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
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 ...
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 ...
28
votes
6answers
920 views
Can stairs have a user experience?
Is there any UX consideration that goes into the design/construction of stairs? I know there are various local building codes and the ADA which regulate these things to some degree but stairs at ...
28
votes
7answers
1k views
Is there an optimal font size / line height ratio?
When styling text on web pages, both font size and line height can be set. For example, the text of this post will be displayed using a font-size of 14px and a line-height of (about) 18px, set using ...
26
votes
8answers
948 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 ...
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
9answers
443 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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
20
votes
3answers
1k views
HTML label association with inputs; bad UX?
I'm a web developer having a weird UX issue. When I build HTML forms, I ensure that every input's label is implemented through a <label></label> tag and that each label uses the for ...
19
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 ...
18
votes
8answers
230 views
Do we still need text scaling links on websites?
Links/buttons to adjust font size used to be one of the accessibility must-do's but do we still need to include the text scaling links on our sites?
Most modern browsers and operating systems support ...
18
votes
5answers
249 views
Tools for checking accessibility compliance [closed]
As part of my website designs, I like to make sure that I am adhering to the accessibility standards (Section 508, UK Disability & Discrimination Act, etc...).
Can anyone recommend any ...
17
votes
2answers
791 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 ...
16
votes
11answers
1k views
What's a good scroll bar equivalent for a spiral script?
One of my friends is writing a fictional story about a people who use a script that is read in a spiral from the inside out. They write on long coils of flexible material, and longer texts are fed ...
16
votes
4answers
536 views
How important is it to consider color for color blindness in a design
In response to this question about iconography, I was wondering about how much it is necessary to factor in color usability for people with color perception difficulties into a design.
The first ...
15
votes
2answers
340 views
What are some best practices to follow when designing for users completely unfamiliar with computers?
In User Testing in the Wild: Joe’s First Computer Encounter, a researcher for Mozilla encounters a 60 year old man who has never used a computer and describes what it was like to have him use 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?
14
votes
5answers
435 views
How detailed should a text alternative version of an image be?
Had a debate with a collegue recently about a accessible text alternative to an infographic we have. When they wrote the text alternative they wrote in detail exactly what was going on in the picture ...
13
votes
5answers
539 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 ...
13
votes
4answers
98 views
Including users with disabilities in user centered design
Many of the methodologies used in the early phases of user centered design, such as card sorting and paper prototyping, are not accessible to people with disabilities. Anybody have any advice on ...
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 ...
12
votes
8answers
2k views
eLearning: Courses on Usability, UI, UX, or XD? [closed]
Considering User Experience Stack Exchange is in itself an educational tool, creating infomation hubs geared to different personas and users is no longer a tedious task. What are the applications, ...
12
votes
6answers
198 views
How to get into accessibility consulting?
I’m a totally blind software developer who does mostly server side programming. I’ve had some experience with section 508 assessments and am an experienced screen reader user. While I have a full time ...
12
votes
1answer
674 views
Using wheelchair symbol in CAPTCHAs?
More and more websites that use CAPTCHAs have started to cater for visually-impaired users who cannot solve a visual (text-based) CAPTCHA by providing an audio CAPTCHA.
What I find bizarre is that ...
12
votes
5answers
335 views
Should we worry about dial up users?
I am looking to design a site which is going to be fairly image heavy and a question came up about what should we do if the users access it through a a dial up or a really low speed internet ...
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 ...
11
votes
4answers
628 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.
...
11
votes
10answers
378 views
Coding Best Practices as UX?
I've been stating in most of my recent contracts that meeting HTML coding Best Practices (what's outputted to the browser) is an important part of UX.
This would include things like Semantics (using ...
11
votes
4answers
525 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 ...
10
votes
6answers
126 views
Accessibility statements: Worth having on websites?
Currently working for a client who had a very vague, generic accessibility statement on the site, until a couple of months ago when the site was redesigned and the statement was left out of the IA.
...
