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Thread: Font resizing and change contrast

Number of posts in this thread: 11 (In chronological order)

From: Barry Hill
Date: Wed, Mar 28 2012 3:26AM
Subject: Font resizing and change contrast
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Hi all

Just joined yesterday, and already have a query for you all.

What is the collective wisdom regarding *Change font size* and *Change
contrast* links on a web page?

My thinking is that they are not needed if the text and contrast are set in
the CSS and can be changed by the browser. Most people who need these
access adjustments will know how to alter it in the browser and, if they
don't, then they will struggle with most of the internet.

Of course, a link to instructions on how to change the browser settings
would be useful.

However, as I am blind, these access settings are superfluous to me, so I
might be coming at this from a rather bias perspective.

Cheers

Barry

From: Léonie Watson
Date: Wed, Mar 28 2012 4:15AM
Subject: Re: Font resizing and change contrast
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I'm not entirely sure there is a right or wrong answer to this one
Barry. It's a question that's been keeping people occupied for a long time
now.

I think a big challenge is that a lot of people don't have the
skills or confidence to make those changes in their browser. The browsers
don't make it easy because the settings are hidden away inside menus a lot
of the time.

People are not always aware that such things can be changed. For
people more used to dealing with print, the concept of changing text or
colour is completely alien. It's a bit like the moving pictures in Harry
Potter, it just shouldn't be possible.

So to some extent this is about usability rather than accessibility.
If you consider people with cognitive disabilities as well, where basic
usability issues for most people are magnified into fairly big obstacles,
the case is probably even stronger.

It makes sense to educate people. Lots of websites put this
information into an accessibility page though. The trouble is that many
people who would benefit, don't consider themselves to be in need of
accessibility. Putting it into a help page is a better approach, but it's
rarely done this way.

For me, the best solution would be for the browsers to make the
settings much more obvious. If that were to happen, I don't think there
would be a need for websites to try and be as obvious about it. In the
meantime, It's probably a good thing that lots of websites are trying to
make sure as many people can make the changes they want. =

L=E9onie =

From: Shawn Henry
Date: Wed, Mar 28 2012 6:53AM
Subject: Re: Font resizing and change contrast
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Hi Barry,

I agree with L=E9onie.

For more ideas on this, see "Text Resize Widgets and Fishing" at http://www=
.uiaccess.com/textresizewidgetno.html
Under "More perspectives" are links to others.

Regards,
~Shawn

On 3/28/2012 4:26 AM, Barry Hill wrote:
> Hi all
>
> Just joined yesterday, and already have a query for you all.
>
> What is the collective wisdom regarding *Change font size* and *Change
> contrast* links on a web page?
>
> My thinking is that they are not needed if the text and contrast are set =
in
> the CSS and can be changed by the browser. Most people who need these
> access adjustments will know how to alter it in the browser and, if they
> don't, then they will struggle with most of the internet.
>
> Of course, a link to instructions on how to change the browser settings
> would be useful.
>
> However, as I am blind, these access settings are superfluous to me, so I
> might be coming at this from a rather bias perspective.
>
> Cheers
>
> Barry
>
>
> > > >

From: Andrews, David B (DEED)
Date: Wed, Mar 28 2012 2:14PM
Subject: Re: Font resizing and change contrast
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I don't know that there is any "collective wisdom." It is done both ways, of course, and personally I favor letting people do it with their browser, or OS. However, one plus for making it available on the web site itself is that it puts accessibility right out front, for everyone to see.

Dave

From: Paul J. Adam
Date: Wed, Mar 28 2012 2:35PM
Subject: Re: Font resizing and change contrast
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I think they are very helpful for people on mobile browsers like the iPhone & iPad where there are no options to increase your font size like you can do with desktop browsers. The contrast settings are also very limited there, your only other option is reverse contrast (White on Black).

I don't think they should be required but I definitely recommend them for the mobile reasons and the other reasons mentioned in the replies.

Personally I use the text sizing widgets often when they are available because it usually resizes the text differently than pressing Command/Ctrl++.

Paul J. Adam
Accessibility Evangelist
Deque Systems
= EMAIL ADDRESS REMOVED =
www.PaulJAdam.com
@pauljadam on Twitter

On Mar 28, 2012, at 3:14 PM, Andrews, David B (DEED) wrote:

> I don't know that there is any "collective wisdom." It is done both ways, of course, and personally I favor letting people do it with their browser, or OS. However, one plus for making it available on the web site itself is that it puts accessibility right out front, for everyone to see.
>
> Dave
>
>
>
>

From: Jonathan Hassell
Date: Thu, Mar 29 2012 1:54AM
Subject: Re: Font resizing and change contrast
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Just to add to what Leonie and Shawn said...

It's certainly the case that, in an ideal world, users would understand how to change font size and colours through their browser.

Via the BBC My Web My Way site (http://www.bbc.co.uk/accessibility/) I tried to educate users in doing this for years.

But it's still the case that a huge number of users don't even know what a browser is, let alone what accessibility options their particular browser has.

And it's also the case that not all browsers (especially mobile ones) have these settings. In 2012, this really matters.

So there are lots of reasons for and against controls on the website, but asking users to use a 'solution' which they feel is beyond their capabilities is not a solution.

While I was at the BBC I reviewed all the expertise on the web, and enriched it with real user-research.

