns for keyboard accessible drop down lists

Are there any standard keyboard shortcuts for making drop down lists appear? (in any kind of software, not just web based.) I'm going to write some JavaScript to make the drop down lists (select and ...
11
votes
9answers
1k views

Scrollbar on the left

Is there a deep study that suggests to place a scrollbar on the right? Personally I move it to the left whenever it's possible (firefox allow this, as well as xterm and emacs). I know that placing a ...
26
votes
8answers
945 views

Is it a good idea to have a large footer containing many links?

In recent years, it's become quite a common design pattern to have a large footer on every page, containing a 'mini sitemap'. For example: This has supposed SEO benefits, but would also seem to ...
12
votes
8answers
715 views

How to determine whether links have enough contrast?

I find it very hard to distinguish links from normal text on Programmers Stack Exchange, especially visited links on wall-of-text posts. The colour scheme used is: Background #fafafa (there's a ...
14
votes
1answer
4k views

Why is it inaccessible to create a form with no submit button?

Considering the W3C advice on including submit controls, is it still possible for a form to be accessible if the only way to submit it is by pressing the return/enter key?
13
votes
5answers
526 views

How can I check if my user interface is suited for colorblind people?

I've made a visualization that consists of various colors. Now I would like to test, if also color-blind people can use my application in a meaningful way. Is there any tool etc that I can run to see ...
22
votes
9answers
442 views

Are “print” links needed on a website?

What do you think, does a website for a general audience need a "print" link or will the users know how to print the page for themselves (using the browser controls)? Some background: It's not a ...
6
votes
3answers
312 views

Best way to link to PDFs/Word docs/etc?

I need to include links to PDFs, Word docs and other document types on a web page. A lot of sites display an icon for the file type, plus the file size. I'm inclined to remove both the icon and file ...
11
votes
4answers
626 views

Left-handed persons and usability

I have never seen any UI that depends on what hand a person prefers. I have never seen any options or profile settings for left-handled persons. Maybe it is a strange question, but I have to ask it. ...
3
votes
4answers
390 views

Best Way to Darken a Color Until it is Readable?

What's the best way to darken a color until it is readable? I have a series of titles which have an associated color, but some of these colors are very light and any text drawn in them is unreadable. ...
25
votes
5answers
7k views

Why are “Inverted Colors” considered an accessibility feature?

Why is it that in most Operating Systems the "Inverted Colors" display setting is considered an accessibility feature? Both Windows and OS X includes this option so it seems to be a recognized ...
22
votes
8answers
2k views

Is there an optimal font size?

For most website projects I've been involved with, the font size for the bulk text is usually 12px - 13px, but I'm wondering if this is a good size. I remember reading an article saying that font ...
4
votes
5answers
3k views

How do you design a registration form?

I am trying to learn about registration forms, what should I be careful about when designing one? Is there any "best practice" or do you know any great websites with great examples of registration ...
17
votes
2answers
789 views

Senior Usability and Navigation

Does anyone have any current resources for senior usability? I'm specifically researching navigation: tabs and accordions. The Jacob Nielsen site has a report that's over a decade old. I'm looking for ...
7
votes
2answers
1k views

How can one improve accessibility of modal windows in a browser?

How do modal windows implemented using, for instance, jQuery plugins affect the accessibility of the website? If it leads to poor accessibility, can it be mitigated? Is the only way to avoid using ...
4
votes
1answer
257 views

What are the design guidelines to make interfaces friendly to dyslexics?

I've come across this question on Quora where it's likely to be forgotten. Unlike other disabilities that are often considered in design, dyslexia has many forms. As a result, the guidelines can't be ...
7
votes
4answers
863 views

What are the UX strengths and weaknesses of Google+? [closed]

Google Plus is a new product from Google that seems to be a Facebook-like social application. It also seems to supercede Google Buzz. It is sort of integrated into GMail. It offers a number of UX ...
11
votes
4answers
524 views

Font Size Amender

Is there still any need for a font resizer in web apps? Modern web browseers easilly allow you to zoom in on content. Older browsers such as IE6 and IE7 require you to change the font size via ...
8
votes
4answers
206 views

Should I have a text size widget for accessibility on a charity website?

I'm a developer at a small web agency that works primarily with charities. We tend to put a simple textsize widget on every site (eg. top right on www.embraceme.org). I find myself wondering if that's ...
4
votes
6answers
251 views

In what situations is a “barrier to entry” training requirement before use appropriate?

Sparked by this discussion. Is there ever an argument to be made that products should be deliberately made difficult to use as a barrier to entry for the use of that product? If so, in what sorts of ...
4
votes
4answers
365 views

Alt key shortcuts anymore?

Do standard users use Alt key shortcuts for controls such as buttons anymore? eg. an OK button could have a shortcut of Alt-K which would be the same as pressing it. Any control on a form or window ...
3
votes
5answers
440 views

What are the most common UIs/Components? What are their Strengths/Weaknesses? How to improve? [closed]

Hm, I am fininding myself wishing that we had communitywiki After seeing this question: What is the most common user interface in the world? I thought it would be educational to not limit the ...
8
votes
3answers
492 views

Should we include a “Back to top” button for mobile websites?

When building a mobile web site that needs to be accessible — do you consider it to be best practice to include a "Back to top" anchor link in a footer menu for long pages? I'm thinking about those ...
7
votes
2answers
1k views

Honeypot captchas and accessibility

I have been looking at ways to prevent spam bots from posting, regstering and performing actions on my site. Initially, I thought about implementing ReCAPTCHA using its API. However, I have found ...
4
votes
2answers
258 views

What happens when the focus rectangle isn't clear?

I get a lot of clients that comment that the focus box isn't obvious enough in some browsers. Is it common and good practice to make it more obvious? If so, how exactly do people do this?
4
votes
1answer
209 views

Cursor position and movement in Bidi Input.

In the case of Bidi input, where both RTL and LTR types languages can be mixed together, what should be the cursor position? And what should be the movement of the cursor with Home and End buttons? ...
2
votes
0answers
194 views

Are “reset” buttons redundant? [duplicate]

Possible Duplicate: Is a cancel button necessary in a web form? Are form "reset" buttons redundant? If not, why not? Give me a case where they are completey accepted, useful and maybe even ...