let's talk

When we use any software that has data entry fields or keyboard choices
of various kinds we encounter situations that prohibit, e.g. entering
text in a field that will only accept numbers, etc.  Many
compilers/assemblers/scripters do fundamental parse checks and let you
know that <xxx> doesn't qualify.  At least in one web authoring tool (I
guess they are HTML editors) when you load a "new" document and a series
of tags are presented there is some "insert title here" type stuff that,
if left unmodified produces a nag warning.

People who use these tools are not only used to these features, they
often regard them as important reminders of their duties to the task. 
It is these sorts of things that I feel we must go beyond "encouraging"
the vendors to include in connection with accessibility features.  Just
as you can't get away with a missed closing parenthesis, so you should
be precluded from (or at least heavily nagged about) practicing
exclusion of people with disabilities from being able to use what you
produce.

If I regard resistance to doing stuff like this as sociopathic, I may be
an extremist but unless the depth of the problem and our commitment to
its solution are part of our mindset we will continue to be part of some
second=class subset of web users.

The work with Amaya holds great promise.  Just its "alternate" view is a
major step towards awareness raising.  The "structure" view is such a
clear model of proper HTML practices that it warrants inclusion in any
web tool.

Just as Mosaic formed the basis for browsers (it seems to have become
somewhat obsolete in a rather short time) so we can contribute to a
"test-bed/demo" document that can become the basis of truly
accessibility-promoting web authoring tools.
-- 
Love.
            ACCESSIBILITY IS RIGHT - NOT PRIVILEGE
http://dicomp.pair.com

Received on Thursday, 19 February 1998 08:34:44 UTC