1. What assistive technology do you use at least semi-regularly to interact with the world wide web?
None. Aside from Dreamwidth and some Firefox sites, I can adjust my computer or theme enough to avoid eyestrain. I have some neurological issues with my eyes due to Chiari I malformation.
2. If you have accessibility needs that aren't covered by the former question, what are they?
Something about Dreamwidth's styles and a few Firefox sites, something about the light and the font, makes reading them hurt. I still haven't found a Dreamwidth layout/color scheme that isn't either painful for my eyes or difficult for my brain to retain information from, yet I had no such trouble at LiveJournal, GreatestJournal, or InsaneJournal. I've tried a few DW styles, but so far they all have this weird glow or smear. The somewhat adjusted Drifting Blue style my DW currently has is the closest to bearable I've found, but even then I find that when I compare the same DW and LJ posts made by Friends/Circlists I'm reading and noticing information in the LJ version that my eyes slide over on Dreamwidth. Part of it is that fonts seem to "bleed" at the edges on DW because it's like my eyes are interpreting the letters as being made up of tiny dots.
On my LJ I have a white font on a black background, but when I use the Light on Dark style on DW it's highly irritating. The white lettering burns and glows at the edges in ways my LJ one doesn't.
Whatever my default is in my computer, fonts only bother me on Dreamwidth and occasionally on some Firefox sites. Drifting might use Arial but somehow something within the style is still messing my brain up. I'm constantly missing memories of content from people's posts that suddenly appear when I read them on LJ instead.
3. What are the top five (or more!) things you hate when websites do, and why are they so annoying for you?
- Bright white backgrounds. - Black serif fonts on bright white. - Bright, bright colors in general. - Bright colored font on bright background (like pink text on white background). - Red text on black backgrounds. - Tiny fonts. Blurry fonts. - Visually crowded and busy pages.
4. What are the top five (or more) things that websites do that make your life easier, and why are they so helpful for you?
For the most part, dimming my computer a bit makes 98% of the internet work just fine for me, so this is a not applicable.
5. If you could make every website in the world follow one accessibility rule, what would that rule be, and why?
Try to make your site as readable to as many people as possible, even if you don't think the site looks "cool" that way.
6. What are the things you would want an able-bodied programmer to know, understand, or experience about your assistive technology and/or your accessibility needs?
I know I'm very light sensitive, but I don't know the mechanism that's behind the trouble I'm having reading Dreamwidth and its fonts. I'm not sure myself how the process of certain visual aspects hurting my eyes works so I can't explain it to other people.
7. What are some things that people do in the name of accessibility that aren't very helpful, or actively make your experience worse?
This isn't applicable to me as far as I know.
8. Is there anything I've forgotten to ask about but you think I should cover anyway?
Previously, people just suggested I do a trial and error on formats, fonts, and colors. The experimentation is frustrating and hurts my eyes and head badly. I've also tried to convert DW through Readability on Firefox, but that doesn't help me because I still get that font smear effect.
no subject
None. Aside from Dreamwidth and some Firefox sites, I can adjust my computer or theme enough to avoid eyestrain. I have some neurological issues with my eyes due to Chiari I malformation.
2. If you have accessibility needs that aren't covered by the former question, what are they?
Something about Dreamwidth's styles and a few Firefox sites, something about the light and the font, makes reading them hurt. I still haven't found a Dreamwidth layout/color scheme that isn't either painful for my eyes or difficult for my brain to retain information from, yet I had no such trouble at LiveJournal, GreatestJournal, or InsaneJournal. I've tried a few DW styles, but so far they all have this weird glow or smear. The somewhat adjusted Drifting Blue style my DW currently has is the closest to bearable I've found, but even then I find that when I compare the same DW and LJ posts made by Friends/Circlists I'm reading and noticing information in the LJ version that my eyes slide over on Dreamwidth. Part of it is that fonts seem to "bleed" at the edges on DW because it's like my eyes are interpreting the letters as being made up of tiny dots.
On my LJ I have a white font on a black background, but when I use the Light on Dark style on DW it's highly irritating. The white lettering burns and glows at the edges in ways my LJ one doesn't.
Whatever my default is in my computer, fonts only bother me on Dreamwidth and occasionally on some Firefox sites. Drifting might use Arial but somehow something within the style is still messing my brain up. I'm constantly missing memories of content from people's posts that suddenly appear when I read them on LJ instead.
3. What are the top five (or more!) things you hate when websites do, and why are they so annoying for you?
- Bright white backgrounds.
- Black serif fonts on bright white.
- Bright, bright colors in general.
- Bright colored font on bright background (like pink text on white background).
- Red text on black backgrounds.
- Tiny fonts. Blurry fonts.
- Visually crowded and busy pages.
4. What are the top five (or more) things that websites do that make your life easier, and why are they so helpful for you?
For the most part, dimming my computer a bit makes 98% of the internet work just fine for me, so this is a not applicable.
5. If you could make every website in the world follow one accessibility rule, what would that rule be, and why?
Try to make your site as readable to as many people as possible, even if you don't think the site looks "cool" that way.
6. What are the things you would want an able-bodied programmer to know, understand, or experience about your assistive technology and/or your accessibility needs?
I know I'm very light sensitive, but I don't know the mechanism that's behind the trouble I'm having reading Dreamwidth and its fonts. I'm not sure myself how the process of certain visual aspects hurting my eyes works so I can't explain it to other people.
7. What are some things that people do in the name of accessibility that aren't very helpful, or actively make your experience worse?
This isn't applicable to me as far as I know.
8. Is there anything I've forgotten to ask about but you think I should cover anyway?
Previously, people just suggested I do a trial and error on formats, fonts, and colors. The experimentation is frustrating and hurts my eyes and head badly. I've also tried to convert DW through Readability on Firefox, but that doesn't help me because I still get that font smear effect.