Re: user stats

At 10:11 AM 8/25/2003 -0500, James Craig wrote:
>I don't know if that's necessarily the case, Joe. Accessibility, and hence 
>the Web Accessibility Initiative, is about providing access to all. 
>Historically, the disabled have been overlooked so a major focus of WAI is 
>advocacy for this group, but accessibility should also include people with 
>substandard equipment, slow Internet connections, and even people who surf 
>with JavaScript turned off, for whatever reason.
>
>Of course I don't have to remind you that many new devices such as mobile 
>handhelds or phones work without JavaScript, whether the user is disabled 
>or not.

I have to agree. Way back when I started encouraging and teaching 
accessibility as a part of the authoring process, I moved away from 
singling out those with disabilities as the only reason one should make a 
site more accessible. People will only tolerate waving of the ADA and Rehab 
Act in their faces for so long.

I have used the same approach James mentioned above almost to a T. If you 
add up the number of people who use the Web that have a disability and 
include those with older browsers or "substandard" equipment, slow Network 
connectivity and those with JavaScript turned off as well as people 
utilizing the Web via hand-held devices and various Web-enabled appliances, 
the number increases substantially. This not only focused on 
backward-compatibility but future usability as well and really makes people 
think about what they're doing from the start rather than an afterthought.

Thanks.


--
B.K. DeLong
bkdelong@pobox.com
+1.617.797.2472

http://ocw.mit.edu                           Work.
http://www.brain-stream.com               Play.
http://www.the-leaky-cauldron.org        Potter.
http://www.city-of-doors.com               Sigil

PGP Fingerprint:
38D4 D4D4 5819 8667 DFD5  A62D AF61 15FF 297D 67FE

Received on Monday, 25 August 2003 15:41:29 UTC