Archive for February 2009

Accessible signage: A boondoggle in the making    (2009.02.25)

Or so I suspect.

The Ontario Realty Corp., which, despite its grand name, manages only provincial-government buildings, sent out a questionnaire recently about accessible signage in buildings. Apparently they’re trying to research some kind of standard for same.

My suspicions were immediately raised by the fact that the whole process was being done in secret. It seems obvious to me that only incumbent organizations like the CNIB were being canvassed. CNIB wouldn’t be the only one, of course, but they would be the organization viewed with the most credibility on issues of blindness – about which they have exactly none when it comes to accessibility of signage. The entire “Ckear Print” fiasco barely scratches the surface of it; I have an entire folder of documentation on how the CNIB and GO Transit bungled GO’s new signage standard, for example.

So here’s what I think is going to happen: These incumbent organizations will pretend there isn’t enough research on the topic, ignore the findings of whatever research they did manage to dig up, and issue counterfactual and baseless advice for this upcoming “standard.” By coïncidence, the advice will be to use whatever fonts come free with Windows NT – and only fonts that appear high up in an alphabetized Font menu. That means Arial.

There’ll be lots of Braille, too, despite the fact that Braille-and-raised-letter wall signage is completely useless to blind and low-vision people. (Blind people don’t know the sign exists; low-vision people can barely spot the smudge on the wall. Braille-and-raised wall signage exists to make sighted people, who can walk right over to it and rub their fingers across it, feel good about doing something for blind people.) (more…)

Playing    (2009.02.24)

‘Save the Males’    (2009.02.24)

Not quite “Who wants crème brûlée?” but getting there. (Also: How to boss around a group of Cub Scouts.)

‘Detail in Typography’    (2009.02.24)

Pronounce this name (HOLDS UP SIGN READING “JOST HOCHULI”)

‘Curious Jörg’    (2009.02.23)

Was dead crypto-fascist Austrian Jörg Haider also homosexualist? Well, no. But whose company did he fancy?

Which former Gawker subject is doing homosexualist porn?    (2009.02.22)

That would be a former Corcoran realtor named Mike. Now, Mike what, exactly?

Google takes candy from babies    (2009.02.22)

How badly do you want a laptop and a T-shirt? Willing to “doodle” for it?

Special warning to the Krit Kidz    (2009.02.21)

Do you think we should be training design writers to talk down to the “masses”?