Here are some other notes I took on the subject of Data Visualization. This was an AWESOME webinar and was fortunate to attend it.
UIE notes!
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Tag Archives: Accessibility
Design Philosophy
The philosophies we live by in life change daily from what we learn and experience. So, I thought I would share some of my Design Philosophies.
K.Y.A. – Know Your Audience
The audience is first for a reason. The content dictates who is spoken to and how the design should be communicated. Colorful cartoons are not appropriate for academic content. The content and visual need to communicate together. And the bigger the audience, leads to the next rule I follow by…
K.I.S.E. – Keep It Simply Elegant
This is a spin off the K.I.S.S. motto that prevails in a lot of approaches. And it is true. I use elegant for one reason. Elegance can equate to balance or a feeling of Zen. Simple approaches to communicate content is the most important approach because the content comes first! But easing the communication is done in other ways. Simple plain language and visual balance. The font, the color, and layout is so very important. One thing can communicate a lot paired with the content.
Design Versus Art what does it communicate!
In school, I had an Artist/Art professor say something that stuck with me. Professor Mark Messersmith said, ” Art is selfish, it is about what the artist wants to do.” This means how the artist feels, wants to communicate, and the artists choice of content. Plainly put, an expression of their perspective. Not the classic Art for arts sake!
Design is not that at all! Design is function for many. And when designing something, it becomes about how the other person feels or interprets the content. So, tying in the two previous rules, knowing your audience allows you to simply communicate something though what you design.
Voice Over and Yammer!
So, I did a quick assessment at the request of my supervisor to test accessibility of the Yammer social group using Voice Over. Not accessible at all, to a novice user of Voice Over! To clarify this statement, I always try to test and take a different approach to testing. This can be a bit of a time consuming task. Repeated testing! I try to approach things through multiple perspectives; the novice user, the middle user (one who knows enough to get into trouble) and the expert.
Why is this important? Because the audience is always important in design. And we have a large audience. In our market place a trend is developing towards, brands, and niche groups, and loyalty to specific needs of a small group of people. This is NOT Universal Design practices. Especially, when dealing with the web or software that needs to meet everyones needs. The content can be specific to a person, but the use cannot!
Back to the Testing…
One has to be a Voice Over expert to navigate Yammer with it. There is no one tool in the VoiceOver tool box that one can get through the Desktop version of Yammer. JAWs allows you to arrow through or tab though almost everything. V.O. does not allow this. Training must be given to an individual to use V.O. However, if this is done then Yammer is pretty accessible despite some annoying glitches. I hope this helps P.S.U. get some alterations to their web service.
Yammer Accessibility
I am currently examining accessibility and usability of Yammer (desktop and mobile versions). I have evaluated Yammer desktop on JAWs (PC) and the Yammer Mobile on iPhone 5 (Apples Voice Over). I am now evaluating Voice Overs use of Yammer Desktop (Apple’s Screen Reader). I am finding that the mobile version is more usable and accessible for those that are blind/vision impaired. We will see what my last examination reveals.