Garrett Dimon recently wrote about ambient indicators. (His blog is great, by the way.) More specifically, he talks about how OS X deals with notifying the user of document changes on the close button (ambiently). But he also touches on how this applies to Web Design/Interaction Design:
Changing the color, typographic characteristics, or similar visual options does not reliably convey that information to all users.
This sentence lit up like a lightbulb; all these years I’d been spouting the words myself, yet somehow I managed to overlook how I apply this principle to my own work.
I recently used something like this in a menu <a class="selected" href="/">home</a>, when in reality I should have been using something like the following: <a href="/"><strong>home</strong></a>
The menu was showing changes with the selected class, but not in lynx, or on a screen reader. Using <strong> is just as easy to style, yet conveys ambient information, whereas a class does not, without a stylesheet.
This brings up a good thought. Why don’t screenreaders take in to account simple typographical information conveyed in CSS stylesheets? Do they? I don’t know; but they could and perhaps should. Especially when applied to the instance I’ve stated here. Just because I used a class instead of a <strong> element doesn’t mean I or the user should be struck on the wrist.
It just goes to show, that even the littlest nugget of information you’ve heard over and over again, can pass you by, or allude you.
Richard 12:33 pm on 26 Feb 2007 Permalink
You’re quite right, screen-readers take this information into account. Emboldened words are spoken slightly more slowly and separated from other content slightly, and italicised words are spoken with more emphasis.
Just like we do in real life (or are supposed to do so, anyway).
Rich
Richard 12:36 pm on 26 Feb 2007 Permalink
(Oh, but screen-readers ignore emboldened or italicised information set in the stylesheet, as technically, the only reason these would be set in the stylesheet is for that: style. For informational purposes, if something needs to be emboldened or italicised for the purposes of reading, then these should be set in the (X)HTML document.)
Richard 12:38 pm on 26 Feb 2007 Permalink
Oh yeah – and third comment in a row (sorry about this) but things are really starting to fall into place here design wise, I’m liking the direction you’re heading (especially the headers for the date bit and the comments section on each article, with the Roman typeface)!
Have fun,
Rich
noel 1:37 pm on 26 Feb 2007 Permalink
Thanks Richard… I’m slowly, but surely getting there with the design. It’s just a spare time issue… I don’t have much!