Windowblinds themes for the visually impaired
Saturday, April 17, 2004 by TheD2JBug | Discussion: WinCustomize Talk
Haya peeps .
Any idea if anyuone has made a Windowblinds theme that allows for the use of large high visibility fonts? I would like to apply one for someone who uses this PC and has vision difficulties so she can use something other than Luna Silver.
Thanks.
Any idea if anyuone has made a Windowblinds theme that allows for the use of large high visibility fonts? I would like to apply one for someone who uses this PC and has vision difficulties so she can use something other than Luna Silver.
Thanks.
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TheD2JBug
Reply #2 Saturday, April 17, 2004 3:24 PM
Reply #2 Saturday, April 17, 2004 3:24 PM
Well judging by what I'm using here I'd say a lighter colored font ( one can still have variety I hope ) with size 15 fonts using some of the more clear text fonts ( mabye Arial or Tahoma bolded or something )
TheD2JBug
Reply #3 Saturday, April 17, 2004 3:25 PM
Reply #3 Saturday, April 17, 2004 3:25 PM
erm I mean lighter colored background colors like baby blue or pink or light green etc .. mabye something that can apply color too.
Essencay
Reply #4 Saturday, April 17, 2004 3:30 PM
Reply #4 Saturday, April 17, 2004 3:30 PM
Okay...it'll take me a week or so. It'll be my first skin going large...I tend to work toward making them small 
If you think of any other things just post in this thread. I'll add it to my watch list.
If you think of any other things just post in this thread. I'll add it to my watch list.
Essencay
Reply #6 Saturday, April 17, 2004 3:41 PM
Reply #6 Saturday, April 17, 2004 3:41 PM
No problem...I understand, without my glasses I can't see more than six inches in front of me clearly. You might also want to try using DesktopX. It has a feature called IconX that will allow your desktop icons which are normally 32x32pixels to be as large as 128x128pixels
TheD2JBug
Reply #7 Saturday, April 17, 2004 3:51 PM
Reply #7 Saturday, April 17, 2004 3:51 PM
she has desktopX and I set her up with a Dock that expands to a big size.
Shameless Designs
Reply #8 Saturday, April 17, 2004 5:23 PM
Reply #8 Saturday, April 17, 2004 5:23 PM
Just a suggestion, but I would think that size would not be the only issue in making a WB for someone visually impaired. High contrast between backgrounds and other elements will be important also, in my opinion. But it need not be a matter of just black vs white, true complementary colors will also really standout and can actually look quite good together (eg red-green, yellow-violet, blue-orange, etc.) On an RGB monitor, RGB colorwheel complements work well together also, (eg Red-Cyan #FF0000-#00FFFF).
The Hypermedic Index http://www.hypermedic.com/home.php and Color Matters http://www.colormatters.com/colortheory.html give some excellent explanations of color theory and some useful tools for choosing color schemes. The Color Lab http://members.tripod.com/~W_NY_DECKS/46656.html? is also a very useful tool for checking readability of font colors against various backgrounds. The free Color Lab and downloadable Color Swatches at Visibone http://www.visibone.com/ are also excellent tools to use for picking colors.
[Message Edited]
The Hypermedic Index http://www.hypermedic.com/home.php and Color Matters http://www.colormatters.com/colortheory.html give some excellent explanations of color theory and some useful tools for choosing color schemes. The Color Lab http://members.tripod.com/~W_NY_DECKS/46656.html? is also a very useful tool for checking readability of font colors against various backgrounds. The free Color Lab and downloadable Color Swatches at Visibone http://www.visibone.com/ are also excellent tools to use for picking colors.
[Message Edited]
Shameless Designs
Reply #9 Saturday, April 17, 2004 5:43 PM
Reply #9 Saturday, April 17, 2004 5:43 PM
A quick tip for finding true RGB complements: Take the R, G, and B values of any non-gray color and subtract each of them from 256. the resulting value will be the true RGB complement, meaning the colors will have maximum contrast and should also look well together on an RGB monitor.
EXAMPLE: If the color is RGB(192,064,096) then the complement would be RGB(064,192,160), Try it yourself, and you'll see what I mean.
EXAMPLE: If the color is RGB(192,064,096) then the complement would be RGB(064,192,160), Try it yourself, and you'll see what I mean.
NightTrainthedark
Reply #10 Saturday, April 17, 2004 5:47 PM
Reply #10 Saturday, April 17, 2004 5:47 PM
Very useful info Shameless Designs. Thanks.
