Accessibility & US Laws (Re: [thelist] Flash, usability, accessibility)

[Chris Kaminski]

Thus spake Laurel Nevans:

> There is a "little-known" US law that predates the ADA: The
> Rehabilitation Act of 1973.

Actually, the Rehabilitation Act of 1973-1992. It was amended.

> If your company receives NO federal $, you are freer to "choose"
> to exclude large portions of your potential audience.  If your
> company is on the GSA schedule, however, or sells one iota of
> anything to the government, you MUST comply w/ Federal
> accessibility regs.

Yes, exactly.

> Can you make a site full of bells and whistles and still meet US
> federal regs for accessibility?  I say yes, but it's a lot easier
> if you set out to do so in the beginning than if you try to do it
> as an afterthought.  And there are several tools readily
> available to help you do so.

Absolutely. I'm a U.S. citizen who's currently working for a German Web
development agency that specializes in accessibility issues. One of our
largest clients is Aktion Mensch, the German advocacy group founded with
funds paid by the companies that marketed thalidimyde in the 1960s. One of
the sites we develop for them is Einfach fuer Alle
<http://www.einfachfueralle.de> a developer education site for Web
accessibility issues.

So I am both familiar the issues involved here, and in complete agreement
that accessible Web sites are not only a Good Thing, but that accessibility
can and should be achieved for a wide range of users (not just the blind)
without sacrificing aesthetics, branding or other business objectives in
most cases.

A very informative post, BTW. Thanks for that.


chris.kaminski == ( design | code | analysis )

------------------------------------------------------------
    He who joyfully marches in rank and file
    has already earned my contempt. He has
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