Excellent analogy! As a person who supports assistive technology for our companies users, I would expand the process to include the makers of the OS that the browser runs on, not to mention hardware makers, video driver writers, the assistive technology developers, etc. All must cooperate. Sadly, they hardly do. So, whether you're talking accessibility to people with disabilities or just old/bad browsers, the developer of the web app must pick up the slack so users aren't excluded.
I'm all for nudging people to upgrade to the latest versions, however, even if it's IE (which I'm forced to use at work, but at least it's v.6). I know, I've drifted off-topic... >Christopher Kelly (GM22) >phone: 309-763-7069 >State Farm Insurance Companies - disAbility Support >website: http://intranet.opr.statefarm.org/sysdisab/ -----Original Message----- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Thursday, February 10, 2005 7:22 PM To: wsg@webstandardsgroup.org Subject: Re: [WSG] accessibilty and responsibility Hi all, Jumping in on all these architectural analogies... nobody seems to have made this point: ultimately EVERYONE has some level of responsibility, since everyone is and will remain involed. Let's continue the analogy, for a new building: 1) The government sets out physical access requirements for buildings in broad terms (there are also other bodies which produce building standards but we'll keep this simple). Web equivalent is the W3C. Their responsibility is to get the standards right and communicate them in such a manner that people know what to do. They also need to keep things in the realm of possibility - W3C has a checkpoint to ensure that a proposed standard is actually possible, governments do not specify that venues provide levitating wheelchairs. 2) The architects (and possibly structural engineers) have to interpret the standards and apply them correctly in the design for the building. They will have to find the balance between the goals of the building and the many standards the building will have to meet. They also have to make sure the building won't fall down ;) The architect will probably also have to wrangle the interior decorators to ensure their wonderful additions don't contravene critical requirements. The web equivalent is the web developer, who has to sit between the client, the W3C, the graphic designer and the application developers/programmers. Some people might call this the Web Producer, but most of us don't get the lofty title nor the lofty pay ;) 3) Then the builders/tradespeople come into the picture. They are responsible for the actual physical creation of the building according to the plan. If they don't follow the plan they have failed in their own responsibility (ignoring the legal horrors of real-world architecture). Web equivalent is the web/application developer(s) who actually put the whole thing together. 4) The government inspects and enforces the standards. This area is starting to take shape for the web, with test cases appearing in various countries. It is a very weak area, though. 5) Then the public comes into the building. They will be arriving in wheelchairs which don't levitate, shoes with no grip, they might be drunk, who knows. Nobody who built the place can make them all wear decent shoes (so they don't slip on the stairs) nor can they make everyone's wheelchair levitate. Ultimately people should be allowed to choose whatever shoes they wear. But, they also have to accept falling down if they turn up drunk wearing shoes with no grip. The shoe/wheelchair manufacturers might be grossly negligent but they'll get away with it. Just like browser manufacturers get away with failure to comply with standards. No matter how well any one group/individual conforms to the overall goals; they will always have a responsibility since their part of the process must still be done well. Even if wheelchairs do start levitating, buildings will have to be designed and built with enough space allowed for them to fly around. Nobody will ever become free of responsibility. So.... 1) The W3C will always have to make good standards and update them. 2) Clients will always have to resource projects well enough to facilitate compliance. 3) Web developers will always have to apply standards properly. 4) User Agent manufacturers will always have to conform to standards. 5) Users will always have to maintain a reasonable level of technology to make use of the standards. The problem right now? Only (1) and (3) are currently happening with any level of success; with (3) carrying the hardest tasks. It's unfair but life is not fair. That's why web developers and architects like to go to the pub ;) h -- --- <http://cheshrkat.blogspot.com/> --- The future has arrived; it's just not --- evenly distributed. - William Gibson ****************************************************** The discussion list for http://webstandardsgroup.org/ See http://webstandardsgroup.org/mail/guidelines.cfm for some hints on posting to the list & getting help ****************************************************** ****************************************************** The discussion list for http://webstandardsgroup.org/ See http://webstandardsgroup.org/mail/guidelines.cfm for some hints on posting to the list & getting help ******************************************************