With all due respect... Colors come from within thyself...... Let them free.
With all due respect... Colors come from within thyself...... Let them free.
Shameless Designs
Reply #11 Saturday, April 17, 2004 5:52 PM
Reply #11 Saturday, April 17, 2004 5:52 PM
I'll be the first to admit that rules are made to be broken, especially when it comes to artistic vision and interpretation. In this case, though, I was speaking about addressing a specific issue for those who have difficulty seeing on a computer monitor.
NightTrainthedark
Reply #12 Saturday, April 17, 2004 5:55 PM
Reply #12 Saturday, April 17, 2004 5:55 PM
I know shmameless, sorry bout the hijack, please continue. Nothing to see here. My bad.
Essencay
Reply #13 Saturday, April 17, 2004 6:59 PM
That's just a small portion of the frame, to make sure that the font size is okay. The top frame is the inactive frame and the bottom is the active frame. My 19" monitor was set at 1280x1024 when I screen captured this (don't think it makes a difference, but just in case )
Reply #13 Saturday, April 17, 2004 6:59 PM
That's just a small portion of the frame, to make sure that the font size is okay. The top frame is the inactive frame and the bottom is the active frame. My 19" monitor was set at 1280x1024 when I screen captured this (don't think it makes a difference, but just in case
)
Shameless Designs
Reply #15 Saturday, April 17, 2004 8:26 PM
Reply #15 Saturday, April 17, 2004 8:26 PM
You're welcome. Another thought, from looking at your screenshot, is that font type and size would be a factor as well, which you have obviously grasped. For what it's worth, according to Usability News, http://psychology.wichita.edu/surl/usability_news2.html which is a fairly well-respected site, sans-serif fonts (Arial and the like) and 14-point text on an 800x600 display were most preferred and found most readable by older adults and those with poor vision.
Shameless Designs
Reply #16 Saturday, April 17, 2004 8:33 PM
Reply #16 Saturday, April 17, 2004 8:33 PM
And by the way, the resolution you use when capturing won't matter in the sense that a pixel is a pixel and will be captured the same regardless of the resolution at which it is captured. It will appear to be a different physical size when viewed at different resolutions, but the image will still have the same number, relative location, relative pixel size, and colors of pixels as the original.
Essencay
Reply #18 Sunday, April 18, 2004 7:40 AM
My nemesis....buttons
I'm getting better though. The button size was taken from the high contrast large size in Win95 44x40pixels. For appearance sake only the symbols show, but the buttons extend to about 4pixels from the top of the titlebar frame to 3pixels from the bottom of the titlebar frame....large buttons without a bulky appearance was what I was going for This also benefitted giving more room on the titlebar for long title to show without being cutoff by the buttons. I also dinged the system icon (16x16 icon) looked out of place and left-justified the titlebar text, again for more room.
Today is like the first day of spring around here and as soon as the ibuprofen kicks in....it's off to clean up from the mess winter left behind.
Reply #18 Sunday, April 18, 2004 7:40 AM
My nemesis....buttons
I'm getting better though. The button size was taken from the high contrast large size in Win95 44x40pixels. For appearance sake only the symbols show, but the buttons extend to about 4pixels from the top of the titlebar frame to 3pixels from the bottom of the titlebar frame....large buttons without a bulky appearance was what I was going for This also benefitted giving more room on the titlebar for long title to show without being cutoff by the buttons. I also dinged the system icon (16x16 icon) looked out of place and left-justified the titlebar text, again for more room.Today is like the first day of spring around here
and as soon as the ibuprofen kicks in....it's off to clean up from the mess winter left behind.
TheD2JBug
Reply #19 Sunday, April 18, 2004 9:23 AM
Reply #19 Sunday, April 18, 2004 9:23 AM
looking not bad at all .. would it be possible to make the buttons stand out more though ?
Essencay
Reply #20 Monday, April 19, 2004 6:58 PM
Reply #20 Monday, April 19, 2004 6:58 PM
Hi....New Buttons
From left to right starting in the top row:
Cream, Orange, Purple
Green, Pink, Tan
Yellow
Which ones do you like best? Help me make a choice.....Thanks
From left to right starting in the top row:
Cream, Orange, Purple
Green, Pink, Tan
Yellow
Which ones do you like best? Help me make a choice.....Thanks
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Reply #1 Saturday, April 17, 2004 3:21 PM
What specific needs would this person need for a skin to be considered high visibility, like colors of backgrounds, buttons and fonts, and what minimum size font would be necessary.