> 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....
well if a blind user (for example) wants to use a site, and can't, that seems pretty clear-cut to me. Testing should be an integral part of a site build. > 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..... well, if it's a site of images (eg a gallery or a movie clip site) then you're right, but for most other sites (eg banking) it is the _information_ which is imporant, not so much the presentation. Again, it comes down to aesthetics - many clients want those nice little bezier curves on the left-hand navbar, or that nice Flash navbar with cool rollover effects, and it's an education issue to persuade them that actually that's not what's important. "The power of the Web is in its universality. Access by everyone regardless of disability is an essential aspect." - Tim Berners-Lee, W3C Director and inventor of the World Wide Web and he invented it, so he should know... It's important, though, not to get too hung up on this. The wording of the DDA speaks of 'reasonable efforts' to make a site accessibler, and in the absence of any case law we do not yet know what 'reasonable' might be. Considering accessibility, but rejecting it for reasons of budget? Building it in as best you can not not testing it for the same reason? Having an action plan? Nobody knows yet. I reckon the DRC is going to go after a few high-profile sites first (banks, supermarkets etc), then try to persuade everyone else of the benefits. They have said that they plan to persuade before they prosecute... Ian W ----- Original Message ----- From: "Robertson-Ravo, Neil (RX)" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sent: Friday, April 16, 2004 1:14 PM 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! > > Taz > > > -- > These lists are syncronised with the CFDeveloper forum at > http://forum.cfdeveloper.co.uk/ > Archive: http://www.mail-archive.com/dev%40lists.cfdeveloper.co.uk/ > > CFDeveloper Sponsors and contributors:- > *Hosting and support provided by CFMXhosting.co.uk* :: *ActivePDF provided > by activepdf.com* > *Forums provided by fusetalk.com* :: *ProWorkFlow provided by > proworkflow.com* > *Tutorials provided by helmguru.com* :: *Lists hosted by > gradwell.com* > > To unsubscribe, e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > This e-mail is from Reed Exhibitions (Oriel House, 26 The Quadrant, > Richmond, Surrey, TW9 1DL, United Kingdom), a division of Reed Business, > Registered in England, Number 678540. It contains information which is > confidential and may also be privileged. It is for the exclusive use of the > intended recipient(s). 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