Railfan Technology > Any Chrome accessibility add-ons?

IF there are any accessibility Add-ons for Chrome that work well, please post them here. "Change colors" has stopped working, and I cannot find another add-on that lets me choose the colors of the text and the background.

Mozilla Firefox is not a option because most sites are not designed to work well -- if at all - with Firefox.

All websites render text as light blue or light gray on a bright white background, which is very hard and very unpleasant to try to read. The add-on I am looking for would let me change this to a light-colored text on a dark-colored background.

I know this is OT, but I am not the only one who needs this in order to participate in this hobby on line.

TIA for a assistance.

> Mozilla Firefox is not a option because most sites are not designed to work well -- if at all - with Firefox

> All websites render text as light blue or light gray on a bright white background

These statements are not true - most sites that look OK in Chrome should look the same in Firefox, as they are the most popular browsers. Something is wrong with either your eyesight or browser settings if the text on websites looks "light blue or light gray", and your monitor brightness is way too high if your background is "bright white". Invite someone over with computer skills to take a look at your settings - it's easier to do than trying to troubleshoot online.

I agree with the above poster. I have no issues with either FF Quantum or Chrome with any railroad related sites. No light gray or blue text. No rendering issues whatsoever. If you are having the same issues across multiple browser platforms, it's likely some sort of system-level setting that is the problem, not the browsers themselves.

I stated that I needed an add-on for Chrome that lets the user choose text and background colors -- "Change Colors" -- has stopped working. It is hard for me to read text if it is not very contrast-y -- with light-colored letters on a dark background. That is what I need in order to participate fully in this wonderful hobby on line.

Is there an add-on or extension to Chrome that lets the user choose the text and background colors?

Right now, I am pretty sure that no such add-on exists. But I could be wrong. I merely asked this here because I was hoping someone could answer my question. Some of us need more contrast in order to read things on line.

Go down to Best Buy and have a chat w the Geek Squad. Or any other computer guru in the area. It will lower your frustration level. Trust Me, I get frustrated with Windows !

> ...with light-colored letters on a dark background...

Do you have difficulty reading books and newspapers, with "dark-colored letters on a white background"?

Hey, guys and gals --
NONE of this is intended to be a "pity party". I was merely inquiring if anyone knew about an add-on I needed.

Norm --
Thanks very much, but all extensions / add-ons have to have a team of people who -- yes -- write some code, but who also regularly update that code to keep it working well on Chrome. As I said, merely writing the initial code is far from enough -- they have to stay on top of all the changes made to the browser over time. By all rights, all people who write accessibility add-ons should be employed by Google -- as Google is the company that created and maintains Chrome.

EDIT --
Google DOES have employees who write code for a specific add-on / extension called "High Contrast. I downloaded it and IT WORKS a d does EXACTLY what I need! YAY!! Whew!!

mp345 --
Actually, I do have a lot of trouble reading printed material, unless it is in bold text. And newspapers are not ever printed on white paper, but on cheap tan newsprint, and even most books are printed with fonts that are made of lines that are far too thin to read easily, as there is not enough contrast between the letters and the color of the paper. (And I cannot read things in italics.)



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 02/15/18 14:41 by Margaret_SP_fan.

Margaret_SP_fan Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Hey, guys and gals --
> NONE of this is intended to be a "pity party". I
> was merely inquiring if anyone knew about an
> add-on I needed.

In the past, when I've upgraded browsers (Netscape, IE, Firefox, Opera, Safari, whatever else), depending on whether it was a minor (version 0.x) or major (version x.x), I would lose my default settings, so the background colors would change. Major version changes usually got me.

I'm sort of shooting blind, since I don't use Chrome, but you might have to "walk through" your browser settings to get your color combinations back. FYI, Opera and Chrome are cousins (WebKit-based), while Firefox is a different breed (Gecko-based), so a specific procedure for Firefox might be different for Opera/Chrome, for example.

Sorry I can't be more specific.

There is an add on for Chrome called "Color Change" Is that the one you were using?

If you search for "High Contrast" in the extensions for chrome there are several choices there to make web sites easier to read.

Mark

Hey -- with help on the phone from a wonderful guy who works for the American Foundation for the Blind, who told me about Chrome's "High Contrast" extension, I now have what I need!!! IT WORKS!!! YAY!!! Whew!!

Charlie -- cchan006 --
Thanks very much for the info. I guess Chrome did get an update.

Cumbres -- Mark --
Thanks SO much, but "Change Colors" is what I was using that stopped working.

THANK you, EVERY one of you who tried to help me.

Google DOES comply with the ADA for visually-impaired folks like me!! HUGE pleasant surprise for me!! THANK you, Google! Previous post edited to remove incorrect statement.

Whew!!

Cumbres Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> There is an add on for Chrome called "Color
> Change" Is that the one you were using?
>
> If you search for "High Contrast" in the
> extensions for chrome there are several choices
> there to make web sites easier to read.
>
> Mark

Search query for that awesome and very handy extension is
"change colors ghacks landing"
https://www.ghacks.net/2011/04/26/change-colors-lets-you-replace-a-pages-style-in-chrome/

Then SCROLL about HALFWAY down that page to find the "LANDING "Extension URL at the chrome browser store.

----Daniel

Good info on the high contrast extension. It just what some people need.

Gave on Firefox because of the bookmarks up data. It's ok for big screens but not small laptops that are used for travel. Which many of us in the hobby do, often

Highly recommend using the adblocker plus extension.

https://chrome.google.com/webstore/category/collection/accessibility

One BIG problem with Chrome;'s "High Contrast" add-on -- it messes up the colors in ALL photos and videos! I was looking at BoilingMan's great photo of the 4449 and Mt Shasta, and could not see the mountain in his photo, which looked washed out -- then I realized that I should try putting that page back to the "Normal" setting, and -- voila -- the photo appeared, but it only looked OK because it was in black and white.

Dearie me...... Well....at least I can change the add-on to "Inverted Color" for reading text and posting here and elsewhere Apparently the "gamma" cannot work properly for images and videos when "High Contrast" is active, and ALL photos and videos display with an unpleasant yellowish cast. And the only way I can ever get any photos or videos on the web to display properly is to completely disable "High Contrast", which is NOT acceptable. Oh, well.....

At least I now have a good way to read text, and now I can easily read what I type before I post it.

Yoo-hoo, Google! You guys and gals have a LOT more work to do with this add-on!!

SO sorry to be so verbose, but my railfan / computer whiz son figured out I needed an updated copy of Chrome, and when he downloaded and installed that for me, the colors are now fine when I turn the "High Contrast" add-on back to "Normal" No more obnoxious orange-y cast to photos! And "Change Colors" works again!! YAY!!

I disabled "High Contrast". I do not need it. "Change Colors" is MUCH better -- I can actually choose the colors of the text I read ad type, and visited and unvisited links.

My problem FINALLY is SOLVED!! Whew!! Just gotta remember to update Chrome from time to time, and to make sure my problem is NOT just MY problem, but is generic to a site or my browser or the OS.

I apologize to all of you for not making sure my computer was the entire problem before I posted this thread, and I thank all of you who tried to help me.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 02/15/18 22:20 by Margaret_SP_fan.

We are all just glad it is working for you.

Awwwww... Thanks, jst3751@ :)