ALA is brilliant, it has really helped me, and I have honestly found it the be the most useful resource on the net.. ALA is taking steps forward with design – even if the technique is new or not fully understood yet, not stepping back because it isnt ‘safe’ yet
Anyone who flames ALA doesnt understand that this is what its about..
If you’re showing that nifty warning icon using version 2.1c of Doug Farmerville’s sPTrF CSS background image replacement technique so I can still see it when I read ALA using the JAWS emulator on my Palm Pilot, then I’m all for it.
But if you’re just going to use a regular IMG tag, I swear to God I’m out of here.
A nice pretty iconic disclaimer i would say. And works fine for me too, as it will for every other ala frequent flyer! It’s been a pleasure returning to your site always. From the soothing background, breathable space, controllable text to the way comlicated stuff is made to sound easy, yep, you’ve got it all covered.
Forgive me for saying this, but while i see the new icon a help for most Ala users, I am not sure whether it would really serve it’s purpose to intermediate or relatively new users (who obviously will keep coming back because it was love at frst sight!).
I suppose the text on the right of the icon will be included and should help but in some cases (especially to new users), they might just not know what to make of it. Could be bit of a confusion. Probably a line of text below the icon should clear things out, but then again, it might defeat the purpose of having an icon. Or maybe the ‘alt’ tag could be more desriptive so as to convey the message clearly.
Personally, i love the icon, but i’ve been reading so much about accessibility and usability recently ( thanx to you guys for the former!), i thought i should share my thought with you guys.
Once again, thanx for being my favourite resource ever and even though it’s kinda late, a happy new year to all of ya!
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Craig Cadwallader
Yeah, what better way to show ALA’s always exquisite balance between a grounding on terra firma and being off the deep end! A quick and easy way to know we’re in for a brain stretch that may not validate now, but perhaps later from the sum total of ALA’s readers’ “collective conscience” feedback. And, since all life as we know it depends on water, I say “let’s take the plunge!” Great idea!
I’m in favor of providing as much as possible contextual information to readers. Your idea can work pretty well using a small icon with the attribute title set to “Warning – Experimental …”
Extending your idea you could use a div with a slightly different background or border and the small icon. Labeling only parts of an article.
60 Reader Comments
Back to the ArticleBen Spicer
ALA is brilliant, it has really helped me, and I have honestly found it the be the most useful resource on the net..
ALA is taking steps forward with design – even if the technique is new or not fully understood yet, not stepping back because it isnt ‘safe’ yet
Anyone who flames ALA doesnt understand that this is what its about..
Long live ALA!
Brian Alvey
If you’re showing that nifty warning icon using version 2.1c of Doug Farmerville’s sPTrF CSS background image replacement technique so I can still see it when I read ALA using the JAWS emulator on my Palm Pilot, then I’m all for it.
But if you’re just going to use a regular IMG tag, I swear to God I’m out of here.
inverse
A nice pretty iconic disclaimer i would say. And works fine for me too, as it will for every other ala frequent flyer! It’s been a pleasure returning to your site always. From the soothing background, breathable space, controllable text to the way comlicated stuff is made to sound easy, yep, you’ve got it all covered.
Forgive me for saying this, but while i see the new icon a help for most Ala users, I am not sure whether it would really serve it’s purpose to intermediate or relatively new users (who obviously will keep coming back because it was love at frst sight!).
I suppose the text on the right of the icon will be included and should help but in some cases (especially to new users), they might just not know what to make of it. Could be bit of a confusion. Probably a line of text below the icon should clear things out, but then again, it might defeat the purpose of having an icon. Or maybe the ‘alt’ tag could be more desriptive so as to convey the message clearly.
Personally, i love the icon, but i’ve been reading so much about accessibility and usability recently ( thanx to you guys for the former!), i thought i should share my thought with you guys.
Once again, thanx for being my favourite resource ever and even though it’s kinda late, a happy new year to all of ya!
Craig Cadwallader
Yeah, what better way to show ALA’s always exquisite balance between a grounding on terra firma and being off the deep end! A quick and easy way to know we’re in for a brain stretch that may not validate now, but perhaps later from the sum total of ALA’s readers’ “collective conscience” feedback. And, since all life as we know it depends on water, I say “let’s take the plunge!” Great idea!
Justin Kozuch
Really looking forward to this.
fish
this + the “invitation to relax” most definately = the “way it’s supposed to work”, in my book. fuck puritanism. word all that. thank you guys!
-fish
Edgard Durand
I’m in favor of providing as much as possible contextual information to readers. Your idea can work pretty well using a small icon with the attribute title set to “Warning – Experimental …”
Extending your idea you could use a div with a slightly different background or border and the small icon. Labeling only parts of an article.
Mark Priestap
Somebody has probably answered this question before, but why is the ALA ‘code’ font so small in IE?
View screenshot.
Thanks,
Mark
Mark Priestap
Whoops, I guess my little html tags didn’t format my message. :P
apartness
>>Somebody has probably answered this question before, but why is the ALA ‘code’ font so small in IE?
It’s not.
It’s small in your browser because you’ve set your browser’s preferences to display monospaced fonts in a small size.
See also:
http://www.alistapart.com/qa/#question19