RE: W3C Process and WCAG 2.0 Public Working Draft 17/05/07

------- Original Message -------
>From    : Judy Brewer[mailto:jbrewer@w3.org]
If you feel that there are improvements, let us know;
likely to be usable by the working group in
completing their work on WCAG 2.0.

I have wrestled long/hard with what to say about how
to make the Web more accessible for what we persist
in calling people with learning/cognitive
disabilities. In the sense that we use the label, I
don't seem to be a part of any l/c-d "community" and
with very few exceptions am in communication with
almost none, whereas in the case of blindness and
mobility-impairment I know hundreds of people in
those "communities".

What this means is that in order to get anywhere
whatsoever in the effort at inclusion for this rather
large group we have chosen to more or less
arbitrarily label, it is imperative that we subscribe
to the old picket-line-mantra "nothing about us
without us".

It is singularly clear that in general sighted people
can't accurately/effectively "represent" blind folks.
I feel quite certain that the same is true for the
folks we want to include in our overall
accessibility-enhancing efforts FOR (rather than BY)
persons with "cognitive disabilities."

If it is considered important to get WCAG 2 "out
there" then the inclusion of the language that sort
of excuses the paucity of current efforts while
noting that a lot of "research" must be done is
likely about as good as we can get, but unless we
can, among other things, eat our own dog food by
assuring that all W3C efforts attend to accessibility
as an integral part of our proceedings, the hypocrisy
will abnegate much of our endeavour.

Love.

Received on Saturday, 16 June 2007 18:36:14 UTC