Speaking as someone who is visually impaired, I can tell you there is nothing more frustrating than an imagemap menu with no ALT="" in the img tags.
All web developers are taught to do this in Web Design 101, yet sites as prominent as amzon.com don't bother to use them in their menu. If a person can simply navigate your site without relying on tiny images, half your problem has been solved.
You needn't worry so much about font size and color contrasts; most of us have ways around that. Just using IE or Netscape, I can just tell it to ignore page colors, or control the font sizes.
Anyway, I think your solution isn't as far out of reach as you might think; contrary to what some other posters have said, which is tantamount to "screw the disabled".
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Speaking as someone who is visually impaired, I can tell you there is nothing more frustrating than an imagemap menu with no ALT="" in the img tags. All web developers are taught to do this in Web Design 101, yet sites as prominent as amzon.com don't bother to use them in their menu. If a person can simply navigate your site without relying on tiny images, half your problem has been solved. You needn't worry so much about font size and color contrasts; most of us have ways around that. Just using IE or Netscape, I can just tell it to ignore page colors, or control the font sizes. Anyway, I think your solution isn't as far out of reach as you might think; contrary to what some other posters have said, which is tantamount to "screw the disabled".