Greg, To add to my previous comments, many websites for blind people have a link at the very beginning to skip to main content. This is true of Freedom Sciensific, bookshare.org and ViewPlus, for example. I think this is a good compromise. The skip to main content link can even be made invisible to sighted persons. John On Wed, Jan 30, 2008 at 04:15:08PM -0600, John J. Boyer wrote: > Greg, > > I agree. In my own websites I usually have only a link back to the home > page at the top. That way a person can get back to a table of contents > and doesn't have to wade through a lot of junk. I can't understand why > web designers think they have to put all that stuff at the top of every > page. they seem to think that because they can they must. > > John > > On Wed, Jan 30, 2008 at 01:19:13PM -0700, Greg Kearney wrote: > > I have been designing and programming the webpages of Curtin > > University Centre for Accessible Technology (www.cucat.org) and it > > doing so have collected a few thoughts about accessible web pages. > > > > Along with as the usual things like alt tags and high contrast of > > type. It occurred to me from my own use and that of my blind wife that > > many pages require the screen reader, and sighted users as well, to > > navigate through a whole range of site navigation links before ever > > getting to the content of the site. > > > > In the CUCAT site I have attempted to deal with this by placing the > > navigation links at the bottom of the page so that when you land on a > > page you reach that pages content. In the event of a very long page > > where the navigation would be at the bottom I will have a single link > > which will take the reader to the navigation links. > > > > It would seem to me that this approach would be better for pages > > intended to be read by screen readers, as well as by the sighted > > rather than have all the visual and auditory distraction of complex > > headers at the top of the page to navigate through before reaching the > > true content of the page. > > > > Also I feel the content of the page read in an uninterrupted flow > > without breaking to offer other services or information. > > > > As a general design rule I feel that webpages have become much to > > complex and busy. This applies to the sighted as well as the blind. > > Would you want a book in which the text flashed, moved or in some > > other way animated the pages? Would you want a book in which bight > > coloured text, unrelated to what you were reading littered the sides > > of the main content area? The answer is, no, of course not but that is > > often what we are getting from modern website design. There seems to > > be of late the approach the because we can do something on a page we > > should. > > > > Just some thoughts to think about. > > > > > > Greg Kearney > > 535 S. Jackson St. > > Casper, Wyoming 82601 > > 307-224-4022 > > gkearney@xxxxxxxxx > > > > > > > >Click on the link below to go to our homepage. > > >http://www.icanworkthisthing.com > > > > > >Manage your subscription by using the web interface on the link below. > > >//www.freelists.org/list/macvoiceover > > > > > >Users can subscribe to this list by sending email to > > > macvoiceover-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx > > >with 'subscribe' in the Subject field OR by logging into the Web > > >interface at //www.freelists.org/list/macvoiceover > > > > > -- > John J. boyer; President, Chief Software Developer > JJB Software, Inc. > http://www.jjb-software.com > Madison, WI USA > Developing software for people with disabilities > > > > > Click on the link below to go to our homepage. > > http://www.icanworkthisthing.com > > > > Manage your subscription by using the web interface on the link below. > > //www.freelists.org/list/macvoiceover > > > > Users can subscribe to this list by sending email to > > macvoiceover-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx > > with 'subscribe' in the Subject field OR by logging into the Web > > interface at //www.freelists.org/list/macvoiceover > > -- John J. boyer; President, Chief Software Developer JJB Software, Inc. http://www.jjb-software.com Madison, WI USA Developing software for people with disabilities > > Click on the link below to go to our homepage. > http://www.icanworkthisthing.com > > Manage your subscription by using the web interface on the link below. > //www.freelists.org/list/macvoiceover > > Users can subscribe to this list by sending email to > macvoiceover-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx > with 'subscribe' in the Subject field OR by logging into the Web > interface at //www.freelists.org/list/macvoiceover >