AFB's Jitterbug Review

Most of the ways people find this blog is through web searches. One of the most popular search terms that bring visitors here is "high contrast cell phones" that directs them to this post. Surprisingly, to me anyway, this is the first entry that Google lists for this search term. However, my post is mostly a gripe about the lack of accessible cell phones. The only phone that seems to fit my criteria (accessible to those with low but functional vision) is the Jitterbug. I do not have one, so I can not review it. However the AFB has a good review, with images, here: An Accessible Phone Comes Calling: A Review of the Jitterbug Cell Phone - AccessWorld® - March 2007. So take a look at let me know what you think.

Alternative Google Color Schemes

Following up on my earlier post about the lack of accessible Vista themes and my current feelings on standard internet color schemes, I posted the following to the accessible Google Group: Alternative Google Color Schemes - accessible | Google Groups

For the visually impaired, Google's (as well as MS and most websites) color scheme is downright bad. Does Google have or could it develop an alternative accessible co or scheme? Not only should it be high contrast, but also light-on-dark. For me, I like yellow-on-black. Firefox and IE allow users to impose color schemes while browsing, but this method changes all text and background to the same two colors. This ruins the full use of each page. For example, in Gmail, the star feature becomes useless.For another, regular text and hyperlinks become indistinguishable. So this solution is only partial. This remains true for other websites and for Windows as well. Both Vista and XP have high-contrast color schemes, but there are both aesthetically unappealing (Visually impaired does not equal aesthetically unaware) and more problematic then helpful. Is this something that Google could/will implement? Is this something a third-party could do well? There are some third party tools (e.g. Firefox's Accessibar), but none are subtle enough to retain the full nature of each web page. Is anyone up for the challenge? Thanks! PS Can someone create a nice Vista/XP theme with accessible and aesthetic colors and font sizes

I will relay any useful responses.

Inaccessible Web Design

This is what a bad website looks like after I have set the font sizes so that I can read them. This is from Audible.com.

[Audible]

Maccessibility: Why blind users can't register at Slashdot

Slashdot, the "News for Nerds" site I referenced in a n earlier post, is on the accessibility hot seat in this column, Why blind users can't register at Slashdot, from Maccessibility, a blog aimed at Mac web developers. Slashdot, among a lengthening list of other sites, requires users to type in text read from an image as a security measure during the registration process. The article makes a valid point about the growing use of "this kind of 'security' involving low resolution images of text". If you have a hard time reading this text, like me, or can not read it at all, you may be out of luck trying to register for these sites. The article proceeds to document how some sites, like Paypal and Yahoo, have tried to find ways to address this problem and their varying degrees of success. It makes an interesting read.