accessibility (was RE: [thelist] Is this a list?)

[Christian Heilmann]

> > I clearly did overstate
> > the case in several places.
>
> Fair enough. Since your points regarding accessibility (and the
> deplorable continued lack of attention thereto on the web) are entirely
> valid, is there any chance you'd write an article for evolt.org wherein
> you state your case? One thing I think would be helpful would be brief
> explanations of the types of disabilities which are affected by the most
> common accessibility errors.

Careful, if you follow recent discussions in the accessibility militia
camp then you will see that exactly this notion is what gets people
very agitated. Accessibility is not exclusively about disabilities.
The practical point is that accessibility explained via disabilities
has a legal punch (a very weak one) and that it is something a lot of
designers (sadly enough) have not thought about.

However, dealing with accessibility from the disability angle will
result in measures like "accessibility view" and "text only version"
which are neither helpful nor inclusive.

I got the "bah this is about disabilities only" for my article at digital web:
http://www.digital-web.com/articles/ten_reasons_clients_dont_care_about_accessibility/

And Roger Johannson had a very good comment back and forth discussion
on the matter:
http://www.456bereastreet.com/archive/200508/does_accessibility_encourage_discrimination/

Isofarro explained nicely in some comments that web accessibility and
the original WCAG are about disabilities:
http://www.456bereastreet.com/archive/200509/10_reasons_clients_dont_care_about_accessibility/#comment13

and so on.

> Your real-world experience gives you a very different perspective on the
> subject from those to whom 'accessibility' is a more abstract concept.
> Most articles I've seen about human/tech issues are addressed primarily
> from the tech perspective. I'd love to see concepts like this addressed
> on a human level. I respect your passion, Ian; really I do. Use it to
> drive some good teaching technique and I'll be your first supporter.

The problem (as also outlined in my article) is that only with quick
win tech solutions clients listen. But, yes, that is exactly what it
is about. Accessibility is a human interaction matter and not a
technical implementation problem.

http://www.digital-web.com/articles/accessible_by_design/ was a nice
earlier article on that matter.


--
Chris Heilmann
Blog: http://www.wait-till-i.com
Writing: http://icant.co.uk/
Binaries: http://www.onlinetools.org/