On 17 Nov 98, Bruce Young wrote:
> We have similiar laws for all sites. Knowledge of the issues and how to
> deal with them was a key question at the interview for my current
> position.
>
> So as a Web doer, I have to know regardless of any dissusion of the pros
> and cons of it's worth.
Interesting.
Disability and accessibility issues are rather near to my
heart, not because I'm disabled myself but because for several
years I worked as the "able-bodied eyes, ears and legs" for a
consulting firm specializing in such matters. All the other
employees were handicapped in some way: cerebral palsy, visual
impairments, and so on. We conducted accessibility-related
research for government agencies, published guides and books,
etc. (The running joke in the company was that I was "the
'token' able-bodied guy -- there's an affirmative-action quota
we have to fill".) <g>
Anyway... so I've spent a lot of time listening to a lot of
disabled people analyze accessibility issues (including a
memorable week in Washington many years ago that I spent
hobnobbing with hundreds of disabled Viet Nam vets.) And I
learned that the great majority of "special" concessions for
disabled people are really just common-sense improvements to
the public infrastructure that will benefit *everyone*,
disabled or not.
(As a simple example, many accessibility features oriented to
wheelchair users -- lowered drinking fountains and sinks,
bathtub grab-bars, ramps instead of stairs -- also are a boon
to small children. There are many more such "win-win"
instances of the benefits of accessible architecture.)
Such is the case with Web design too. Generally, meeting the
criteria of "accessible site design" is not very onerous for
the designer, and will result in a better-designed site for
all users. It will: eliminate graphics that have no functional
reason for being; provide alternative means of contacting the
organization for people who can't use forms; include captions
for photographs and multimedia; and so on.
>From what I know about the prevailing mood among disability
rights activists, no one is demanding that every site on the
Web be 1994-style plain-text pages utterly devoid of graphics;
the acid test is rather, "Is this site an important public
service; if so, are there unnecessary bells-and-whistles on it
that shut disabled people out from its essential features?"
Sounds entirely reasonable to me.
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Brent Eades, Almonte, Ontario
E-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
Town of Almonte site: http://www.almonte.com/
Business site: http://www.federalweb.com
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