RE: Fresh start? Re: Minimal Browser Capabilities

Thank you for your opinion that the WCAG is as open to people with
disabilities as this group.  This may be so, and the W3c 's attempt to make
it so is commendiblehowever there are except a couple of signifigent
difernces.
 Non members of the WCAG can read archives but not directly post.
Membership requires a commitment to attend meetings or phone conferences.
Membership is not to be taken as a learning experience.
True people with disabilitie are free to join ( subject to the chairs
consent) if they can fullfill the requirements.


Many people with disabilities and their organisations can not comply with
those conditions partially because of the costs involved.  A full time web
developer may be able to afford these, after all the costs are probably
largely a tax deduction anyway but people who for various reasons often
associated with their disabilities.  There are other reasons for not
participating.  The group itself and the technical nature of the
deliverables is such that the content is more relevent to technical experts.

On the other hand this group is aimed at a more diverse audience who may not
be able to comply with the WCAG membership requirements or who feel that
they could not benifit the WCAG enough.  It would seem to me that the
opinions of this group should be of value and by posting to this list it
would be hoped that those members of the WCAG who also subscribe to this
list could be a conduit to that group for the ideas of people such as those
who may not have your unargued technical skills but know through everyday
experience the effect that decisions such as those made by the WACG have on
them.

It is easy to stand back and say: "Well if there is no bread let them eat
cake, but if the means to afford the cake are not there it doesnt help.


Harry WOodrow
-----Original Message-----
From: w3c-wai-ig-request@w3.org [mailto:w3c-wai-ig-request@w3.org]On
Behalf Of Kynn Bartlett
Sent: Thursday, 27 December 2001 2:16 PM
To: Harry Woodrow; Charles McCathieNevile
Cc: w3c-wai-ig@w3.org
Subject: RE: Fresh start? Re: Minimal Browser Capabilities


At 12:16 PM +0800 12/27/01, Harry Woodrow wrote:
>How many disabled users are there on the WCAG, I think you will find that
>there are probably more people with disabilities and disability
>organizations and developers with disabilities on this group than on the
>WCAG.  If we are talking about making the web available for people with
>disabilities isn't it important we give them a voice...and listen to them.

WCAG working group has very low entry requirements; near as I can
figure -- and I'm not speaking for the group now -- you have to
state a willingness to participate and show rudimentary knowledge of
the material, and you're welcome to join.  The archives are public and
anyone who has a comment on developing drafts or working group
discussions can speak up, even without commiting to join the group.

So I definitely think the voice is there -- although I tend to think
less in terms of "we" giving "them" a voice and more about "all of
us", which may explain why I haven't done any head counts on who is
or isn't disabled in the group.

If anyone feels denied a voice in WCAG working group, please feel free
to read up on the time and participation requirements, and consider
joining the group if you feel qualified, or at the very least giving
your feedback on open issues.  (This is not an official call for
participation; this is Kynn pointing out that the means to be heard
already exists.)

--Kynn

--
Kynn Bartlett <kynn@idyllmtn.com>                 http://kynn.com
Chief Technologist, Idyll Mountain            http://idyllmtn.com
Web Accessibility Expert-for-hire          http://kynn.com/resume
January Web Accessibility eCourse           http://kynn.com/+d201

Received on Thursday, 27 December 2001 12:53:38 UTC