Rosita (she/her)

As a developer who builds websites, I just can't understand why restaurants put their menu as an image or PDF on their website. It's unreadable on small screens. And probably also very inaccessible (didn't check it).

So annoying, how to decide if you want to eat somewhere if you don't have a laptop or desktop at hand??

Use plain text!

#Website #FrontEndDeveloper #Restaurant #Diner #Accessibility #A11Y

Apr 11 at 12:57pmMastodon for Android
Show threadKara GoldfinchApr 11
@Rosita311 It's very inaccessible.
Show threadRosita (she/her)Apr 11
@KaraLG84 yes indeed 😔
Show threadJack-FrostodonApr 11
@KaraLG84 @Rosita311 It's very likely a scan of their print menu, or at least a save from whichever authoring tool's being used to create it. Given most restaurants are pushed towards the *for lack of a better term* fastfood approach to site creation, I.E. templates or probably even a template vendor, that does not follow fundamental accessibility or, let's face it, web design/development best practices.
Show threadFlorianApr 11
@prism @Rosita311 yep. It is exceedingly annoying for screen reader users, as well. Only reliable fix is AI, which means unreliable fix.
Show threadDavid GoldfieldApr 11
@robini71 @Rosita311 This is a serious problem and, yes, it makes accessing the menu with a screen reader either challenging or nearly impossible.
Show threadAndy GatesApr 11
@Rosita311 Also gyms putting their timetables up as PDFs! Making me break out the reading glasses is just unthinking.
Show threadLiz Hare PhDApr 11
@Rosita311 those PDFs are usually terrible with screen readers.
Show threadRosita (she/her)Apr 12
@lizhare yes, that's true.
Show threadRaven667Apr 11
@Rosita311 its kind of frustrating because for a restaurant owner who needs a website, Wix and SquareSpace exist and all a restaurant _needs_ is two pages, one with the name, address, hours and contact info, and another with the current menu that is updated only when the menu changes I'm sure hiring a local freelance designer to maintain two pages is not that expensive, competitive with the self-service hosting providers.
Show threadRaven667Apr 11
@Rosita311 an old roommate of mine had a steady business maintaining the websites of various bars and restaurants in our area, they didn't take a lot of work PR generate a lot of money individualy, but if you had enough clients it was a good living