I thought someone might be interested in this message from the 
dyslexia forum, regarding setting up websites.

------- Forwarded Message Follows -------
Date:          Fri, 11 Jul 1997 15:49:43 -0700
From:          Abigail Marshall <[log in to unmask]>
Reply-to:      [log in to unmask]
Organization:  Davis Dyslexia Association International
To:            "Robert W. Gorman" <[log in to unmask]>
Cc:            [log in to unmask]
Subject:       Re: Beating Dyslexia A Natural Way

Robert W. Gorman wrote:
> 
> Some brief comments on your comments re:Alan's web site.
> 
> At 11:56 AM 7/11/97 +0100, you wrote:
> >1) It's incredibly hard to read - he's chosen a textured pattern that
> >does very bizarre things to my eyes.  A plain background would have
> >helped enormously. ....
> 
> Thank you, for your helpful hint. I will be setting up my own site soon and
> will use it consciously. The more design decisions I can move to conscious
> choices, the less likely I am to perpetuate oversights.
> 
To Robert and others who may be setting up web sites -
Here are a few tips that I have learned along the way as webmaster for
Dyslexia, the Gift. Some I figured out myself - sometimes I got
constructive criticism.

1.  Do not use a textured or colored background of any type.  It is o.k.
to use a background image that will make a design, such as a bar, down
the margin only - but these images do make it take longer for your site
to load.

2. Set the background color on all pages to white.  This will override
browser default settings, so no one will see gray backgrounds.  

3.  Don't mess with any thing else that will over-ride browser default
settings.  For example, don't try to choose a particular font size or
color.  People may have customized their own browsers to default to a
certain font or color for very good reasons - don't create more problems
for them.

4. Use simple, easily understood graphic elements, such as arrows, to
help people navigate through the site.  It is a lot easier for many
dyslexic people to figure out an arrow or an icon with a drawing of a
mailbox or house, then to read a lot of text.  But use graphics that are
small and not elaborate - or else it will slow down your site loading
time tremendously.

5. Use the SAME graphic icons or elements to mean the same thing on
every page, and use them consistently.  Again, this helps tremendously
with navigation.

6. Every time you use a graphic icon, ALSO put the same information in
text.  Put a period after every text description - for example, you
might have an icon with a drawing of a house, and then the phrase "Go to
home page."  Also, never use all capital letters in the text.  

This is to make things easier for people who are using voice-sythesizing
software to access your web site.  Sometimes, these text readers won't
pause unless there is punctuation, and they may also read a phrase in
all caps letter by letter, rather than reading out the whole word.

7.  No animated graphics, please - unless you are very sure that your
animation is small and very unobtrusive.  If you want to show off your
animation skill, then do it on an internal page, with  a link from the
home page.

8.  Never, never, never use blinking text.  

9.  Use dark color fonts against a white background - don't fool with
light fonts against a dark background - and try to keep variations in
font color to a minimum.

10. Go very light on the use of italic or emphasized text.  

That's all for now. 

-- 
Abigail Marshall
Information Services Director
Davis Dyslexia Association International

Our Web Site URL: http://www.dyslexia.com/


%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%