text only version ( 4 Views )

I did a search but couldn't find the answer to this question . . .

How do I provide a 'text only' link for visitors? This is probably really simple but I can't seem to figure it out. www.saynotogmos.org if you want to take a look. (Almost finished - less than 20 pages to go!! Wheeeee!!!!)

(ersan, South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands)

Quote:

Originally Posted by W. Luke

Alternate style sheets are better using the W3C specification for them. Then the "switch" is built into the browser.

While true, this leaves 90%+ of visitors without a way to change styles. You can stick to the W3C specs (<link rel="alternate stylesheet" />) and use a javascript-based CSS switcher and have it work in every releavant screen browser (Konqueror being the exception, at least with the JS method), so why not?

(cansu, Algeria)

Quote:

Originally Posted by W. Luke

Alternate style sheets are better using the W3C specification for them. Then the "switch" is built into the browser.

as vinnie mentions, this leaves out IE. also, from what i can see so far, browsers don't remember your "switching option" from page to page (let alone visit to visit), making them more or less useless for anything other than quick on-page checks...

speaking of alistapart's switcher...it's not accessible, as it relies on javascript. you need to provide a server-side switching mechanism, really...(still involving cookies, but either generating the stylesheet or writing out your page's link rel="stylesheet" based on user settings/selections)

(umut baran, Ecuador)

Quote:

Originally Posted by vgarcia

A text-only page isn't too useful to anyone. If your pages are coded well (which they are [img]images/smilies/wink.gif[/img]) and you provide valid alternate content (i.e. "alt" and "title" attributes for images),then you'll be fine and I wouldn't worry about a text-only version, since anybody who you think would benefit from it is already doing just fine on your site. [img]images/smilies/smile.gif[/img]

I cannot agree with you that text-only pages are not useful to anyone!
Plain text files are the most likely to be accessible to all blind computer users. Though many people use Microsoft Word, or have methods to convert files generated in this file format, it is risky to assume that everyone can open a Microsoft Word document. Again, plain text and HTML are generally the most universally accessible choices.

From my experience, I would recommend using the RTF format for text-only pages. :)

(eyeyuh, Cayman Islands)

Quote:

Originally Posted by Webnauts

What I meant was plain text vs. well-coded HTML. If you code your HTML properly you don't need a text-only version because your document will still read sensibly. I agree that some format should be offered as an alternative to, say Word documents, but HTML is its own alternate in my opinion. :)

(orkun, China)

Quote:

Originally Posted by vgarcia

OK Vinnie. I got now! :tup:

(caner, Mauritania)

So Webnauts, think I need to worry about having a text only option for my site? Do you think the gold links are going to be a problem?

BTW, will be implementing some more accessibility features once I finish reformatting all the pages.

(YASEMÝN, Pakistan)

Text version - Printer-friendly version

Earther, I guess that your interest building text-only version is nothing else than printer-friendly version.

To achieve the best, I would recommend you to look at the instructions here:

Printing the Web http://www.boxesandarrows.com/archiv...ng_the_web.php

For printed documents should use a minimum of text size 12pt or 14pt: http://www.techdis.ac.uk/seven/papers/dyslexia3.html

(subitay, Cape Verde)

Couple of things here.

Has anyone done anything with multiple print stylesheets? Like one to print in 10pt and one in 16? (that's the RNIB minimum recommendation). My thoughts are that if you force everyone to print large you get rid of a whole load of trees unecessarily. I have multiple screen styleseets with a javascript switcher (http://www.cie.uce.ac.uk/essential) to change visual properties, but have yet to get to print.

And I'm against a text only version per se. Because however dedicated you are sometime there's going to be a disparity where you change the content of one but not the other.

(gizem, Albania)

Quote:

Originally Posted by John Colby

Has anyone done anything with multiple print stylesheets? Like one to print in 10pt and one in 16? (that's the RNIB minimum recommendation). My thoughts are that if you force everyone to print large you get rid of a whole load of trees unecessarily. I have multiple screen styleseets with a javascript switcher (http://www.cie.uce.ac.uk/essential) to change visual properties, but have yet to get to print.

I haven't done anything yet, but I can probably whip something up for you based on the AListApart style switcher if you want. I'll bust out my Javascript skills later on and see what I can do.

