| 1 |
Hello, |
| 2 |
I wanted to bring up some discussion about a point that struck me |
| 3 |
recently as needing attention. Our themes, or the themes included with |
| 4 |
applications. |
| 5 |
|
| 6 |
|
| 7 |
Things to think about when doing a "Gentoo" theme for inclusion, or |
| 8 |
*shudder* default : |
| 9 |
Usability. |
| 10 |
This means both in the motoric sense, all widgets should be obvious |
| 11 |
(Good contrast value) and shouldn't be too tightly spaced (preventing |
| 12 |
misclicks by motorically impaiered people.. Just about any person who |
| 13 |
hasn't been sitting at a computer for a year ;) |
| 14 |
|
| 15 |
This also includes things like a good sized font (relatively chosen) |
| 16 |
-without- any dropshadow or other obscuring (blotching) additions that |
| 17 |
make it harder to read. |
| 18 |
|
| 19 |
|
| 20 |
|
| 21 |
Backgrounds: |
| 22 |
Make sure to not use a high contrast background, details |
| 23 |
are ok, but they shouldn't go in White against a Black background for |
| 24 |
example, and try to avoid large areas of (again) intense |
| 25 |
white/yellow/lightblue colours. Mainly because CRT monitors are |
| 26 |
lightemitting, and highlighted sharp contrast values will hurt the eyes |
| 27 |
of a user after a few hours. |
| 28 |
|
| 29 |
Backgrounds: |
| 30 |
In cases where the background "shines through" (GDM launchers for |
| 31 |
example) its important that no details in the background are placed so |
| 32 |
they obscure the transparent things in the foreground. Big changes |
| 33 |
(like the ede of an object or suchlike) should not be placed so that the |
| 34 |
things in the foreground can be affected by them. |
| 35 |
|
| 36 |
Neither should patterned areas be used as backgrounds for textlabels. |
| 37 |
|
| 38 |
|
| 39 |
Widgets: |
| 40 |
Things like close/maximize/minimize icons on windows should be distinct |
| 41 |
in some way (visible) and the icon representation in them should |
| 42 |
preferrably span as much of the "hot" area as possible, as a user will |
| 43 |
try to click the icon whenever possible, and will find small |
| 44 |
representations difficult, even if the "hot" area is larger. |
| 45 |
|
| 46 |
it's also important to try and have some spacing here, lest you'll end |
| 47 |
up with people closing windows instead of maximizing them, and so on. |
| 48 |
|
| 49 |
|
| 50 |
|
| 51 |
Togglestates: |
| 52 |
For things like gtk+ and Qt, its also important that other widgets are |
| 53 |
usable, that means trying to avoid the classic gtk+ toggle areas (small |
| 54 |
grey thing thats either up or down, and pretty hard to notice which |
| 55 |
state they are in) which were only saved by having a larger area around |
| 56 |
the widget clickable. |
| 57 |
|
| 58 |
-- |
| 59 |
|
| 60 |
|
| 61 |
okay, I'm by no means more than an armchair expert on this area, except |
| 62 |
for having both motorical problems and some eyeproblems myself, so I've |
| 63 |
been "bitten" by this in the past. hopefully this will prove enough |
| 64 |
materials to make developers think a bit on how the themes they add look |
| 65 |
:-) |
| 66 |
|
| 67 |
|
| 68 |
Other than that, I'd really like it if all windowmanagers and Desktops |
| 69 |
would include a "usable" theme per default. Most do so already, but for |
| 70 |
those with more sensational looks, it could be something that we could |
| 71 |
provide as an add-on so its avaiable. |
| 72 |
|
| 73 |
|
| 74 |
|
| 75 |
.... let the flames erupt ;) |
| 76 |
|
| 77 |
|
| 78 |
//Spider |
| 79 |
|
| 80 |
|
| 81 |
|
| 82 |
|
| 83 |
-- |
| 84 |
begin .signature |
| 85 |
This is a .signature virus! Please copy me into your .signature! |
| 86 |
See Microsoft KB Article Q265230 for more information. |
| 87 |
end |
Archives