CSS & Visually Impaired

S

Sharon

Can someone steer me in the right direction for CSS instructions on making
your websites usable by the visually impaired? (I am new to CSS) I have
read about utilizing the em attribute to allow resizing of website text on
IE, but the book I have says that this will not be rendered properly on
Netscape or other browsers. I want to be able to have a website where
people can view the text in a 'normal' font size. But those who are
visually impaired can see the text in a larger font size if they use the IE
View > Text Size > Largest or the equivalent selection on Netscape.
 
M

Michael Wilcox

Sharon said:
Can someone steer me in the right direction for CSS instructions on
making your websites usable by the visually impaired?

http://www.diveintoaccessibility.org/by_disability.html has quite a few
tips. There's a few out-of-date examples, but it's mostly good.

The CSS aural styles look helpful, but I hear from a few people that they
aren't well implemeneted now. Nevertheless, I would still make use of ones
like speak,. speak-punctuation, and speak-numeral. More at
http://www.w3.org/TR/REC-CSS2/aural.html
(I am new to CSS) I have read about utilizing the em attribute
to allow resizing of website text on IE

There isn't an em attribute, but there is an em tag (terminology
differences, you see). Text enclosed in the em tag is given special emphasis
when spoken or rendered visually. Behaviour is browser specific.
but the book I have says that this will not be
rendered properly on Netscape or other browsers.

Em (and it's cousin strong) are rendered fine by nearly all browsers.
I want to be able
to have a website where people can view the text in a 'normal' font
size. But those who are visually impaired can see the text in a
larger font size if they use the IE View > Text Size > Largest or the
equivalent selection on Netscape.

If you want people to have control over the text size, then it's best not to
specify one at all. If you want some changes here and there, use percentages
along with the font-size CSS property. Most importantly, stay away from
sizes specified in pixels or points, since these cannot be scaled to larger,
largest, etc. in IE. See
http://www.w3.org/TR/REC-CSS2/fonts.html#propdef-font-size for reference
info.
 
F

Firas D.

Michael said:
There isn't an em attribute, but there is an em tag (terminology
differences, you see). Text enclosed in the em tag is given special emphasis
when spoken or rendered visually. Behaviour is browser specific.

I think she meant 'em' as a unit of text size.
 
N

nice.guy.nige

There isn't an em attribute, but there is an em tag (terminology
differences, you see). Text enclosed in the em tag is given special
emphasis when spoken or rendered visually. Behaviour is browser
specific.

I think the OP is referring to em as a unit of font-size, not the em
(emphasis) element.

Cheers,
Nige

--
Nigel Moss.

Email address is not valid. (e-mail address removed). Take the dog out!
http://www.nigenet.org.uk | Boycott E$$O!! http://www.stopesso.com
In the land of the blind, the one-eyed man is very, very busy!
 
M

Michael Wilcox

nice.guy.nige said:
I think the OP is referring to em as a unit of font-size, not the em
(emphasis) element.

Well, my advice still stands. The em element is a good thing, the em font
thingy is a good thing.
 

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