[WEB4LIB] Re: Web page color & accessibility

[John Creech]

On Wed, 4 Dec 2002, Dan Lester wrote:

> JC> This isn't trying to be "artsyfartsy" or fancy or any other ridiculous
> JC> angle you're trying to hang on me as a developer for an academic library
> JC> (you must really crack yourself up) ...  it's part of our upcoming
> JC> implementation of the myLibrary at NCSU software here in my library.
>
> Whoa there, John.... I'm not trying to hang anything on anybody. I'm
> referring to almost every light on dark webpage I've ever seen.  Light
> on dark, for whatever reason used, is a real problem for many people
> to read.  I think that by now others have provided adequate
> information on that.

That's fine, Dan.  And it has generated a useful and productive
conversation and I appreciate that.

<snip>

> JC> This is for the initial page they will get before they perhaps choose to
> JC> customize their personal pages.
>
> That's all the more reason for it to be in a simple, easy to read by
> all, style.  If people wish to personalize the colors on the
> "MyLibrary", that's fine.  I have some colleagues who have color
> schemes on their monitors and applications that I couldn't use. One
> has chartreuse on purple on her telnet client. Her problem, not mine.

Understood.  And I wasn't clear in my original post; my mistake!  In
retrospect it likely sounded as if I was thinking of rolling out an entire
website with white on dark.  I was simply seeking empirical data on the
viability of doing what I initially asked.  In truth, I'd likely not do it
ultimately...or I would/will run it by a focus group along with other page
layout choices.

> JC> Each section has a header above it that
> JC> defines content within that section...I should have said that in my
> JC> original post.  This isn't for the entire page.
>
> A little reverse coloring can be OK to set off a heading.  By not many
> want to read a block of text that way.

Again, I understand and agree.  And again, I should have noted that this
was for headings and not an entire body of text.  I had in mind with color
something similar to what Lie and Bos describe concerning font choices on
p.88 of _Cascading Style Sheets: Designing for the Web_: certain fonts are
"typically...reserved for display, and to some extent headline, purposes."
This was what I was thinking of trying to achieve--by contrasting color
choices, I would hope to delineate new categories.

> JC> I resent your implications on what I'm trying to do--i.e. your cutsey lil
> JC> note on being polite rather than telling me what you think, along with
> JC> four bits, gets you coffee in my town.
>
> John, I really didn't, and don't, think I was implying anything about
> you and what you were doing. I'm sorry that you made such an
> inference, as that wasn't my intent.  My apologies for any offense
> that you perceived.  The "cutsey lil note" was intended to be an
> indication that I HAD just told you exactly what I thought.  Guess it
> missed the mark as well.  From a couple of private responses I know
> that at least a couple others got it.  So it goes.

One other interesting note on this--I heard from a visually impaired
librarian yesterday that s/he actually can more easily read light text on
dark background...which confounds much of what has been written
on this topic, yet is a legitimate empirical observation.

> > I'll have to stop and get coffee next time going through Ellensburg,
> as there isn't any in Boise for under a buck that I know of, except
> for a "senior coffee" at MickeyD's that some of us qualify for.

Give me a holler and I'll buy, Dan...but it'll have to be at the nearby
deli...even our little rodeo city has a Starbuck's and they're out of my
budget.  Thanks very much for your reasoned response, and thanks to
everyone for posting such a wealth of info on this topic.

John Creech
Electronic Resources & Systems Librarian
Central Washington University Library
400 E. 8th Ave. | Ellensburg, WA 98926 |
office - 509.963.1081 || fax - 509.963.3684
creechj at www.lib.cwu.edu