Mel Pedley’s second article in her series on designing for dyslexics is now available to read over at Accessites. It’s another excellent read that provides some anecdotal evidence towards adopting Hewlett Packard’s colour difference threshold over that suggested by checkpoint 2.2 of the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 1.0. To support testing against Hewlett Packard’s algorithm, Mel has created an alternative colour contrast analyser and kindly asks for any feedback on it.
Some news on the Target.com accessibility lawsuit via Yahoo! Finance yesterday. Federal District Court Judge Marilyn Hall Patel has sustained the discrimination claims against Target and sets the precedent that retailers must make their websites accessible to the blind under the American Disability Act (ADA).
Accessibility has as much to do with usability than being purely technically correct. The site needs to have clear navigation, the ability to skip content areas, offer alternative layouts and be written in an easily understood style by the anticipated audience. Can an expensive evaluation tool be justified and are site-wide checks using such a tool actually required (rather than just for a “feel good” factor of control over the situation) post-production?
