Welcome!

[Hanne]

Thought was to create a profile page for the kinds of visitors you might get on your webpage, and what to think about accessibility-wise when coding.

For instance:
The dial-up user
The mobiles user
The header-reading user
The RSS-feeds fan
The IE user
The blind user
The deaf user

Sort of like a table, in the first cell have a small profile on the user, in the second cell explain what can be done so that the user in question can browse properly.

[mads]

This is a great idea! You could also just have a page for each type with a nice/funny illustration of the typical user and then a short bio and overview of the different technologies the user has access to.

[alexwilks88]

Yes! I'm quite committed to creating universally accessible versions of my websites (e.g. for the visually impaired) but when it comes to creating the stylesheet I've found there's often a lack of resources to get ideas from.

[rostek]

look -> usability

[Hanne]

look -> usability

I did read your topic before I posted mine, and am aware that the two are somewhat similar. Though accessibility and usability aren't the same, as my topic isn't quite the same as yours. I figured it should be awarded its own post.

[mads]

look -> usability

Well I think that accessibility and usability merge a bit. In some instances, for example when designing websites for an elderly audience, the site must be usable to be accessible, if we look away from the pure technological standpoint.

[jingjang]

another vote for accessibility and usability

[ThePeregrine]

I'd be happy to take a stab at writing or co-writing this one, as it's what I do (building in accessibility and writing). I've never seen a really good "how to" on accessibility that pulled all the diverse issues together into one concise package.

Topics within the subject of accessibility could be divided into principles and best practices, both of which are more stable and reliable when you're discussing accessibility than when you're discussing a lot of other web development topics.

Some related topics: POSH (Plain Olde Semantic HTML), CSS tips to accommodate people with visual impairments, progressive enhancement, testing with Lynx and screen readers, finding users with disabilities to help with testing ...

[mads]

Some related topics: POSH (Plain Olde Semantic HTML), CSS tips to accommodate people with visual impairments, progressive enhancement, testing with Lynx and screen readers, finding users with disabilities to help with testing ...

Those are some nice topics! I'd love to see them included in the accessibility part of the book (if it's going in).

[WebAir]

Great idea! A list of suggestions about how to design for users with handicap, mobile users, etc... We can should talk about the W3C standards and the problem that users have when visit a website.

[Kiwi]

The blind user? Really?

At any rate, the aspect of colour blind users is something worth including.

Also, different monitors (the vistas of your website) is worth covering; colour variation (i.e. colour representation) and resolutions in particular. It's important to develop on a monitor with the best true representation of colours as possible. A comparison of monitors and laptops that fit this purpose would be swell.

"Handicapped" users needs to be expanded into detailed subgroups: Hyperopics (people suffering from near-sightedness) to add to the aforementioned colour blind. Maybe the habits and handicaps of people with ADHD on websites would be worth looking into.

It would also be interesting with a discussion of how the lighting affects readability/accessibility; will my site be great for watching during daytime with great lighting but torturous during nighttime, with the lights off?

EDIT: Dyslexia is also a thing to consider as referenced in this wiki. According to both posts, justification and hyphenation respectively impedes the readability, and consequently, the accessibility of a text for people with dyslexia.

A short note on the difference between legibility and readability would also be a welcomed addition, although it may seem to solely be of interests to true typography aficionados.