Comments on: What Makes a Blog Theme Accessible?

By: Do It Myself Blog – Glenda Watson Hyatt » Top 10 Most Engaging Posts of 2009

Tue, 19 Jan 2010 21:31:11 +0000

[...] What Makes a Blog Theme Accessible? / August 6, 2009 – 274 points [...]

By: Dot

Dot — Wed, 19 Aug 2009 14:28:27 +0000

Interesting discussion so far. I hope that if there’s a consensus, at some point someone will contact the folks behind Wordpress, Blogger, etc. and offer some guidelines for theme developers to meet.

As a theme lover and theme browser, I’ve learned that theme developers fall into two broad categories — those who code well and those who design artistically. Rarely do the creators excel in both. Of the two, coding is far more important. What I’m hoping to do, therefore, although I’m not good at it, is take a well-coded theme and move into it beautiful graphics from a theme that allows that in its license.

Well-coded themes can often be identified on the Wordpress site by the number of stars given to the theme by a large number of users, and also by reviews and even by the author’s comments, such as “validated XHTML and CSS.”

In terms of needs, I have low vision and can’t use a screen resolution higher than 800 x 600, so I’d prefer fluid width so I don’t have to scroll to the right all the time, and making sure that the width adjusts in a usable way. The Wordpress editor screen can be made to fit a small screen, for example, but the right-hand column of options then overlaps the editing window, which is not useable. You have to select a different option to put the options at the bottom.

By: Glenda

Glenda — Fri, 14 Aug 2009 20:43:28 +0000

Hi Tony, there’s always much to learn when you’re blogging. The key is to get started, like you’ve done. Congrats! The rest is learn as you go. Good luck and welcome to the blogosphere!

By: Tony

Tony — Fri, 14 Aug 2009 09:20:28 +0000

Hi Glenda, I downloaded the Wordpress.org program or whatever it’s called to try & use it but it was all a bit of a mystery to me so I ended up just going with a Wordpress.com blog & just picking what I liked out of the available themes. I would love to be able to have different themes but I’m not computer savvy enough for that so I just stick with what I have.

By: Karen

Karen — Mon, 10 Aug 2009 23:37:03 +0000

Hi Glenda

While looking for a particular link (that I cannot find), I came across these other links that might prove valuable in the typography discussion:

Typography and accessibility:
http://21picas.co.uk/?p=364

Typografphy and the aging eye:
http://www.aiga.org/content.cfm/typography-and-the-aging-eye

I ned to ask the twitterverse’s help in finding that other link!

By: DouglasT

DouglasT — Mon, 10 Aug 2009 23:14:07 +0000

It’s easy to say that modern browsers don’t need relative sizing, but there are other factors. Browsers as old or older than IE6 still have a significant following for instance. While page zoom is nice, just choosing a larger default font size is a nice option too. Fixed font sizes can still come back to bite you in many ways.

One of the many reasons I’ve really started to like the Drupal CMS is that you control the theme of the admin pages. It can be the same theme as the site, or completely different.

By: Glenda

Glenda — Mon, 10 Aug 2009 22:59:30 +0000

Richard, thanks for mentioning the debate regarding relative font size. I was unaware it had become an issue again. How is fixed font sizes with small devices, such as Blackberries? The Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 2.0 still requires relative sizing, if I'm reading that correctly. I'd still lean that way, until I hear a very convincing argument against the need for still using relative font size.

By: Glenda

Glenda — Mon, 10 Aug 2009 21:05:47 +0000

Thanks Karen for mentioning the new WordPress accessibility discussion list. I’m looking forward to seeing the discussion that result from there.

By: Glenda

Glenda — Mon, 10 Aug 2009 21:01:12 +0000

Welcome Susan and thanks for your detailed response! Your experience and your insights are valuable.

Sounds like you have a streamlined system set up as your RSS reader. And great point about keeping sidebars to the right; another reason I’m itching for a new theme. Although both of the sidebars on this blog visually appear to be on the right; the actual order is not so.

And yes, the WordPress admin panel has accessibility issues of its own!

By: Glenda

Glenda — Mon, 10 Aug 2009 20:49:38 +0000

Hi Gordie and welcome! Validating code is similar to grammar and spell checking a word document. Using a checker, such as the W3C Validation Service, finds errors in the code. Some errors can cause technologies, like text-to-speech screen readers used by individuals who are visually impaired, to render the page incorrectly.