[NBP web-reskin] FW: Prototype of new NBP Homepage

[Richard Ward]

Hello,
I've changed the body text to be DIV rather than table controlled.  But I
did leave the menu bar and right side menu as tables.  If this is still an
issue we can look at changing them.  I don't think the menu bar should be
changed but the right side one probably should be.

I have also added some ARIA tags to the menu bar itself as well as the drop
down on the bookstore link.  I've not worked with these before so I would
appreciate any feedback on how they are rendered by the reader.  Speaking of
which (no pun intended) is there any chance we could get a copy of the
reader software?  Or maybe you could point us to some good freeware that we
could install.  I think it would make the development easier if we
understood how the page was being converted to speech which would give us
some better insight into how best to use the ARIA tags.

The changes are up in CAMP28 so check them out and let me know what you
think.

Thanks,

Richard

On Tue, Sep 8, 2009 at 8:15 AM, Edie Coletti <ecoletti at nbp.org> wrote:

> Here are Anna Dresner's comments on the home page. The first paragraph is
> more about design & content, not accessibility. The other paragraphs we
> will
> need to address.
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Woody Anna Dresner [mailto:adresner at nbp.org]
> Sent: Thursday, September 03, 2009 1:47 PM
> To: Edie Coletti
> Cc: Antonio Guimaraes; Tony Grima; Kimberley Ballard; bmacdonald at nbp.org
> Subject: Re: Prototype of new NBP Homepage
>
> Hi,
>
> I have several concerns about the home page. One is that there's no
> text stating what  NBP is or welcoming the visitor. All I see is links
> to services, a search box, a sign-up for a mailing list, a login form,
> and some press releases. If I were new to the site, I would wonder
> when I got to the end what the purpose was, and I wouldn't want to
> have to go through the work entailed to find out. I think some sort of
> welcome message near the beginning of the page would help a lot. It
> doesn't have to be long; it could be something like what we had
> before. How about putting it just after the search box, before the
> list containing the link to the bookstore.
>
> Another concern is that tables are being used for formatting, not
> because tables are needed to convey meaning. This means that unless I
> use table navigation keystrokes in my screen reader, the first cell in
> the table appears on its own line, the one to its right appears on the
> next line, and so on across the row, then all the cells from the
> second row, etc., which can make the text less meaningful than it
> otherwise would be. This also means that the lines in the press
> releases are very short, making them choppy to read. I don't know that
> much about HTML coding, but things like headings, lists, and block
> quotes would work better.
>
> Edie told me that the links like Bookstore are are mouseover links
> that reveal submenus when you move the mouse over them. I would not
> have known that if she hadn't told me, as my screen reader gave no
> indication of it. I wonder if ARIA tags would help here.
>
> The page ends with the line, "a great success!  With over 1000" It
> seems odd to have it end in the middle of a sentence.
>
> There is an image near the top called Rotating Image 1. An alt tag
> would help here.
>
> Headings would be useful to denote different parts of the page, such
> as Services and What's New. I think every screen reader on the market
> can move you to the next heading, with a single keystroke, which is
> why headings are so useful.
>
> That's about all I have for now. Sorry I don't have more positive to
> say.
>
> Best,
> Anna
>
>
> On Sep 2, 2009, at 1:30 PM, Edie Coletti wrote:
>
> > Hi Anna & Antonio:
> >
> > Here is a link to a prototype of the homepage for you to test
> http://28.camp.nbp.temphost.net:9028/ic/nbp/homepage.html
> > .  The links are not working, but hopefully you'll be able to test
> > the navigation.  Let me know if there is anything I can do to help
> > with the testing.
> >
> > Thanks,
> >
> > Edie
> >
>
>
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>
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