Re: unemployment and disabled

In a message dated 9/1/01 5:55:21 AM Eastern Daylight Time, paul@ten-20.com 
writes:


I hope to snaffle jobs before they are advertised
and present potential employers with a list of candiates.......Is that
discrimitory?!!! Lets call it positive discrimination.

       Not discrimination at all. Advocacy. Which is something that, frankly, 
IMHO, shouldn't just apply to the most basic things like essential human 
needs, but *especially* things like employment, and, yes, the Web.

       Part of the thing with the Web and the disabled is that we have to not 
only make sure the Web WORKS for the disabled, but also that it doesn't seem 
like we're handholding the disabled. If we achieve full access, and the 
able-bodied can not only tell the difference but have reason beyond being 
bigoted to look down on the disabled... (Say, "Dammit...The damn disabled 
freaks made me kill the cool Total Graphics Interface") We've failed. IMHO, 
we have to do more than push tech standards, we also have to act as advocates 
for the disabled AND accessibility.

       For a medium designed by and for geeks, you'd think some of this was 
basic. But, nah. Soon as the corps entered the game, accessibility and 
support for use by the disabled died, or at least took a nap. IMHO.

       John