Accessibility of CaptainCapitalism.com
The purpose of a web site is to provide some form of information--whether it is in resource, entertainment or news form. Text is the easiest way to guarantee accessibility of a web site to people with technical or physical disabilities (ACCESSIBILITY). Even though text has the ability to download faster than images and there are programs designed to enlarge texts or read text, it is not one hundred percent effective all the time. The forum web page and blog web page uses the most text on the Captain Capitalism web site. However, text on the American flags that serve as links can be difficult to read. The user must roll her curser over the flags to display the text, which can be difficult for users with disabilities. The text appears squashed together, again causing difficulty for users with visual disabilities. Another issue of text problems is graphic images blocking the text. For example, when the user scrolls over the icon for the store, the image for the video "Cup of Democracy" blocks the description for the icon.
Another issue the site has with accessibility is its use of multimedia. Although the sites audience includes creators (i.e. animators) that does not ensure they will be working with a high-speed connection. Users with a dial-up connection will be unable to view the videos in its intended format. Once the user views the video, there is no link to return to the home page. Instead, the user must use the back function or type the web address in again. The video web page is not the only page within the site that has this fault. This does not allow the user to control how she wants to navigate through the page (FREESTANDING PAGES).
Sarah Morgan
CMS 3710
Updated: 11 November 2008