Re: Change the mouse pointer on the webpage

On 29 December 2010 08:07, author simpson <[email protected]> wrote:
> Hi
> Could somebody point me to the right place where I could get the script and
> its source to change the mouse pointer to another pointer on my web
> page sothat peoplr with low vision could see the pointer clearly?
> It is possible since I have seen this on some webpage *
> http://wiki.sugarlabs.org/go/Welcome_to_the_Sugar_Labs_wiki

Harpreet

Appearance is always better (correctly) controlled by CSS, not script.
That is how it is done on the Sugar Labs site.

You want to use something like:

html
{
   cursor: url(http://wiki-devel.sugarlabs.org/images/e/e2/Arrow.cur), default;
}

The way the CSS is actually included by the Sugar labs site is a
little obscure because of MediaWiki specifics, but you can explore it
using Firebug.

Note however that not all users may want this option and so you need
to consider making it optional.

There is also the opinion to consider that websites should not provide
these sort of options themselves. Rather it should be left to the
browser or operating system settings, or the user's own Assistive
Technology, all of which will then apply their preferences to all
sites they visit. For example users can specify their own user
stylesheets. The opposite view is that many users aren't aware of
these options so the facilities should be directly 'under their noses'
on the web sites (for example user stylesheets are not presented in
the Firefox UI, but require a file to be edited). For this to work all
websites need to supply the features, perhaps by using a common
toolkit. As always you need to make an informed decision that balances
many considerations.

One compromise is a online tool that allows users to choose
appropriate settings for any website they visit. A great example is
the ATBar from Southamption University. This is an open source project
so you are welcome (even encouraged) to figure out how to add you
features to it and submit them for inclusion.

http://access.ecs.soton.ac.uk/ToolBar

(click on demo in the menu to try it out)

Steve Lee
Full Measure