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Re: Screen Shots and A11y

for

From: David Ashleydale
Date: Jun 10, 2013 12:16PM

Hi Gabriel,

Since my original posting last year, our strategy has been to write
demo/tour pages like this all in text first. Then, once the writers are
satisfied that the written content says everything they want to say, they
can add images like screen shots to enhance the page visually.The screen
shots will not add any new content, but they are there to visually orient
sighted people that learn better by seeing than by reading.

However, I'm still in discussions with the people that create demos and
tours to see if there are ways to go beyond giving people screen shots of
new features on pages. The ideal solution to me, would be to give all users
access to real prototypes of new sites and features that they can interact
with and try out.

For example, we have a page on our site that shows customers what a typical
account statement looks like. The text next to the screen shot of the
statement describes the various features and functionalities that can be
found on the statement. This is all well and good, but I'm trying to get
them to put a link to an actual statement (with fake data) so that users
can open it up, read it, and interact with it. That would provide a better
experience to everyone.

Thanks,
David


On Mon, Jun 10, 2013 at 10:52 AM, McMorland, Gabriel < <EMAIL REMOVED> > wrote:

> Great web aim guide to accessible images:
> http://webaim.org/techniques/images/
>
> I think that choosing the right alt-text depends very much on the context
> of the specific image. So, it's not possible to caterogically say that all
> screen shots are either decorative or informative.
> The original post in this thread mentions that the body text of the web
> page describes the functionality depicted in the screen shots. Two
> questions:
> Does the body text accurately convey the information you want users to
> understand?
> -What do blind users need to know about the "look and feel" of your new
> features? As a blind person, I can tell you that I do care very much about
> the look and feel of some content, such as options for a marketing brochure
> advertising a program I'm involved with, but I don't care at all about the
> look and feel of sites such as my online banking account or a new feature
> on facebook.
>
>
>
>
>