[thelist] On behalf of

[Ben Dyer]

On 09:37 AM 2/27/2002, BreezyGraphics at aol.com said to me:
>I design for a "living" and not for free. I feel for disabled people and am
>close to a lot of people with disabilities but I don't have the time or money
>to cater to all their needs.
>
>Do you take pictures? Do you listen to music? Do you make sure that blind and
>deaf people are able to access these? You don't have the time or money to do
>you?

I think you are missing the point entirely on accessibility.  You are
basically saying that because they cannot see images that there is no point
in telling them what they are missing.

WAI Guideline #1 Provide equivalent alternatives to auditory and visual
content.
<http://www.w3.org/TR/WCAG10/#gl-provide-equivalents>

This guideline means:

   - Giving a text description for images (alt attributes).
   - If there is audio (like a personal greeting), provide a transcript.
   - If there is video with audio commentary, provide a transcript or
subtitles.

I am thinking that most people are completely missing the point here (not
just you).  Accessibility is about making sites accessible to
*everybody*.  This is what the web is about.  If this means it's more
difficult for you as a developer, then I am truly sorry because
accessibility is not a difficult concept at all.  It just requires a
different mindset when you develop and design.

People are using arguments about time and cost to implement, which is truly
sad.  This is the law in most countries, people.  And, at least in the
U.S., the definition of a disabled or handicapped user is much, much wider
than most people think (because it also includes color blindness).

And +1 to everything Martin said.

--Ben


Ben Dyer, Senior Internet Developer, Imaginuity Interactive
http://www.imaginuity.com/

     If you save the world too often, it begins to expect it.
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