> I would argue that in a heartbeat - when you're talking about an > architectural or otherwise design showcase site - what designer is going to > give half a though to blind or visually impaired users? Quite honestly, in > a situation like this site... who cares about them? - it's not for people > who are blind or visually impaired.
hmm. I think you place far too much stock in "selling the image" when you talk about architecture. Your argument seems to be that architecture is solely about aesthetics and so architects' sites don't need to be accessible. Maybe architecture is different in america, but here in australia architects write the construction specification which has very little to do with how anything looks. Yes, aesthetics are a really significant part of the job; however so is function... and if they forget the wheelchair ramps they're in some serious trouble. In your email there is an implication that blind people don't need architects. Errr... yes they do, just like anyone else who needs to build something! If they go to a flash-only architect's site... as far as they are concerned, the architect is incompetent. So I guess it does help them make a choice. So... I would say a better attitude would be that the purely-visual showcase section of their website doesn't have to be accessible; but the rest of it does need to be accessible and the HTML site needs to sell their services just as effectively as the Flash site. It's not just for blind people, either. By reflex I went into the HTML version of the site, then backed out and went into the Flash site. Then I remembered to switch Flash back on. It's not just vision impaired users who don't want Flash! :) An art gallery site might argue that the pictures don't need to be accessible because no matter what, they can't make it possible for a blind person to see them. BUT they must have a site which allows a blind person to find out their phone number and address, so they can come in and buy an artwork for their significant other. Anyway, that's *my* two cents :) cheers, h -- --- <http://www.200ok.com.au/> --- 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 ******************************************************
