The icons for status in Notes 7 have changed from colored to non-colored. Everyone who has seen the new icons in our organization considers them a distinct un-improvement. It is ok to change the icon, but removing the color was a bad idea.
Anyone else feel similarly? We would vote for adding green/yellow back, or just going back to the old, more visible icons. (Besides, there are so many things to improve with Sametime, why mess with stuff that was fine?)
Opinions please.
Subject: One likely reason…
…using colors alone to convey different states doesn’t work well for color-blind users and violates “Section 508” Accessibility requirements. The new icons have more distict shape and colors to address this.
Thomas - IBM
Subject: who asked Lotus to change Sametime icons in Notes 7?
I believe they were changed to be consistent with Lotus Workplace, which is fair enough, then the question becomes why didn’t they change the Sametime connect client too.
Which is an even more important question if, it is as Thomas suggests for ADA.
Subject: RE: who asked Lotus to change Sametime icons in Notes 7?
Okay, I don’t use Workplace, so I don’t know about that aspect. But you don’t handicap one set of users to accommodate another – and the colors were a BIG help to me. Besides, the original icons were both shape AND color, which would seem to be more accommodating than going to non-color.
Lotus/IBM, I have some visual impairment. COLOR helped me instantly see who was available, who wasn’t, and who didn’t want to be disturbed. Working with merely an icon shape will be HARDER for me. Luckily, my company has no plans to move up to 7 soon – shoot, we still haven’t gotten everyone on 6.5 yet!