York and the Intersection of Digital & Traditional Art

Accessibility

vs Accessibility

WORDS RICK WILLIAMS

In the Graphic Design Program at Lane Community College (LCC), you will hear accessible design mentioned with two different meanings. Sometimes it is about accessibility for Disabled People, and sometimes it’s about Responsive Web Design, making sure a website works on any device. This language obscures the ability for accessibility to mean accommodations for disabilities. (Open DyslexicAlta)

With our education, we are missing a few key aspects of design, from a lack of consideration for the needs of the disabled first. I am in the 25% of the population that has a disability. We, as designers, and even our clients, think of disability accessibility last; something specialized to disability-focused content. (Arial) As designers, the job isn’t just to create the content for the client. This content will be public for anyone to view and interact with. Have any of you ever given thought as to how to design something for a blind person? We learn color theory but not how to apply it to colorblind people. A font choice can mean the difference between someone being able to read the text or not. This article is an example of how to design for dyslexics. (Verdana)

In class you’ll hear stories of clients that want “minor edits,” that turn into an entire rework of the project. Our teachers told us clients often change their mind from where illustrations are on the page. Warned us to not make the same mistake they did when they wanted these changes right before the event happened. This can happen when you build a design that is inaccessible to disabled people. (Century Gothic) Simple things such as color choice, layout, typography, and photography can make or break accessibility. We could have been thinking of this all along if we didn’t devalue a quarter of all Americans. Accommodations are mandatory, and to honor 25% of the population, we should be taught these things. (Comic Sans)

With so many things to consider I focused on giving you examples of typography you can use in your designs. Each paragraph represents a font family you can choose that is accessible to dyslexics. If you’re not a fan of these typefaces there are a few features of type that increases accessible: • Sans-serif typefaces • Long ascenders & descenders • Line spacing at least 1.5 • Font size minimum 12-14pts • b d p q need to not be mirror images • Fonts need distinct letters, with Clear letter spacing Also all caps and underlining reduce readability Recommendations from bdatech.org (Myriad Pro)

VIRTUAL LEARNING

Pros, cons, and some thoughts on the future.

WORDS + DESIGN RACHAEL SMITH

There are pros and cons to every learning environment and communication method, and it’s no different when it comes to doing it virtually. Here are some things to consider as we look to the future after COVID-19 and what we have learned over our stint in the virtual realm.

chemicals or other lab-related equipment that the average person Others simply don’t have the won’t have on hand. As much as means or the resources to learn my 90’s-kid heart would love to away from a traditional classroom have a Bill Nye set up at home, it’s setting. There are also learning just not feasible. needs that aren’t being met in the virtual classroom, such as Despite technology having its those who require a credentialed limitations, virtual learning and special education teacher or communication definitely have other accommodations. Attending merit. We are learning a lot about Online courses can be difficult how to improve the way we for those who need a structured currently handle Online learning environment such as younger and communication from this students who have not yet learned forced experiment. I believe this how to organize and manage their could be a great option for a lot W hen it comes to virtual learning, students are getting resources that time. These students will find it difficult to stay focused and on task when attempting to learn in a virtual classroom. of people as long as we make it accessible to everyone. There is still a long way to go if we want to continue learning and were at one time unavailable or communicating Online after the unrealistic. For example guest Accessibility, while being a necessity has passed, and that speakers who would previously significant downfall when it comes goes beyond just the virtual part of have been unable to travel to just to learning isn’t the only issue. it all. Students who rely on school to do a thirty minute conversation Technology difficulties are also lunches, parents who have to leave with students, are now more likely issues we face when it comes to home to go to work, and hands-on to participate in these appearances virtual learning and communication, learning are just a few things that because it’s more reasonable to do having a meeting or lecture cut impact the ability to make virtual it via virtual communication. Books out mid sentence is something we learning universally accessible. and physical resources that have been digitized are also being used more frequently. Before COVID-19 students would only get access to digital resources when taking an Online college class. Being able to study art at the Louvre in Paris “ As much as my 90’s-kid heart would love to have a Bill Nye set up at home, it’s just not feasible. isn’t something a broke college student can typically do, so being able to take a virtual tour or study have all had to struggle with and I believe that the future for a a digitized ancient text from your work around. In some instances more accessible virtual learning computer wherever you happen technology reaches its limitations. and communication method is to be physically, is a powerful It is difficult and sometimes promising. COVID-19 has been hard resource and opportunity. impossible to teach certain for the majority of the population in subjects Online, and hands-on so many ways, and it has also been While there are some things about learning is often a necessity for a learning experience. If we take virtual learning that are great, certain areas of study or degrees. all of our hardships and struggle there are some other perspectives Wheel thrown ceramics, screen over the past year and use them that should be taken into account. printing, drawing live models, are to better our world for others, the Not everyone lives in a city where all hard to replicate in the virtual future just might be a little brighter. Internet access is readily available. classroom. Science labs often have

