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0 pointsrobin_reala8y ago0 comments

Those services definitely exist. I’ve used the DAC[1] in Cardiff before for indepth review from expert users of assistive tech, but I’ve also taken part in standard user research with people with accessibility needs (ranging from blindness to motor problems to severe dyslexia). One thing to bear in mind when doing user research like that is that bringing people into your lab won’t work: people who use assistive tech setups tend to customise them to fit their needs, so you need to get out and observe ‘in the field’ if possible.

[1] http://digitalaccessibilitycentre.org/

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Theodores8y ago· 1 in thread

The http://digitalaccessibilitycentre.org/ website is awful. Efforts like this give accessibility a bad name.

Accessibility isn't about designing websites that are exclusively for special needs people. It is about making websites work for everyone, whatever device they are on. Part of that ethos is sticking to convention.

So what is so awful?

The navigation is awful. It changes from the homepage to one of the other pages.

Their use of mini-font sizes is also a bit silly.

Even the URL structure is a bit silly, nobody needs to have index.php in a URL to make it mysteriously more accessible.

Their headings have line heights that mean 2-line headings are mangled together.

If you run a outline on their pages the content does not reflect what is shown.

I would be embarrassed if I worked with these so-called accessibility experts, their efforts sideline what accessibility is about. Cringeworthy and awful!!!

robin_realaOP8y ago

No comment on their site, but their employees helped me discover and resolve problems I never would have, for example a breaking problem in Windows 10 high contrast mode, or a problem with a specific version of Dragon NaturallySpeaking that was earlier than the one I had been testing on.

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