10
votes
2answers
634 views
iFrame accessibility and usability issues
Aside from confused scrolling and screen reader problems (and I'm not downplaying these issues, it's just that I've already discussed them at length), are there any concrete accessibility and ...
10
votes
3answers
157 views
For touchscreen interaction, are there benefits to knowing a user's preferred hand?
The generally accepted answer to the question on Left-handed persons and usability is that rather than asking users which hand they use in order to determine your layout, you should let them choose ...
9
votes
2answers
1k views
Proper usage of fieldset / legend tags
I'm wondering what the suggested usage of <fieldset>s are on a webpage.
For example, on a simple page with just one form (one set of inputs) is it still recommended to use a fieldset? Or should ...
9
votes
4answers
541 views
Why do Pedestrian Traffic Signals only play the audible crossing notification for only a short duration and not for the entire duration of crossing?
As per with the American Disability Act (ADA), audible pedestrian signals are supposed to be implemented in most traffic signal projects. These audible signals are designed to assist visually impaired ...
9
votes
4answers
794 views
Font sizes for WCAG2.0 AAA
Anyone know what the WCAG2.0 definition of 'Normal' and 'Large' fonts are, as they relate to the AA and AAA levels?
I've googled and read the WCAG site and docs but unless I'm being really stupid ...
9
votes
3answers
194 views
Usefulness of on-site text resize tools
I'm not sure what to call them, but anyone know of research on the effectiveness of including the ability to resize text onscreen via a buttons/toggle. I mean the "aA" button you still sometimes see ...
9
votes
4answers
363 views
Best Place for a Back Button on a 7" Tablet Menu
I'm currently building the interface of an Android Tablet digital restaurant menu.
The user is going to be able to navigate between categories and dishes lists and navigate back as well.
I'm finding ...
9
votes
1answer
455 views
Guidelines on designing audio-only interfaces (eg for blind users)?
There are many resources out there that provide accessibility guidelines - hints on making content easy for a screen-reader to parse, or reminders about content that blind users cannot glean. That's ...
8
votes
4answers
480 views
How to correctly encode a leaderboard with a gap in HTML
I want to display a leaderboard like so:
1 - John 232342
2 - Mary 45234
3 - Luke 234
59 - You 45
It's an ordered list but I can't make an ordered list that jumps from 3 to an arbitrary ...
8
votes
4answers
244 views
Flash, Silverlight and Accessibility
Simple question, although the answer probably isn't...
Do Flash or Silverlight offer accessibility options?
Should we ever use these if we are trying to build a truly accessible site?
8
votes
2answers
187 views
Is F1-F12 the same for every keyboard/language
I have little tooltip graphics, each with a picture of a keyboard shortcut. Sometimes, the picture is a F5, a F10, etc.
I was wondering (for accessibility reasons) if everyone has a keyboard with "F" ...
8
votes
4answers
207 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 ...
8
votes
3answers
696 views
Is it good to leave Select dropdown with default style for better UX and Accessibility?
When I design websites. many time I try make the select drop-down more attractive.
example
By default select drop-down looks slightly different in almost each Desktop and Mobile browser
but ...
8
votes
6answers
2k views
Making mega-menus accessible for keyboard users
Here's the situation. A large corporate site has a mega-menu in the primary navigation. The secondary-level page areas are available from within this dropdown (in this example the secondary levels are ...
8
votes
3answers
497 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 ...
8
votes
1answer
187 views
Accessibility and the use of font characters for icons
It seems to be a trend for the moment to embed custom web dingbat fonts and use them as icons on web pages. But isn't it so that a screen reader will read those characters out load? So when it for ...
8
votes
3answers
798 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 ...
7
votes
2answers
358 views
Quick website evaluation checklist [closed]
I want to make a small checklist to evaluate my sites.
I want to make SEO , usability and accessibility checks.
Which are the most important checks I have to make?
7
votes
2answers
218 views
Do manufacturers of markers produce different shapes for each type (whiteboard/permanent) so you can tell the difference by touch?
In the sense that this is an interface with the user of pens, I thought this might be an acceptable place to ask this question, but if it's just application interfaces, then please remove or close ...
