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Results of Questionnaire Accessibility Icon Set - Review (Approval?)
The results of this questionnaire are available to anybody. In addition, answers are sent to the following email address: shawn@w3.org
This questionnaire was open from 2022-09-08 to 2022-09-10.
3 answers have been received.
Jump to results for question:
- About the Survey and Review
- (1.) hand icon
- (2.) speech icon
- (3.) brain icon
- (4.) eye icon
- (6.) body icons
- (5.) ear icon options
1. About the Survey and Review
We are near to finalizing a set of 5 + 1 icons for accessibility. Please see background and the proposed icons in Accessibility Icons for Review / Accessibility Icon Set from W3C WAI. (later we'll pretty up that page)
We invite EOWG participants, WAI Team, W3C Communications Team, and others to review these icons before we finalize them.
Please see the other comments in this survey results and comment on other's input, if you have reactions.
Details
| Responder | About the Survey and Review |
|---|---|
| Shadi Abou-Zahra | |
| Shawn Lawton Henry | |
| Yakim van Zuijlen |
2. (1.) hand icon
summary | by responder | by choice
Summary
| Choice | All responders |
|---|---|
| Results | |
| I support this icon as is | 2 |
| I'm OK with this icon as is, yet have some issues or suggestions below | |
| I support this icon only with the changes below | |
| I do not support this icon design because of the comments below | |
| I abstain (not vote) and accept the decisions of EOWG, WAI Team, and W3 Comm Team |
(1 response didn't contain an answer to this question)
Skip to view by choice.
View by responder
Details
| Responder | (1.) hand icon | Comments |
|---|---|---|
| Shadi Abou-Zahra |
|
|
| Shawn Lawton Henry | ||
| Yakim van Zuijlen |
|
Many other icons signal some sort of action (eye = looking, ear = listening, mouth with waves = speech), an alternative version could be an icon which has a pointing finger that touches a surface (analogous to interacting with something). An example of what I mean can be found in the touch_app icon in Material Design: https://material.io/resources/icons/?search=touch_app&icon=touch_app&style=baseline That said, I can also see why a more general icon for a hand might be more broadly applicable and a shorthand for other physical features. |
View by choice
| Choice | Responders |
|---|---|
| I support this icon as is |
|
| I'm OK with this icon as is, yet have some issues or suggestions below | |
| I support this icon only with the changes below | |
| I do not support this icon design because of the comments below | |
| I abstain (not vote) and accept the decisions of EOWG, WAI Team, and W3 Comm Team |
3. (2.) speech icon
summary | by responder | by choice
Summary
| Choice | All responders |
|---|---|
| Results | |
| I support this icon as is | 1 |
| I'm OK with this icon as is, yet have some issues or suggestions below | |
| I support this icon only with the changes below | |
| I do not support this icon design because of the comments below | 1 |
| I abstain (not vote) and accept the decisions of EOWG, WAI Team, and W3 Comm Team |
(1 response didn't contain an answer to this question)
Skip to view by choice.
View by responder
Details
| Responder | (2.) speech icon | Comments |
|---|---|---|
| Shadi Abou-Zahra |
|
I note the comment "waves should be solid lines, not outlines" but not sure what that would look like. I'm concerned that the lines would get even more emphasis than they current have, which would make the icon worse in my view. Side note: an inherent issue with that icon, is that it is the only one that presents the action of a body part rather than the body part itself. Specifically, it represents "sound waves" as opposed to "hand", "eye", "ear", etc. Maybe we can consider a representation of the mouth/lips from the front rather than the complete head from the side? |
| Shawn Lawton Henry | Follow up on Shadi's comment, here is an example of a mouth: https://i7.pngguru.com/preview/954/94/362/computer-icons-lip-mouth-png-save-mouth.jpg | |
| Yakim van Zuijlen |
|
While I see Shadi's point of this icon being an outlier by having it represent some sort of action, I think this icon does a better job of representing the concept of speech. I connect a picture of a mouth more literally with a physical feature of someones face, instead of a depiction of the idea of speech. I also wonder if a mouth icon may have different meanings in some cultures. |
View by choice
| Choice | Responders |
|---|---|
| I support this icon as is |
|
| I'm OK with this icon as is, yet have some issues or suggestions below | |
| I support this icon only with the changes below | |
| I do not support this icon design because of the comments below |
|
| I abstain (not vote) and accept the decisions of EOWG, WAI Team, and W3 Comm Team |
4. (3.) brain icon
summary | by responder | by choice
Summary
| Choice | All responders |
|---|---|
| Results | |
| I support this icon as is | 1 |
| I'm OK with this icon as is, yet have some issues or suggestions below | 1 |
| I support this icon only with the changes below | |
| I do not support this icon design because of the comments below | |
| I abstain (not vote) and accept the decisions of EOWG, WAI Team, and W3 Comm Team |
(1 response didn't contain an answer to this question)
Skip to view by choice.