You can find most of the pros and cons, and ways forwards in my slideshare deck at:

From: Barry Hill
Date: Thu, Mar 29 2012 7:37AM
Subject: Re: Font resizing and change contrast
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Thanks, guys. I'm convinced. If at least for mobile devices, then we need
these widgets.

Now I need to find some code for doing the job.

Cheers

Barry

From: Stella Mudd
Date: Thu, Mar 29 2012 8:43AM
Subject: Re: Font resizing and change contrast
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John, thanks for the share. FYI, the meat and potatoes start on slide 37
of 64, "aren't web accessibility preference for sissies...?" Barry if you
find some cool intuitive ways to do this please share. Take a look at
http://www.webhipster.com/testing/accessibility/jquery-skip-widget-enhanced
Was thinking about adding text size onto the widget. Ideas...

On Thursday, March 29, 2012, Barry Hill wrote:

> Thanks, guys. I'm convinced. If at least for mobile devices, then we need
> these widgets.
>
> Now I need to find some code for doing the job.
>
> Cheers
>
> Barry
>
>
>

From: John E Brandt
Date: Thu, Mar 29 2012 2:21PM
Subject: Re: Font resizing and change contrast
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>>I think they are very helpful for people on mobile browsers like the
iPhone & iPad where there are no options to increase your font size like you
can do with desktop browsers.<<

I am confused by this comment. The Mac iOS has zoom text assistive
technology (AT) built into the operating system; has for the past two years.
This is in addition to VoiceOver, the built-in screen reader, as well as a
feature allowing the user to reverse the screen from black on white to white
on black.

I will grant you that this is not "font resizing" as zoom simply increases
everything on the screen. But most of font enlargement widgets have a very
small range to which you can enlarge the font size and my experience with
zoom usually allows for a higher degree of screen magnification.

On the iPad/iPod, there are some apps that have font resizing functionality
included. The e-book reader in iOS, for example, has a font resizer tool as
well as the ability to change the font type allowing the user a fair amount
of control.

In addition, on most tablet devices (iOS and Android), I am fairly certain
that all you have to do to increase size/zoom in is use the reverse-pinch
gesture. Not sure about this on e-readers like Kindle and Nook.

For my own $0.02, I personally advocate against adding font-resize to
websites (even though I've used some CMS templates that have those features
built in). Apart from folks who may be experimenting with changing font
size, if the user needs special settings or AT to view content on websites,
they probably already have that installed and I don't want to add anything
that will mess up those settings or that equipment.

This question has come up time and again in this list and it usually comes
down to personal preference.

~j

John E. Brandt
www.jebswebs.com
= EMAIL ADDRESS REMOVED =
207-622-7937
Augusta, Maine, USA

From: Paul J. Adam
Date: Thu, Mar 29 2012 2:50PM
Subject: Re: Font resizing and change contrast
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iOS devices have System Zoom which magnifies the entire operating system cutting off other areas of the screen. Not very useful for reading wide text because there will be a lot of panning left and right. VoiceOver and System Zoom cannot be used at the same time. Pinch to Zoom also cuts off areas and requires panning back and forth.

The Large Text feature, which is what these text size widgets accomplish, is only available in Calendar, Contacts, Mail, Messages, and Notes. It does not work in the default Mobile Safari browser. The text resize widget you use can change the text size however big or small you wish depending on how it's coded.

It would be nice for Apple to include Mobile Safari in the Large Text settings. Users can get around webpages with hard to read text by using Safari's Reader option or the more useful Readability Bookmarklet. Reader does not work on all web pages.

Paul J. Adam
Accessibility Evangelist
Deque Systems
= EMAIL ADDRESS REMOVED =
www.PaulJAdam.com
@pauljadam on Twitter

On Mar 29, 2012, at 3:21 PM, John E Brandt wrote:

>>> I think they are very helpful for people on mobile browsers like the
> iPhone & iPad where there are no options to increase your font size like you
> can do with desktop browsers.<<
>
> I am confused by this comment. The Mac iOS has zoom text assistive
> technology (AT) built into the operating system; has for the past two years.
> This is in addition to VoiceOver, the built-in screen reader, as well as a
> feature allowing the user to reverse the screen from black on white to white
> on black.
>
> I will grant you that this is not "font resizing" as zoom simply increases
> everything on the screen. But most of font enlargement widgets have a very
> small range to which you can enlarge the font size and my experience with
> zoom usually allows for a higher degree of screen magnification.
>
> On the iPad/iPod, there are some apps that have font resizing functionality
> included. The e-book reader in iOS, for example, has a font resizer tool as
> well as the ability to change the font type allowing the user a fair amount
> of control.
>
> In addition, on most tablet devices (iOS and Android), I am fairly certain
> that all you have to do to increase size/zoom in is use the reverse-pinch
> gesture. Not sure about this on e-readers like Kindle and Nook.
>
> For my own $0.02, I personally advocate against adding font-resize to
> websites (even though I've used some CMS templates that have those features
> built in). Apart from folks who may be experimenting with changing font
> size, if the user needs special settings or AT to view content on websites,
> they probably already have that installed and I don't want to add anything
> that will mess up those settings or that equipment.
>
> This question has come up time and again in this list and it usually comes
> down to personal preference.
>
> ~j
>
> John E. Brandt
> www.jebswebs.com
> = EMAIL ADDRESS REMOVED =
> 207-622-7937
> Augusta, Maine, USA
>
>
>
>
> > >

From: Paul J. Adam
Date: Thu, Mar 29 2012 2:51PM
Subject: Re: Font resizing and change contrast
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