(nur, Cote D'Ivoire)

Quote:

Originally Posted by John Colby

however dedicated you are sometime there's going to be a disparity where you change the content of one but not the other.

unless your actual page content is separately held in an XML repository, database, html fragment, and your various versions (text only, full-on singing dancing xhtml, flash) are pulling it in (and manipulating it before displaying).
or, if you use betsie and its derivatives (heck, always wanted to make a php version called "dumbritney" myself...), the text only version is generated on the fly from your normal "visual" webpage...
but yes, having spoken with a few 100% blind users, i got the distinct feeling that there still is a fear, a stigma, attached to text only versions that they might be the "******* child" of the "proper" website, not kept up-to-date etc. in addition, a text only version is of course inferior to an accessibly built webpage, as there are no image alt texts / longdescs (which, even for non-information images, can add flavour to a page when done properly...e.g. a university site with a picture of graduating students could well have an alt that not only conveys what the picture shows, but what the intention, the emotional message, may be: "photograph of students at graduation time - university of X, the right choice for your future" - "an enjoyable experience with rewarding results", etc etc)

(KAAN, Mauritius)

Quote:

Originally Posted by Daz

Or have a stylesheet switcher :)

Alternate style sheets are better using the W3C specification for them. Then the "switch" is built into the browser.

(orhan146, Togo)

Thanks again, Vinnie. I'll get around to it after all the pages are in the new format.

(furkan , Sudan)

Quote:

Originally Posted by earther

And that's done like . . . ?

Using the styleswitcher from http://www.alistapart.com/stories/alternate/, it would go like this:

HTML Code:

<a href="/" onclick="setActiveStyleSheet(null);return false;">Disable Styles</a>

That link should give you the rest of the information you need, and a working example can be found on http://zeldman.com/ (click on the As in the left nav menu to switch styles).

(fatma büþra, Seychelles)

A text-only page isn't too useful to anyone. If your pages are coded well (which they are ;)) and you provide valid alternate content (i.e. "alt" and "title" attributes for images),then you'll be fine and I wouldn't worry about a text-only version, since anybody who you think would benefit from it is already doing just fine on your site. :)

(elif, Kazakhstan)

Agreed but if you really want to go down that route offering it as an alternative to your already accessible site try out Betsie, free from the BBC.

(ilimdar, Portugal)

Thanks for the info and the vote of confidence. :D My concern is that some may have difficulty with the gold link colors. Do you think this might be a problem?? I really like this color scheme . . . at least for the moment . . . and am totally burned out after redoing nearly 60 very long pages. :xeye: I just want to get it all done and take a well-deserved break but I also want to make sure no one is going to be squinting at the screen trying to read it.

(merva, Nauru)

Quote:

Originally Posted by earther

Thanks for the info and the vote of confidence. :D My concern is that some may have difficulty with the gold link colors. Do you think this might be a problem?? I really like this color scheme . . . at least for the moment . . . and am totally burned out after redoing nearly 60 very long pages. :xeye: I just want to get it all done and take a well-deserved break but I also want to make sure no one is going to squinting at the screen.

Offer an option to disable the stylesheet then :).

(ergun, Bulgaria)

Or have a stylesheet switcher :)

(Kral_Bitlislim, Costa Rica)

Quote:

Originally Posted by Daz

Or have a stylesheet switcher :)

Same as disabling styles. Just feed a null value into the style switcher function and it will disable the styles :D.

(hüseyin, Montserrat)

Yes, I believe it is generally far better to use semantic mark-up and have option to disable stylesheets rather than duplication of work.

(ipek, Congo, the Democratic Republic of the)

Quote:

Originally Posted by vgarcia

Same as disabling styles. Just feed a null value into the style switcher function and it will disable the styles [img]images/smilies/biggrin.gif[/img].

there's always one smart **** ;)

(muhterem, Turkey)

Quote:

Originally Posted by Daz

there's always one smart **** ;)

Who? ;)

(naime, Estonia)

Quote:

Originally Posted by vgarcia

Same as disabling styles. Just feed a null value into the style switcher function and it will disable the styles :D.

And that's done like . . . ?

(orhan, Israel)

I thought this tutorial could be helpful on this topic:
http://www.umuc.edu/distance/odell/c...howto/pdf.html

(kemaltahir, Svalbard and Jan Mayen)

text only version ( 4 Views )

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