Life Changes

An Adult’s Perspective

WORDS + DESIGN + PHOTO MANIPULATION DEB HANSON

At the time, it sounded like a great idea. Start my life over by getting a degree in my 50’s, completely changing the direction of my future in a new and unknown industry. At 54 I decided I wanted the education that I had blown off as a teenager, and I wanted to be a graphic designer.

The last time I went to college, straight out of high school, there were no cell phones, no laptops or tablets. The library was 100% books, and you had to not only know how to use a card file, but also how to use the Dewey Decimal System. We carried textbooks that weighed a gazillion pounds each, made copious notes, and instructors used overhead or opaque projectors. Essays were drafted by hand, then typed on an electric typewriter, if you had one. If not, you paid someone else to type it for you and prayed their typing skills were better than yours. I lasted one year, barely.

Then life happened, marriage, family, home, jobs, divorce, cats. The time was never right to return to college. One day I woke up and knew the time was now, and that I wanted to be a graphic designer. I had no idea what graphic designers actually did beyond making pretty greeting cards, but I knew my local college has a respected program. Going into this I thought I was independent, strong, committed, and motivated, completely prepared for what college would throw at me.

I was an idiot.

With my typical determination, I jumped through the hoops, having no real idea what I was doing, and started my first term at community college. By the end of the first week, I thought I’d lost my mind. I’m too old for this crap! Talk about culture shock. From the business world to the academic, from experienced co-workers to kids barely old enough to vote. I’d been working in the business world for over 30 years. I felt like the poo in a punchbowl full of bright, quick, perky fruit slices. I stood out just a bit.

Many students saw me as a middle-aged mother with empty nest syndrome. Others assumed that I was a stay-at-home mom, perhaps a short, fat, June Cleaver; now ready to enter the working world in my “twilight years”. One young student even welcomed me to “the real world” my first term. Based on physical appearances, these are all valid assumptions. I am a middle-class, middle-aged (ouch), middle-of-the-road, white woman living in middle-America. I had the burning desire to wear

a tee announcing, “I ride motorcycles!” to prove I wasn’t the soccer mom they all thought I was. My confidence died on day 3, I buried it in the backyard with the gerbils.

Now, I’m a few short weeks from graduation, and I still think I wasn’t entirely sane when I started this journey. I was terrified, alone, financially insecure, and drifting when I made the decision to get my degree. I’ve had health problems, car problems, financial problems, tension migraines, intense work stress, and most of my family believe I’ve dropped off the face of the earth. I lost my job due to the pandemic, ran out of support and benefits, and have no idea where life is going to take me. Like everyone else today, I live in a bubble and communicate through a computer screen. But somehow, life has never been better.

Was it worth it? Absolutely. Not just for the degree, although that is pretty damn cool, but for the learning experience brought about by change. Completely changing my career, developing an all-new knowledge base and sphere of friends, has without a doubt been one of the most enriching experiences of my life. What makes it even better is having the maturity and life experience to truly appreciate these changes. Change is scary but change with the life experience of someone in their 50’s is awesome, and I can’t wait to see what happens next!

“I thought I’d lost my mind.”