[p2pu-dev] UI commentary for new design

[B. Maura Townsend]

I put a comment on the new mockup seen at http://p2pu.brianloves.it/
in the wiki, under the new design's page, and it seems that it's not
really the best place to discuss UI issues, as I got brushed off.

My first comment was this (I was keeping it short because of the venue):

"Can we try for better contrast in the menus? Also, perhaps swapping
the background color and text color when highlighted would be better,
usability-wise."

Unfortunately, this was interpreted as being reference to the severe
contrast issues that I and a number of others have noticed with the
current site's styles.

A more in-depth analysis of the contrast issues with the current
revision of the new design mockup :

"The higher contrast of the black pinstripe texture against the white
background draws the eye away from the lower contrast menuing, even if
it is not negatively affecting the main content. Would it be possible
to make the black pinstripe lower contrast? Perhaps a gray about the
current color of the un-highlighted menu text? That would increase the
usability without lowering the overall visual impact.

"The menus at the top are fairly low contrast, light bluish gray
against white, with the eye drawn away by the high-contrast
background.The highlight is good, with decent contrast, though I'm
worried about accessibility for colorblind users. The text in this
menu should really be at least as dark a gray as the text in the
captions shown in the main content areas.

"The menus at the bottom are low contrast unless highlighted, medium
gray on medium-luminance colors. The highlight is so subtle as to be
lost on many viewers. I'd propose making the text darker on these
menus and making the highlight a swap of text and background color. I
realize that this is the same shade as the dark gray in the content
areas, but that is negated by the medium-luminance background color
bars."

I'm concerned that I may not be commenting in the correct venue. Is
there a UI design team? Is there a specific venue for discussion of
the new UI? I know there isn't really anyone looking at usability
besides myself and one or two others, and I've seen no comments from
them.

Thanks,

BMT