Alternate Style Sheets for Accessibility

  • [Advertisement verbiage removed] To improve the site for Round Two (to be judged at SXSW-Interactive) we have a punch list of items the judges found lacking. Among them:

    Alternate Style Sheets (10 points). Provide at least two style sheets in addition to the default that can be conveniently selected by users, for example, to change font size, contrast, color schemes, printing, or displaying on small devices. Any page where the layout fails with any alternate style sheet or where the selection process fails is an error.

    HeadwayThemes confirmed that they do not have any facility for such alternate style sheets (though the theme itself is is highly responsive), but I thought it worthwhile to ask here if you can please suggest a WP plugin or a another way to allow for the above customization.

    We are currently using HeadwayThemes v 3.3. and hesitate to upgrade, lest we lose the theme customization that was added to enable the new technology of ARIA landmarks and roles.

Viewing 9 replies - 1 through 9 (of 9 total)
  • Andrew Nevins

    (@anevins)

    WCLDN 2018 Contributor | Volunteer support

    Why not just use a Custom CSS Manager plugin or create a Child Theme?

    Thread Starter ingenuity

    (@ingenuity)

    I looked for “Custom CSS Manager” and couldn’t find one that lets the user select a style they like. I also looked for MANY variations such as “User Style Select” “Alt Stylesheet” “CSS Alternative Select”
    Any suggestions?

    Andrew Nevins

    (@anevins)

    WCLDN 2018 Contributor | Volunteer support

    Why do you want users to select stylesheets in particular? Messing with the theme’s files is not a good idea.

    Thread Starter ingenuity

    (@ingenuity)

    Andrew, I wonder myself, since the theme is completely responsive. But the site is in an international competition (https://www.knowbility.org/v/open-air/) to make it fully accessible to people with disabilities, and having alt style sheets will earn it 10 points. We already tested it for contrast (it did very well), but maybe the judges think that offering alternative colors would make it better for some users who have vision impairment. Some themes come with alt stylesheet options built in (HeadwayThemes does not) and impaired users may be accustomed to looking for a box which puts them in greater control of their viewing experience. I’m amazed by how much extra work goes into making a site accessible. The judges forms came back after round One with 38 points that were being judged. There’s a lot to learn from the competition and I encourage others to join OpenAir in future years.

    Have you considered some of the theme switcher plugins? To the best of my knowledge, there isn’t a stylesheet switcher plugin currently available (trying to build one is on my very long ToDo list)..

    Thread Starter ingenuity

    (@ingenuity)

    esmi, Thank you. That was what I needed, I just was calling it the wrong thing.

    My plug-in, WP Accessibility (https://www.ads-software.com/extend/plugins/wp-accessibility/) includes toggles to switch on high contrast, and large text modes; the stylesheets for both modes can be customized, and the options aren’t exclusive (e.g., you can use both options simultaneously).

    That may be an option for you with a lower threshold of implementation than a theme switcher.

    Thread Starter ingenuity

    (@ingenuity)

    Joe Dolson, Wow! That was just what we needed. We had found and were using your plugin, but didn’t see that option. Thank you! I just rated it 5 stars and favorited it.

    It’s a new option with version 1.2; so it may not have existed when you first installed the plug-in.

    Thanks!

Viewing 9 replies - 1 through 9 (of 9 total)
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