PHP and accessibility

horsleyaa

Hi,

I am after creating a website using PHP. I currently have a site that uses style sheets to address the accessibility issues. I have made it so that users can choose their style sheet and this choice would be recorded in a cookie. When they move around the sight the cookie is read and the pages come up using the style sheet of their choice. This causes problems for the browsers that can’t use style sheets, so can you tell me how I can create a site using PHP that allows the user to select a style and the pages are generated using that style. The choice could be recorded by putting the format after the file name using a ?. So the links would have to add on a ? and the format automatically.

Can you help?

Just to note I do not have access to mySQL, also I don't think I can have script generating and saving stuff, if I can't do it any other way I will have to contact the host to get the writing enabled.

Ashley Horsley

mapexdrum

Given that situation, you could put the data in the URL like this...

index.php?face=arial&size=5&color=red

Then...at the top of your pages, you need to call those up like this:

$fontFace = $_GET['font'];
$fontSize = $_GET['size'];
$fontColor = $_GET['color'];

For the links in your pages, all you would have to do is make them say:
pagename.php?font=$fontFace&size=$fontSize&color=$fontColor

You could also set a session. Purely up to you.

Cailean

Just to add to the above....

You would also have to include the $fontSize, etc. variables in your page css within the <style></style> tags.

ie:

<?
    $fontFace = $_GET['font'];
    $fontSize = $_GET['size'];
    $fontColor = $_GET['color'];
?>

<html>
<head>
<style>
   p {
      font-family: <?=$fontFace?>;
      color: <?=$fontColor?>;
      font-size: <?=$fontSize?>px;
   }
</style>
</head>

<body>
<p>
<?="<a href='pagename.php?font=$fontFace&size=$fontSize&color=$fontColor' >Link Text</a>"?>
</body>
</html>

Or something along those lines....

horsleyaa

how would I be able to make it so that the user could select the style that they wanted?
someone has suggested using a php template engine would this work?

Cailean

The simplest way (if you're using the method above) would be put a series of links with the appropriate variables in the URL.

Choose your style:
<a href='?font=arial&size=14&color=blue' >Normal Blue text</a>
<a href='?font=arial&size=18&color=black' >Large Black text</a>

horsleyaa

Thanks I may use this. I just need to check to see whether a template engine would work. Any ideas?