-----Message d'origine-----
De : P Boylan [mailto:[log in to unmask]]
Envoye : Tuesday, July 19, 2005 1:28 PM
A : C. BONOMI
Cc : [log in to unmask]
Objet : Re: New ICOM Web Site - Accessibility Issues


Dear Carla,

Congratulations on the progress - I think that the new home pages at:
http://icom.museum/new/ are a big advance overall.

However, there are quite a few issues relating to accessibility standards.
To avoid boring ICOM-L with lots of technical details I'll write to you
separately about most of these.

However, I think it would be useful to have some more general feedback and
discussion on one aspect: the colours used on the new home pages in
particular.

I use an up to date system with a high resolution 17 inch monitor and the
very latest updates of Windows XP and Internet Explorer, plus a high
definition photo standard colour printer.  However, even with this
equipment (and good eyesight!) I find it difficult to read some parts of
the screen, particularly the pale lettering against the colour
backgrounds.  The side bar texts ("icom.museum" "news" and "tools"
together with the top right hand illustration) are all almost invisible,
while the highlighted white (or is it pale grey?) lettering of the main
sub-headings and hyperlinks on the mid-grey background is also very
difficult to read.  I fear that those with older equipment and smaller
monitors will have even more difficulty.

The World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) Web official "accessibility"
standards, Guideline 2.2, states very clearly: "Check that the foreground
and background colours contrast sufficiently with each other".

In acordance with this extremely important principle, I feel that the
present colours should be modified to increase the contrast considerably,
and that the white (or pale grey?) text on the home pages should be
replaced by black or another dark colour - as is the case on the other
pages of the new website, though other ICOM members may not agree with me.

More widely, we really ought to ensure that the new site complies fully
with the "accessibility" standards of the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C),
and with other accepted international standards such as the United States
Federal Standards under section 508 of the US Rehabilitation Act
(Electronic Information Technology Accessibility Standards).  Indeed, it
would be good practice to publish as a separate web page ICOM's web
accessibility policy and practice.  (E.g. each page should include a
"tag" identifying the language as this is essential for text-into-speech
conversion systems that are now widely used by those with visual
handicaps.

There is a free on-line W3C compliance and accessibility test for any web
page available at:

	http://webxact.watchfire.com/

which gives a comprehensive print-out of all matters that should be
reviewed.



Patrick Boylan

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