I find it interesting that what has piqued my interest most so far is that this book is not bound well. This isn't a problem for digital texts, but I think it speaks to how crucial every extraneous aspect of publishing really is. The font choice, screen colors and column layout will certainly appeal to the reader or detract from the readability.
On page 6, Wysocki states, "There is little or nothing, for example, that encourages someone composing a Web page to think about how and why, in her place and time, her choices of color and typeface an words and photograph and spatial arrangement shape the relationship she is constructing with her audience..." -- I cannot state that I agree with this as much time, effort and study has gone into the readability and accessibility of web pages. (see http://dotgov.com/2010/04/accessibility-hack-3-testing-colours-to-enhance-readability/ for just one example). I also know that visual text is crucial to yearbook publications as well.
I agree with you that the visual aspects of website design are crucial components of the ethos of the writer/designer. Perhaps Wysocki was not suggesting that visual components are not important, but that there is no stringent publication process or vetting that occurs in web publishing? In other words, there is no one reminding an author to think through those issues. As exasperating as this seems, I think it's still a terribly common problem. Haven't we all encountered a website that is impossible to read or navigate because of layout (or lack thereof) issues?
ReplyDeleteThe dotgov.com link is anachronistic relative to the moment Wysocki is writing from, right? WNM was published in 2004, which means this was probably written in 2003. In the passage you quoted from, she is listing a series of lacks, and while you are right that much important attention has been given to accessibility and readability in the past eight years, Wysocki was more likely responding to a condition of 2003 moreso than 2011.
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