Text Links in Lieu of Image Buttons for Comment Commands in the Lynx Site Scheme

[lady_angelina]

Title
Text Links in Lieu of Image Buttons for Comment Commands in the Lynx Site Scheme

Short, concise description of the idea
For comment pages on the Lynx site scheme, I would like to have text links instead of the image buttons/icons for the comment commands in the comment headers.

Full description of the ideaBecause of the faster loading speeds,

Comments

[azurelunatic]

There is alt text on the icons in the Lynx site scheme, but the screen/unscreen (and freeze/unfreeze) does not change when the comment's status changes, even though obviously something different is done to serve up those comments with the correct image. So that at least should get addressed.

The shade of grey for the comment header for a screened/visible comment changes, but that does not seem like a sufficient difference to me.

Changing the alt text on the buttons to be contextually correct for screened/visible and frozen/unfrozen comments will make a difference to anyone using a screen reader or other browser with no images. I do not think that removing the images would make much of a difference to these users, since they would not be viewing the images in any case.

I would want to make sure to get feedback from sighted but visually impaired people using the Lynx site scheme, to see if a text link would be more helpful than an image, or if the images are helpful.

Thank you for bringing this up!

[lady_angelina]

Alt text almost never displays on my mobile phone's browser anyway, even when images are disabled. Instead, only the browser's image placeholders show up.

Maybe this could be a toggle-able setting in Viewing Options, so as to take other folks into account who may prefer the icons for the reasons you gave?

Agreed on the shade of gray -- it's a subtle difference... too subtle for me to notice when I'm not paying enough attention. ;)

Hmmm... *Thinks about poking a certain someone on her Friends list about this who just might fit the bill*

Sure thing! :D

[leora]

That would be me. I'm fine with this change. I kind of like the pictures, but I think mainly because I am used to them more than anything else. However, telling when a comment is screened is very hard to do. I think there are enough advantages to text that having to get used to the change is worth it.

The only real issue I can think of is the general dislike of change and that it's hard to get an idea of the opinion of most lynx users on the matter. But you can't avoid all changes just because someone might prefer things otherwise.

(fine, I'll log in first, since I apparently can't prove that I am human to comment otherwise)

[lady_angelina]

I don't mind change per se as long as it's something that doesn't impose new inconveniences that are hard to live with. Besides, what if this were simply a toggle option under Viewing Options, where you could opt to have text instead of icons? That would leave it up to the user.

Gotta <3 ReCAPTCHA. XD

Speaking of which, you have reminded me of yet another suggestion I need to submit in the very near future: implementing an alternative (or alternatives) to ReCAPTCHA for devices, etc., that can't support it. Some folks require it even for non-anonymous comments, etc.

[leora]

Oh, I pretty much always am in favor of giving users more options. As long as the option isn't overly prone to letting people shoot themselves in the foot, and this isn't.

I was trying to login with my comment, but apparently even putting in a username and password didn't keep me from needing to do the captcha. Usually I can do them, but I was just totally failing at them this time. The two words aspect made it much harder, as it wasn't clear which word was first (one was on the bottom left and the other on the top right, dividing the two characteristics that we use for word ordering).