View by responder
Details
| Responder | (3.) brain icon | Comments |
|---|---|---|
| Shadi Abou-Zahra |
|
While anatomically more correct, it looks a little oversized and odd to me (eg. I ask myself "where do the eyes go"?). But again, I was never good in biology, so don't feel strongly. I mildly prefer the current icon or maybe a compromise. |
| Shawn Lawton Henry | ||
| Yakim van Zuijlen |
|
View by choice
| Choice | Responders |
|---|---|
| I support this icon as is |
|
| I'm OK with this icon as is, yet have some issues or suggestions below |
|
| I support this icon only with the changes below | |
| I do not support this icon design because of the comments below | |
| I abstain (not vote) and accept the decisions of EOWG, WAI Team, and W3 Comm Team |
5. (4.) eye icon
summary | by responder | by choice
Summary
| Choice | All responders |
|---|---|
| Results | |
| I support this icon as is | 1 |
| I'm OK with this icon as is, yet have some issues or suggestions below | 1 |
| I support this icon only with the changes below | |
| I do not support this icon design because of the comments below | |
| I abstain (not vote) and accept the decisions of EOWG, WAI Team, and W3 Comm Team |
(1 response didn't contain an answer to this question)
Skip to view by choice.
View by responder
Details
| Responder | (4.) eye icon | Comments |
|---|---|---|
| Shadi Abou-Zahra |
|
I like this new style. However, on its own, I find it somewhat difficult to recognize as an eye (if I imagine this used on a web page without the other icons). I don't feel strongly, just raising this to see if it resonates with others. |
| Shawn Lawton Henry | ||
| Yakim van Zuijlen |
|
View by choice
| Choice | Responders |
|---|---|
| I support this icon as is |
|
| I'm OK with this icon as is, yet have some issues or suggestions below |
|
| I support this icon only with the changes below | |
| I do not support this icon design because of the comments below | |
| I abstain (not vote) and accept the decisions of EOWG, WAI Team, and W3 Comm Team |
6. (6.) body icons
summary | by responder | by choice
Note that the plan is to have 2 versions available. If used with the others, we'd use the outline version. We might use the solid version stand-alone in different contexts.
Summary
| Choice | All responders |
|---|---|
| Results | |
| I support this icon as is | 2 |
| I'm OK with this icon as is, yet have some issues or suggestions below | |
| I support this icon only with the changes below | |
| I do not support this icon design because of the comments below | |
| I abstain (not vote) and accept the decisions of EOWG, WAI Team, and W3 Comm Team |
(1 response didn't contain an answer to this question)
Skip to view by choice.
View by responder
Details
| Responder | (6.) body icons | Comments |
|---|---|---|
| Shadi Abou-Zahra |
|
I much prefer the outline, and am concerned that the filled-in icon would come over too strongly. On the other hand, I have not seen the filled-in icon and may change my mind. |
| Shawn Lawton Henry | ||
| Yakim van Zuijlen |
|
On the usage of outline vs. solid: the solid body icon is way more legible at small sizes. I should note that the outline icons all suffer a bit in legibility at smaller sizes. If they're only intended to be used at larger sizes—to really make them stand out on a page—it may not be much of a problem. But if these would be used in a list with 16px or 24px icons they would be particularly hard to understand. Using a thicker outline could mitigate this. |
View by choice
| Choice | Responders |
|---|---|
| I support this icon as is |
|
| I'm OK with this icon as is, yet have some issues or suggestions below | |
| I support this icon only with the changes below | |
| I do not support this icon design because of the comments below | |
| I abstain (not vote) and accept the decisions of EOWG, WAI Team, and W3 Comm Team |
7. (5.) ear icon options
Three options are currently available. In hopes that we don't need a second follow-up survey, any of the three "Yes" options indicates your support. Please do select "Yes and prefer" or "Yes, but prefer not" as relevant. Comments welcome to clarify your position, and if needed, refine another iteration.
Summary
| Choice | All responders | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| No | Yes, but prefer not | Yes | Yes, and prefer | |
| a. ear original | 2 | 1 | ||
| b. ear option 2 single inside line | 1 | 1 | 1 | |
| c. ear option 3 multiple inside lines | 2 | 1 | ||
Ranking of choices in order of least unacceptable/most prefered:
| Ranks | All responders: |
|---|---|
| 1 | a. ear original |
| 2 | b. ear option 2 single inside line |
| 3 | c. ear option 3 multiple inside lines |
Details
| Responder | a. ear original | b. ear option 2 single inside line | c. ear option 3 multiple inside lines | Comments |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Shadi Abou-Zahra | Yes, and prefer | Yes, but prefer not | No | 5.c has too many lines for my taste. Reminds me of my own yucky hairs in the ear ;-) 5.b looks a little odd but I could live with it. |
| Shawn Lawton Henry | Yes | Yes | Yes | |
| Yakim van Zuijlen | Yes | Yes, and prefer | No | I don't feel strongly about either of the first two options. I slightly prefer B because it's more enclosed shape and geometric lines make it look more iconic instead of a realistic illustration. |
More details on responses
- Shadi Abou-Zahra: last responded on 31, August 2020 at 09:32 (UTC)
- Shawn Lawton Henry: last responded on 2, September 2020 at 17:47 (UTC)
- Yakim van Zuijlen: last responded on 10, September 2020 at 23:22 (UTC)
Compact view of the results / list of email addresses of the responders
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