Re: Wired story about 508 Compliance

At 12:36 PM 5/7/99 -0700, Kynn Bartlett wrote:
>Another example of sloppy reporting on this issue, especially
>when they quote ignorant web developers -- who obviously haven't
>been to http://aware.hwg.org/ -- who say that making a site
>accessible will "double" the time necessary to make a web
>site.

Maybe you should create something on Aware similar to "ERRATA" on
Attrition.org:
http://www.attrition.org/errata

The HWG could be more polite but the basic idea I'm getting is debunking all of
these poorly -researched and written Web accessibility articles.

>They also promote the fallacy that web accessibility is about
>restricting everyone to a lowest common denominator and disallowing
>new innovations; also a complete fabrication.

They are uneducated Web developers. With one swoop I converted the Web
Standards Project to a Web accessibility way of thinking and made them see that
Web accessibility is part of good design and NOT an issue of backwards
compatibility per se... We're also turning the problem back to the Web
developers. If they implemented the FULL standard....we wouldn't have this
problem.

>Why, o why, when they interview "web designers", do they always
>choose the ones who know NOTHING about what they're talking about?
>I mean, would it REALLY be that hard for them to ask someone who
>actually understands the issues?

I encourage EVERYONE to e-mail the Web developers quoted in the article and
explain that Web Accessibility doesn't have to limit Web design....and that
accessibility tags are built-in.

Oz Lubling
RazorFish
ol@razorfish.com 

Kari Friedman
Organic
roxy@xygo.com 

Drue Miller
Vivid Studios
drue@drue.com

Keep in mind that these people are designers and probably have never thought or
researched Web accessibility....they are uneducated about the topic and I'm
sure not trying to thwart it. Think of this as an opportunity to get some of
the best Web designers singing Web accessibility praises.

Also, e-mail Wired with feedback about the article:
newsfeedback@wired.com



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