Hi Mike,
Seems that making user's aware of what 'zoom', 'single column',
'high/low contrast', 'low graphics' or any of the other alternatives
is another issue like that of educating new users about browser 'Text
size' options.
From personal experience, when first stumbling upon issues of web
standards / accessibility etc. links like 'XHTML' and 'CSS' (as links
to online validation services) and the 'AAA' ratings for
accessibility were less than clear. Although it would be great to
think otherwise, *task-focused* users rarely follow a link or click a
button 'out of curiosity'.
Perhaps 'Zoom' has been borrowed from the Microsoft Word interface
for magnifying the page. Further to this, 'What do I know' [1] uses
common wysiwyg interface convention to signal that page layout can be
customised. From a graphical perspective the issue is indicating the
change that will be affected by choosing a layout 'option'. Using
'What do I know' as an example, the various-sized 'T's are an
effective illustration of what their activation will achieve: an
increase or decrease in type size. Perhaps an icon that indication of
a single column (maybe with an obviously enlarged 'T')?
The irony is that icon-i-fying the Zoom display preference is likely
to make it smaller, and assuming the feature is to cater to people
with visual impairment, the option may well be overlooked.
A companion issue is the consideration of user expectations: that
websites are often perceived as more akin to a printed page than an
application. As such (at least in the usability tests we've
conducted) the user's expectation is that the page is 'the way it
should be' and the concept of customising layout or display is still
alien/novel.
The point raised by Patrick is also interesting, namely that we
should recognise that the user experience is not solely the domain of
web authors. While (admittedly with the best of intentions), we
attempt to build layout controls into content, there are dedicated
programs developed to improve the browsing experience for users with
specific accessibility requirements.
References
[1] What do I know < http://whatdoiknow.org >
Cheers,
--
Andy Kirkwood | Creative Director
Motive | web.design.integrity
http://www.motive.co.nz
ph: (04) 3 800 800 fx: (04) 970 9693
mob: 021 369 693
93 Rintoul St, Newtown
PO Box 7150, Wellington South, New Zealand
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