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Re: Text over images

for

From: Chaals McCathie Nevile
Date: Aug 4, 2015 9:46PM


Yes, you should be fighting these battles.

Whatever WCAG says, the point is that they make things disappear by being
illegible.

Some stuff is just common sense, and doesn't need a WCAG checkpoint, like
"don't hide everything by making it too small to see". Hmmm. Which
demonstrates why WCAG should be updated not to rely on common sense :(

cheers

On Fri, 31 Jul 2015 12:11:36 -0400, John E Brandt < <EMAIL REMOVED> > wrote:

> @mallory - ditto "losing the battle" - this and low contrast are my pet
> peeves. What's with all the gray!
> http://jebswebs.net/blog/2013/07/whats-with-all-the-gray/
>
> ~j
>
> John E. Brandt
> jebswebs: accessible and universal web design,
> development and consultation
> <EMAIL REMOVED>
> 207-622-7937
> Augusta, Maine, USA
>
> @jebswebs
> www.jebswebs.com
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: WebAIM-Forum [mailto: <EMAIL REMOVED> ] On
> Behalf Of _mallory
> Sent: Thursday, July 30, 2015 4:44 AM
> To: <EMAIL REMOVED>
> Subject: Re: [WebAIM] Text over images
>
> I'm seeing this too, and am losing the battle with the graphic designer
> on our own website. Pretty much nothing is readable.
>
> For more level heads, you might be able to offer both: I'll bet it's not
> much more than a few lines of code to offer users a button where they
> can replace the images with solid background colours.
>
> Or, behind most images ought to be a solid colour, so the images can get
> a class making them display: none.
>
> This way it's easy for developers to fix, it gives at least the
> possibility of control to users, and lets the graphics-people have their
> unreadable-but-hip-looking cake.
>
> So not so much of a "you can't do this because it defeats the whole
> purpose of the website!" but a "This is a problem but here's a possible
> fix that shouldn't cost devs much time." Maybe even make the button
> sticky to the side of the page like some sites do with social media
> buttons.
> _mallory
>
> On Wed, Jul 29, 2015 at 07:43:36PM +0000,
> <EMAIL REMOVED> wrote:
>> I'm seeing a design direction that concerns me where HTML text is laid
>> over a translucent field of color that is layered over an image.
>>
>> The text is usually white over a darker background. Sometimes it's
>> simply the busy-ness of the two together that presents a cognitive
>> challenge, a reading/focus conflict between the image and the text
>> where neither is sufficiently distinct.
>>
>> Our target is AA compliance. Sometimes I can use color contrast as an
>> argument not to do this, darkening the translucent field to achieve
>> better contrast. We can strive for the AAA requirement "1.4.8 Visual
>> Presentation" but I don't have a "stick" I can use to get that done. I
>> only have a "carrot" where I try to explain the challenge for folks
>> with cognitive issues, attention deficit, universal design principles,
>> etc.
>>
>> I also try something like "which do you want your audience to read –
>> the text or the image?" In the current applications that I'm seeing,
>> both means neither are readable.
>>
>> Is this a battle I should be waging? If yes, suggestions? If no, why?
>>
>>
>> Thanks,
>>
>>
>> Judith Blankman
>>
>> Accessibility Strategist
>> Customer Experience (CX)
>> WFVC Digital | 1 Front Street | San Francisco, CA 94111
>> Tel: 415-947-6583 | Cell: 415-601-1114
>>
>> MAC: A0195-171
>>
>>
>>
>> j<mailto: <EMAIL REMOVED> >udith.a.blankman@wellsfargo.
>> com<mailto: <EMAIL REMOVED> >
>> >> >> archives at http://webaim.org/discussion/archives
>> > > > at http://webaim.org/discussion/archives
> >
> > > > --
Charles McCathie Nevile - web standards - CTO Office, Yandex
<EMAIL REMOVED> - - - Find more at http://yandex.com