Ok i think some people have missed the point a bit, but its probably my
fault.
When i said design, i was referring to the hi-end graphical content. The
sites that are
there to amaze people and go 'how did they do that' which is they way alot
of people
seem to be heading due to convention.
A client generally knows nothing about anything, he tells you what he wants
and
expects the result. This is what im talking about. The clients see sites
with some
eye candy, and want something 'better' than that. If you give them a site
that looks
like, say the microformats site (which is a perfect example of the way
websites these
days should be) then there usual reply is ('Its boring, there isnt much to
it').
I understand it is possible to create some amazing sites with usability and
accessibility
at the front of the line, but the only people that know this are people like
you and me,
again a client knows nothing and 90% of them don't care.They just want what
they
asked for. If you question why his navigation fonts are very small, his
reply is something
like ("becuase i need to fit them all on the one line so it dont look like
the navigation
is taking focus") and you cant really argue the point, because they dont
tend to listen.
I dont know what clients others have worked with, ive worked with some right
nasty
ones, they tell the designer onthe other end of the office how they want it,
if you attempt
to pick at it, they tell you there going to go elsewere, no i cant argue,
ill get the sack.
Tis why i said, if there was a law the client would have no choice.
On 8/15/07, Jixor - Stephen I <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
>
> If it has poor usability its actually bad design, because design isn't
> just visual style.
>
> If visual style wins out over usability then its ALWAYS BAD DESIGN.
>
> There is no way around it... Unless this is some highly specialized site
> like a quirky flash game or something else that we are not concerned with
> here.
>
> If you can't work usability into the visual style that you have in mind
> then you need to step back and re-think the way you work.
>
> Accessibility shares many aspects with usability because not all
> accessibility concerns regard markup and features for highly impaired users.
> However generally for most accessibility guidelines following them will
> improve usability for your average user too.
>
>
>
> James Jeffery wrote:
>
> Good Evening.
>
> Does Or Should Design Out-Weight Usability and/or Accessibility?
>
> Ive been faced with a number of situations during development on a number
> of projects
> that has forced me make a choice you have all probably had to make
> Usability/Accessibility
> over design.
>
> I know Usability and Accessibility are very different subjects, but they
> are both just as
> important. The users experience should be a good one, its sort of like a
> shop keeper or
> store manager, he has to make sure both non-disabled and disabled shoppers
> are happy
> when shopping, otherwise they wont come back. The shop keeper also would
> have to
> try to make a disabled persons shopping trip a good one, because after
> all, disabled
> shoppers deserve the same access as non-disabled shoppers.
>
> Bringing it back to web development, personally i think that a disabled
> user deserves
> to browse the internet with the same level of support and access as non
> disabled
> users.
>
> And back to the question, should design come before
> Usability/Accessibility?
>
> Sometimes you can do both, such as Image Replacement, or you can offer
> visually
> impaired users a version of your site with high contrasting colors. But
> there are times
> when designers and developers do things either without thinking about
> disabled users
> or thinking 'Stuff them, i want my hi-end graphical interface on my site'
> or
> 'Stuff them, i have no time to make it accessible' or even 'Stuff them,
> the fonts need
> to me tiny so my design looks good'.
> There are many more possibilities for a developer/design to not bother or
> not choose
> accessibility first.
>
> My take on all this is basically, if you have to make a choice and there
> is no
> way around it, think about your users first, not yourself and what you
> want, because
> you are not the one using the site.
>
> There is often times when things are just not possible, people insist on
> hacking around
> it, which often causes more problems and needs more hacks. But if
> something cant
> be done, leave it out, and wait.
> In the past, with CSS1 a lot of things were not possible, which later
> became possible
> with newer versions.
>
> Web Standards, Accessibility and Usability needs to be put right at the
> top of the
> list, way before design. Focus on the users and the people, and it will
> help to
> create and bring the internet up to a better standard. Im not sure if
> there is a law
> in every country regarding Accessibility but there needs to be one.
>
> This is just my take on things, but i would love to know what everyone
> else thinks.
> I'm in the middle of writing an article for a magazine, some views from
> both
> ends of the scale would be great. Its an important topic i feel.
>
> Thanks Guys.
>
> *******************************************************************
> List Guidelines: http://webstandardsgroup.org/mail/guidelines.cfm
> Unsubscribe: http://webstandardsgroup.org/join/unsubscribe.cfm
> Help: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
> *******************************************************************
>
>
>
> *******************************************************************
> List Guidelines: http://webstandardsgroup.org/mail/guidelines.cfm
> Unsubscribe: http://webstandardsgroup.org/join/unsubscribe.cfm
> Help: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
> *******************************************************************
>
*******************************************************************
List Guidelines: http://webstandardsgroup.org/mail/guidelines.cfm
Unsubscribe: http://webstandardsgroup.org/join/unsubscribe.cfm
Help: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
*******************************************************************
