RE: Accessibility is a Right

...if I may...?
can I get a response at two in the morning? equal access is the tagline
here.  universal access if you will.  I too see what you are getting at,
but all to often, it's used as a cop out.  well, if you can't use pdf
then...


On Wed, 19 Aug 1998, Ann Navarro wrote:

ANAt 08:48 AM 8/19/98 -0400, Norman G. DeLisle, Jr. wrote:
AN>The Americans with Disabilities Act and its regulatory apparatus makes
AN>accessibility a right for persons with disabilities under certain
AN>circumstances.  In this case, the "amount" of accessibility that a given
AN>site has to provide partly depends on whether the site is government or
AN>privately sponsored.  Also, a set of definitions for web accessibility and
AN>other things similar was recently issued as part of the development of the
AN>ADA.
AN
AN
AN*Unless there's been some recent case law*, the pertinent ADA sections
ANaddress public accomodation and providing accessible access for information
ANand services *not available in another format*. That is, if I run a music
ANschool and provide an online application, AND provide that application on
ANpaper, or someone will read it to me over the phone or in person, etc, my
ANapplication process is accessible. ADA does not state that my *web site*
ANmethod of delivery must past an accessibility test, because I continue to
ANoffer *alternative forms* of delivery of that information/service which
ANprovide the same quality and end result. Yes, it would be a good thing for
ANme to do, but I've met the accessiblity requirement by providing
ANalternative delivery. Anytown, USA would run into trouble if they only
ANprovided dog licensing on the web, and weren't accessible, because they
ANhaven't made provisions for alternative delivery. 
AN
ANA private home page, such as Kynn's personal page (I pick on Kynn because I
ANknow him, and I don't have a personal site that's comparable), isn't a
ANpublic accomodation. That he makes his site accessible is a good idea, but
ANthe idea that he might be sued for not doing so, or is violating someone's
AN"rights" by not doing so, strikes me as a bit silly (and again, this isn't
ANflame bait, I'm a firm accessibility supporter, and wrote on the topic in
ANthe book mentioned in my sig). 
AN
ANAnn
AN---
AN
ANAuthor of Effective Web Design: Master the Essentials
ANBuy it online! http://www.webgeek.com/about.html
AN
ANOwner, WebGeek Communications          http://www.webgeek.com  
ANVice President-Finance, HTML Writers Guild http://www.hwg.org
AN
AN
AN

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Received on Wednesday, 19 August 1998 11:50:25 UTC