[bcab] Re: Links on web pages and screen readers

Hi Gordon,
 
Let me try to put this issue on very, very simple terms -
and probably be shot down my the experts in the process.
 
If a document or web page is written properly, it will use
what are called "Styles".
 
Even if it does not officially use Styles in terms of what
is called a "Style Sheet", it will have a default Style used
for normal text.
 
So again in simple terms, our XML document should have a
normal paragraph style for it's main text.  We will call
this a "p" style.
 
But it also will have Headings, like a main heading and
sub-headings.  We will call these "h1" and "h2", etc..
 
So how do we know what font size these p, h1 and h2 Styles
have?
 
So in comes this thing called a "Style Sheet", otherwise
know as a .css file.
 
The web designer says that his web page defines these styles
in his Style Sheet as follows.
 
h1 = 40 Point Ariel font, coloured black.
h2 = 20 Point Ariel font, coloured green.
P = 10 point Times New Roman Font, black.
 
Which frankly with the print sizes would put the proverbial
whatnots off a partially sighted, large print reader.
 
So, the idea is that YOU, young Gordon Keen, can keep a
LOCAL .css file on his system.  And that overrides whatever
the web designer of the page you are looking at says.
 
So your personal Style Sheet might say, for example:
 
h1 = 20 point white on black bold
h2 = 18 point while on black bold
p = 18 point white on black
 
And if a range of 18-20 point means you can now comfortably
read the web page - you have won.
 
And yet let's look ahead when (I hope not, but) you may need
larger font, you only have to make changes to one file, and
all your viewed web pages will change to the size you want.
 
If anyone is actually still with me here, you will hopefully
have seen the implications of XML in terms of, for example,
braille production.  A web page Style can therefore be
matched to a braille style.
 
But go further with alternative media.  Automatic conversion
to speech, for example.  Headings can be emphasised because
we know they are Headings and not normal text.  They can be
indexed for sound, again because they are properly styled.
 
And do you know the irony of it all?
 
Properly styled documents actually save work in the regular
work place!
 
For example, you can create a Table of Contents on Word in
literally seconds.  (And I've lost count of how many former
university students have told me they wished they'd known
how to produce a Table of Contents when they were producing
their thesis!)
 
I'll go back and crawl under my stone now.
 
George W F Bell, Managing Director
Techno-Vision Systems Ltd
76 Bunting Road Ind. Est.
NORTHAMPTON, NN2 6EE
Tel: 01604 792777
Fax: 01604 792726
e-mail:  george@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
<mailto:george@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> 
Web: http://www.techno-vision.co.uk
<http://www.techno-vision.co.uk/>  
________________________________

From: bcab-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
[mailto:bcab-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Gordon Keen
Sent: Friday, February 22, 2008 8:00 PM
To: bcab@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [bcab] Re: Links on web pages and screen readers


Dear girl, you are too kind as usual, 

So it takes some degree of commitment on behalf of the web
designer to set up the CSS html web page. well if past
performance is  anything to go on - it ain't going to happen
then.   Anything that requires any effort on the part of the
author is going to be binned straight away, time is money
after all.

So how does XTML differ, why would some nurdy web designer
be more comfortable in XTML rather than HTML using CSS?

Sorry, being a typical poor old man who is having difficulty
understanding the problems.



Regards,




G




From glorious Devon, England.

(Where the Sun always shines and all the children are above
average.) 
On 22 Feb 2008, at 18:32, Léonie Watson wrote:


            Senior moment? Never! You're quite right. CSS
can bring a lot of benefits to web design. Of course, it can
be done badly, like anything else, but used in the right way
it can help considerably.
         
            You can use it to present content in different
ways for different people. It can make the ability to choose
between different colour schemes much easier. It also gives
rise to the possibility of overriding the website's default
styles with something completely personal.
         
        Regards,

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