[Sigia-l] Accessibility guidelines in Great Britain

[Boniface Lau]

> From: Listera
>  
> From:
> >http://digital-web.com/articles/designer_user_partnership
> 
> > "And finally, users need to become better acquainted with their
> > Web environment. They need to learn the functions and features
> > that are under their control, and use the available tools to
> > customize their environment."
> 
> If this no-doubt-well-intentioned but ultimately simplistic approach
> to "design" were true

What you have quoted is not a design approach. It is how users should
approach the web if they want to have better access. In particular, it
is an elaboration on the following statement found earlier within the
same article:

PDU> For the Web to fulfill its promise of universal access, users
PDU> must shoulder more responsibility for their environment. 


As to the design approach advocated in the article, here it is from
the very same article that you had quoted:

PDU> First, designers need to think differently about their role.
PDU> Usability is the primary responsibility of the Web designer - a
PDU> Web page that cannot be used successfully is worthless. Designers
PDU> must work within the medium and deliver content in a format that
PDU> can be transformed as needed by the user. Second, designers need
PDU> to respect the boundaries of the user-controlled environment.
PDU> When these boundaries are crossed, even with the best intentions,
PDU> usability suffers.

Is such design approach "ultimately simplistic"? Hardly.


[...]
> We may enjoy an open salad bar now and then but when we go to a
> restaurant we don't simply order a bunch of ingredients on a plate
> to "control" our own dinner.

Similarly, web designers should acknowledge the differences in media
and not treat the web as print:

PDU> When Web designers apply visual design conventions and then nail
PDU> them down to ensure their integrity, usability suffers because
PDU> users cannot modify elements of a fixed design.


> There should be a happy medium between the imbecilic corporate web
> developer requiring everything to be IE-compliant and fixed in
> minutiae, and the throw-the-kitchen-sink-at-the-user approach.

There is. It is commonly known as Liquid Design:

PDU> With so much control in the hands of the user, the task of the
PDU> Web designer is to design pages that support transformation and
PDU> leave control of the user environment to the user. 


Boniface