Please post any comments concerning the recent announcement regarding ACC 2.0 here.

For those that missed April Fools Day, here are the avatars that were available:

Characters:

Backgrounds:

"While we can't promise any specific release date, we do feel that enough progress has been made that completion sometime this year is more likely than not. The only major skeletal systems left are the Bell Shop and the moderation system."

Will the site launch with a Bell Shop? Don't worry about the rest, I'm sure we'll all promise to behave for a little bit if the moderation system isn't available at launch.

As for the avatars, love the Lunar Horizon and updated Landscape avatar background! It will cool to have some of the new NH characters as avatars too!

obviously the most excited about our new dreidel friends

Yes, the site will launch with the Bell Shop!

Feel free to ask more questions, happy to answer.

Any new hints about what the 2.0 design looks like?

It's made of pixels and you'll get a peek at it in the first preview in the near future.

Will the introduction of 2.0 as well as nearly entirely overhauled code mean that old posts made "pre-2.0" are going to be deleted?

Posts will transfer over. The same goes for most everything on the site.

Have any accessibility/readability features been considered for 2.0?

I can't promise that we've considered all accessibility, but for example we have thought of those with screen readers in mind when building much of it.

If there's something specific that you'd like us to consider / test, please let me know!

That's really great to hear re: screen readers!

An issue I've had with ACC wrt readability would be how wide the posts are & text size. Zooming in helps some until the page no longer fits the screen and I have to scroll horizontally to read text (this is a screenshot w/ a 22" monitor). Personally speaking, my disabilities make this an issue in the way that I have to shift my visual attention. This makes it especially difficult for me to process threads with heavier text.  

If a font size feature is possible, it might be advisable to separate settings for board text, navigation text, etc. My impairment has to do with visual processing but not my vision, actually, so the simultaneous increase of navigation font size might make the UI feel a bit clumsy for me. On the other hand, I know people who might prefer board text to be smaller and narrow without making the UI tiny. Overall, for people with vision impairments in addition to myriad processing styles, customization on this front would be especially inclusive.

Of course, wide posts have allowed for things like unique markup art and minimizing vertical page stretching. So I guess there's a lot to consider in how old threads might translate to a new board layout, the ability to alter font size, or even just more intuitively-scaled magnification.

Here's an article I found with several examples of accessible design and a website with resources and basic checklists for accessible design. Not sure how it might complicate your coding progress, but I hope this helps. I appreciate your receptiveness!

Unlike ACC 1, ACC 2 is fully responsive, so you'll be able to zoom in and it will re-size to your screen, so you don't have to scroll horizontally to read the text.

Hopefully this will help, but if it doesn't, the development won't stop once ACC 2 is rolled out, and I'd be happy to work with you to figure out a solution.

Lovely, thanks for the information, Lauren!

I have another question that might segue into yet another accessibility question. Will regular users be able to embed images in their posts + profiles on 2.0?

That's still a bit up in the air, but I would imagine probably not due to the moderation concerns.

That's understandable. If it does come up, an alt text box could be something to consider. I know that's been recently implemented on Twitter, and images with alt text will have a little symbol that says ALT in a corner.

Is the user interface posted in the announcement a few months ago set in stone? I think the towns feature looks fantastic, but I think the interface is slightly lacking. I could be in the minority here, as I know many companies switching to minimalistic approaches, but to me, it's missing life to it. It looks no different than any other forum. I honestly think the way ACC looks now is fantastic, and with a bit of updating and easier navigation that this look works well.

Some of what was shown in the ACC 2 preview is still in development, and other parts are pretty much the path we've chosen. However, even once we go live, we'll be making improvements and with the upgrades we've been working on, it'll be easier to to make those changes and work with everyone on their feedback. We love the current ACC look too and are looking to incorporate the ACC style into the next version.

If there is something specific you'd like to point out and make a suggestion on how to change it, please do!

Did anyone notice the non-pattern feature shown off today?

Let us know if you found it! We'd love to know your thoughts on the Pattern Maker too!

Next to the username I noticed a small icon/avatar that was not AC related (new non-AC avatar options maybe)? Or I am way off.

As for the pattern maker, I am looking forward to the QR code scanner/reader. That will be a nice addition!

"Next to the username I noticed a small icon/avatar that was not AC related (new non-AC avatar options maybe)?"

The icon you're pointing out there is where notifications such as new PTs and updates for watched threads will appear! It might not be immediately obvious, but it's actually the bird that appears on the town bulletin board in New Leaf when there are new messages. We are still working on the notifications system (including the design of the icon) so we haven't shown off much about it yet, but that's the current intention.

It's not the feature Lauren was talking about though! That's something that's fully implemented - and quite a big change from the first preview, in fact! Anything jumping out?

"It might not be immediately obvious, but it's actually the bird that appears on the town bulletin board in New Leaf when there are new messages."

Ahhh, very cool! Will there be audible notifications on the site for new messages/other alerts? It would be a nice feature to have if it’s possible. So if ACC was open in another tab you could be notified of your alerts and tab back to ACC. A little bird chirping similar to when they’re on the bulletin board would be neat.

One other thing that immediately jumps out - the background is autumn themed but the date is December. Will we be able to select the theme that we want to use? If that’s not it, I am unsure right now. On a mobile device, so I will take a better look later when on the computer.  

You got it about the appearance. Those pictures were taken several weeks ago, so that's why they're more autumn.

Jari's turn to post next and complete the Admin cycle.

Will the old ACC be still be there as an option for older browsers, or will 2.0 be the only available version when the site gets updated?

Not sure about that Benobii. Maybe a Dev or other Admin can answer that.

I think everyone can see that work is truly going forward for 2.0! I know some people have gotten a little burned out hearing about it but this is really happening. I know myself I'm looking forward to many of the new features and think everyone will be pleased.

I'm looking forward to Pattern Maker as I was always terrible at it and things will be so much more user friendly.

Benobii - ACC 2 will be the only available version when the site gets updated.

We do recognize that there is significant nostalgia attached to the site, especially for our long-term members. We hope to strike a good medium between the old and the new with ACC 2.

Out of curiosity, how tedious is the data transfer in terms of getting pre-existing threads/posts, the archives, and even personal user data/profile information on 2.0? Is that a manual process?