I don't think that's true though Neil- you can't argue that there's a major degradation of experience on anything other than a Flash site and why you need a site to be in Flash is in most cases questionable.
If you manage/ own a public space then you have to follow certain procedures- if everyone could get away with it then there would be very little disabled access etc -- then you would have a two tier exclusive situation. The same is true of websites, they are a public space in a similar sense. I do agree it may be difficult to prosecute larger companies tho... -----Original Message----- From: Robertson-Ravo, Neil (RX) [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: 16 April 2004 13:14 To: '[EMAIL PROTECTED]' Subject: RE: [ cf-dev ] Website accessibility in the UK I would be very very surprised if someone could successfully proceed with a case and win against a site which does not include or adhere to accessibility "guidelines" - agree with Taz, its entirely up to the freedom of speech and thought how you move forward with a site.... There would be uproar if someone shut a site down as in some cases you could counter the whole scenario by saying that by making it accessible may lead to the whole experience being degraded which means able-bodied (or whatever term you want to use) are being discriminated against..... It's a no win situation whatever way you look at it. -----Original Message----- From: Taz [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: 16 April 2004 13:04 To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: Re: [ cf-dev ] Website accessibility in the UK > well, the DRC _is_ the enforcenment body, and if you read the foreword > of the report Bert Massie, the (disabled) Chair, states quite clearly > that they > will be launching actions against companies, or supporting disabled > people who want to do so. They have the power to close web sites down > if, after advising about the issues, the site takes no notice/action. I'll apologise in advance for being politically incorrect, but I can't fathom why it should be illegal for a site not to be accessible to every user. Effectively it's more of a problem for the company involved, who may be losing a potential revenue stream, but essentially it's up to them who they target their advertising and services at. Okay, so you could call it discrimination, but then by the same token you could argue that book publishers are being discriminatory by not making all of their books available in Braille or audio. In fact, why aren't we getting sued for not translating sites into 60 different languages? Hey, that's xenophobia isn't it? Chinese sites for all! 2 billion people can't all be wrong. Don't get me wrong, I'm all for accessibility for all. And since nearly all of my work has to conform to RNIB guidelines (among others), I tend to build in accessibility from the start. But I get the feeling that all this political correctness is getting just a little out of hand. I agree that sites should be accessible to as many people as possible. But if the Government want to get the electronic UK on the map as the best in the world, why don't they offer incentives to businesses to implement these things, instead of the draconian attitude of biting off the hand that's paying taxes. Oh crap! I've gone all serious again. Nob Giblets! 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