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.

Accessible Windows Vista Themes

As I noted in the last post, I have just moved to a Windows Vista machine. I have spent the last few days looking for a decent theme with large fonts and good light-on-dark contrast. There are none!

The Windows high contrast themes, besides being hideous, do not have large text. To check these out, you can either right-click on the desktop and select 'Personalize' and then to 'Windows Colors and Appearance' or go to the 'Ease of Access Center' Control Panel and then to 'Set Up High Contrast'. Either way, you are stuck with an ugly interface with the small font. The 'Ease of Access Center' has an option for changing something called DPI to make the font easier to read, but that only goes so far.

I checked out the trial version of WindowBlinds, but I could not easily find any accessible themes. After a frustrating few minutes with the software, I sent an email to the company who sells it, asking them if WindowBlinds offeres any accessible themes.

In the end, I spent a good chunk of time adjusting all the color and font settings in the 'Windows Colors and Appearance' panel. After a few mistakes and having to start from scratch a few times, I succeeded in creating and saving a minimally acceptable theme. It is not professional in the least. My next job is to figure out how to export and share it with you. For now, email me if you would like a copy.

Do you know of any useful themes? Do you know someone who can create one? Let me know!

Access Firefox: Because the Internet is for everyone.

Having just moved to a new computer, I have been installing software and making the system more accessible. In trying to find all the little ways to make Firefox more accessible, I ran across this website, AccessFirefox.org. They do a remarkable job of collecting all the Firefox themes ans extensions that help make Firefox a superior browser for ease of use. My favorite so far is Accessibar, which adds a toolbar to the top of the screen that allows you to control the text size and the colors of each website. The large icon themes are also quite useful.

The one item that is missing right now is No Squint. With the latest version of Firefox, No Squint allows you to control the full zoom and text zoom of each website. What is particularly useful is that it remember the particular setting for each site. I find that different websites require different adjustments, depending on the amount of text vs. images and how many columns the site has. Accisbar allows you to adjust font sizes, but is not site specific and has no 'memory'. I will recommend that AccessFirefox add No Squint to their list.

Do you know of any Firefox extensions or Greasemonkey scripts that make Firefox and the web more accessible? Please let me know!

Firefox Themes

Firefox has a number of large icon themes, available here. They are easy to install and to change if you do not find them useful.