JD on EP

I felt Zeldman was actually rather kind to the site; it's an appalling mess.

Firstly, you have to find the link to the 'accessible' English version, which doesn't look at all link-like (I assumed it was a statement). Flags (in black and white until you roll over them) are used to represent languages (never a good idea) for the 'inaccessible' versions.

You then get a full-screen popup, and once in are treated to a slightly clumsy, cramped interface that makes the text as hard to read as possible.

The site will have a pitiful search engine presence, no one can link to specific pieces of content, and it's just crazy for a writer to have a site that treats the presentation of their words with such contempt. Opting for a hybrid Flash/XHTML site (Flash for lots of great interactive elements, XHTML for text content and core navigation) would have surely produced far better results?

I love Flash and use it regularly, but sites like J.K.Rowling's make it harder for me to get certain clients (e.g. government departments) to even consider using Flash for anything.

... and if Jeffrey had made *those* arguments we'd be having a different conversation now, yes...? ;-)

I must be completely missing something here..

Zeldman points out that the site features the following:

"keyboard navigation, accessibility menu, ability to enlarge text and other content as user desires, ability to pause movement, sound glossary, ability to turn off background sounds"

I haven't found any of these features in the Flash site, and i was really, really searching for them (or is it because i'm using the fp8 public beta?).

Instead i found a accessibility/usability nightmare. Very well hidden "back" links ("aaah! i have to click the pencil to get back!"), no mouse wheel support, no back button support, non-standard scrollbars (click on slider background moves thumb to absolute position rather than triggering a page-down/-up), etc etc.

Fortunately, the site features an alternative "text-only" version that's both usable and accessible (i don't know if i like the design though - isn't a black background and yellow text supposed to hurt the eyes? - and it seems it's only available in English language).

Has Jakob Nielsen already seen this site?

Holy! I found it! As I'm German, I was clicking the German flag. I didn't even bother looking further down at the "main site - accessibility enabled" link.

I like the "Dog barking" text that blinks occasionally in the upper right corner.

heh, I *knew* I stuffed too much in that single paragraph to keep it more accessible...! :D

Claus, I'm not interested in pursuing a site critique -- sometimes I'll do that, but in this case I questioned the meaning of several discrete phrases. Not the specific implementation, but the general capability that was critiqued.

... or do you agree with Jeffrey that "movement and background sounds" are intrinsically "accessibility problems", and the rest? If so, then can you help me understand how a person might reach such a conclusion...?

tx, jd

I don't think the part about "movement and background sounds" is his main point (to answer your question, movement of course may pose accessibility problems, if misused). The main point of the post is that it obviously takes a lot of experts to get an accessible flash website done. I was just adding that i personally think they could have done a better job.

I think the site, and its deliberately mysterious interface, is brilliant and well designed. Although I have the utmost respect for Zeldman, he misses the point when stating that it's difficult to navigate. Like the wonderful Harry Potter series, it's an opportunity to explore a shadowy, unfamiliar world that's concealed from Muggles, as well at to visit the private workspace of a respected author, as well as to seek out secrets about.

It's a site that's attractive, fun and informative for both children and adults - the navigation is part of the fun and surprise, and it stimulates creative thinking - you explore, solve puzzles, and feel like you're part of both the wizarding world and a welcome visitor to J.K. Rowling's home.

While having only a pure CSS version of Rowling's site might be more "accessible" according to the Jakob Neilsonized defination of what a site should be, for those who are not handicapped, it would be a far less exciting and enriching experience without a Flash version. The text only version is an excellent way to accomodate those who cannot, or do not want, to enjoy the Flash experience.

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