Julieanne King talks about age-related reduction in visual acuity

Julieanne King tells us that super thin, font strokes, really, really skinny lettering, and using like a medium gray font color cause a problem for a lot of users on the web. Thanks to Tenon for sponsoring the transcript for this episode. Transcript Nic Hi, I'm Nic Steenhout. And you're listening to the accessibility rules soundbites, a series of short podcasts where disabled people explain their impairment, and what barriers they encounter on the web. Nic I want to thank Tenon for sponsoring the transcript for this episode, Tenon provide accessibility as a service. They offer testing, training and tooling to help fix accessibility, fast. Today, I'm talking with Julieanne King. Hi, Julieanne, how are you? Julieanne Hi, thanks for having me back. Again. Nic I'm very happy. You had some interesting things to say late last time we spoke and I think you have some interesting things to say today. Last time, you spoke a little bit about ADHD and high sensitivity. So for the purpose of this episode, what is your disability or impairment? Julieanne Age related reduction in visual acuity, I need reading glasses and more contrast. Nic Okay, so you would say this is not just like, everybody, I mean, so many people just need glasses. You're talking about having this as really reaching impairment level of condition? Julieanne On the web, yes, it is reaching that place. For many people as we age. Nic Tell me a little bit about the greatest barrier on the web related to that, then. Julieanne Super thin, font strokes, really, really skinny lettering, and using like a medium gray font color. Because even when you use assistive technology to try and increase the color, it's not always successful, because websites are not coded for it. And they don't let me make that adjustment. So I can actually read the article, read the news. Read the instructions, the information I need from that particular site. Nic Funny thing I've noticed, especially with really thin fonts is that they often technically meet color contrast requirements from the web content accessibility guidelines, but because they're so thin, they just blend in the background and become so hard to read. Julieanne Oh, yeah, even even magnified, I struggle with it. And I'll zoom in to 200%. And still, I'm struggling and the shade is... Well, for me, I really like if I'm looking at a white screen, I want black font, because even if it's a dark gray, when I get done reading, I am visually and physically fatigued, from straining to try and make it out. It is very, very effortful. And I have to step away from the computer for a while and you know, I work on the computer. Julieanne It is it is a real problem, this trend of very thin letters and you know, again, that gray font, and they tend towards a medium font are the ones that are the hardest. Nic What's the solution here, though? Because you have... You state that you prefer black text on white background, but that can be harsh on the eyes of other people who may prefer a dark gray on white or... Julieanne Exactly. Nic Other color combinations. So how do we how do we reconcile your needs with somebody else's needs? Julieanne Thicker font strokes, thicker letters, if they're thicker, if it's not so thin, where the colors color sort of bleeds out on the edges, where the dark part is just one pixel right up the middle? You know, the thicker fonts are helpful that way. And sometimes I can make those changes with my browser with my operating system. And sometimes I can't. And it's the ones that I can't that are super, super fatiguing, where it's something I absolutely have to consume. Nic This goes back to give users control over what they need, right? Julieanne Yes, it does. Nic Yeah. So what would be one message you would have for designers and developers? Julieanne Allow for user control, allow us to do high con