I hate stairs   In case of a fire, use the elevator. Quickly.

The theme for the Nov. 13 Disability Blog Carnival is going to be “Lists.” These can be any kinds of lists. Top 10 lists, worst 5 lists, 3 ways to do something lists, 7 things to avoid lists, and so on.

Leave a comment on this post and include the URL to your submission, or better yet, use the official article submission page.

I read this great article on A List Apart offering 10 Tips on Writing the Living Web. In tip number three, the writer offers this bit of advice.

Don’t rush to replace a good design: you will grow bored with it long before your readers do.

Well, if you have been to my site before, you’ll notice that I simply ignored this rule. And I told myself I wasn’t going to. But I did. But I had a good reason for doing it, besides being bored with the old design.

I had a complaint about the readability of the site. The main body text was light gray on dark gray. Admittedly, the contrast could have been a little better. The navigation menu’s contrast was arguably worse.

Bad contrast in old menu

This site is about disability, which makes it even worse to have such bad menu. So what did I do?

Introducing Andrea, the most beautiful WordPress theme ever made. Or at least that is what Lucian Marin, the theme’s designer says about it. While it is a bold proclamation, it definitely gives a lot of WP themes I’ve seen a run for their money. It’s simple and clean, which I’m a sucker for. But even in its simplicity, it creates a mood. In fact, it allows the content to set the mood, which is the mark of a good design.

Besides its pleasing aesthetics, it solves some usability issues for me. The body text is bright and draws the focus of the reader. The menu has better contrast than the old one. The comment links draw more attention because they are inline with the heading. Visitors to the site should find it easier to spot, and use, the comment links.

On a lesser note, I liked being able to incorporate my stairs logo into the design. It was quite painless to customize.

So let me know what you think. Is it easier to read? Is there anything missing from the old theme from a usability standpoint? I appreciate your feedback. We will get back on disability topics next update.

I’ve been a little secretive about myself. I didn’t do it intentionally, I was just procrastinating writing the two new sections you should notice in the menu bar above. I’ve written about myself and my disability. I will likely add to these pages as I find it appropriate.

In short, I’m a graduate student at Mississippi State University studying business. I did my undergraduate work in Business Information Systems. I’m a part-time, freelance Web designer for now.

I have Spinal Muscular Atrophy type II, a nueromuscular disease.

That’s all for this update. I encourage you to check out the new pages if you’re interested.