WebAIM - Web Accessibility In Mind

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Re: High contrast options

for

From: John E. Brandt
Date: Oct 22, 2008 10:05AM

Carol,

I cannot speak for the whole list but as someone who has been doing this
work for years.

My philosophy in design - and what I have encouraged others to do - is to
make sure you don't do anything that takes control away from the user. If a
user needs high contrast, larger fonts or particular colors, they can
install and use their own browser style sheets with those presentational
elements. If the website is built incorrectly and does not allow the user to
control this, it is not accessible (or usable).

There are plenty of ways to view a website without images, and if the user
wants them turned off, they should be able to do so.

The issue of font sizing (adding font sizing controls to the website using
JavaScript) is also controversial. Again, there are many ways a user can
adjust the size of the fonts with their browser - IF - the designer lets
them.

Build your site using WCAG and/or Section 508 guidelines and make sure the
code validates to W3C standards (I know not everyone agrees with this) and
the site should be usable to the largest number of people.

BTW, the color contrast issue is minor compared to the more common issue of
ALT descriptions for images, labeling input boxes and captioning videos.

~j

John E. Brandt
Augusta, Maine USA
www.jebswebs.com