Promoting standards - to Al Abut

The way I'm using to get the message across in my company in the U.K. is to 
use references to the Disability Discrimination Act, The RNIB (Royal 
National institute for the Blind) and other similar organisations to 
emphasise that we're not doing as well as we could. This probably 
translates to Section 508 and other organisations in the USA. I'm also 
using futureproofing (a term I've been using for close on two years and its 
not sunk in yet) to say that our clients will expect better of us for a 
small change in practice. Fortunately we don't have the NS4 usage that you 
have, less than 3%. It may not be fair using someone else's disability to 
highlight that we should be doing something different, but do say that 
disability of whatever form is something that occurs more as people get 
older, and would you (the audience) like it if you were excluded from 
something you can do now? That seems to have some effect. It did the last 
time I gave a similar presentation, anyway, but the audience was not 
influential in the company as I would have liked.

Its taken me two years to get not very far - you're not alone. I'm doing a 
presentation in mid September to try and get the message across again - 
although I don't expect to  have the success I think it should have as I'm 
up against a set of people who do not know. It is my job to educate them. 
Well, I think it is, anyway. I am rather a self-appointed evangelist - I 
think that many people here are, and don't mind being so called.

My opinion, after posting to this forum for just three days is that there 
is a helluva lot of talent here, and we're all in the same type boat 
sailing on the same type of ocean - a bit lumpy with occasional storms.

The way I think that this forum will pan out is that there are so many 
committed people here writing about Web Standards that resources will soon 
come along at which you can point people and say "That's why we should do 
it". they may not agree first time, but the second, third and so on???

All I can say is that you have a position I'd envy, and be wary about 
giving up. There aren't many web agencies who think the way that we do, 
unfortunately. All we can do is give support - you're not on your own - as 
this list is making very plain.

Regards

John

At 13:16 10/07/02 -0700, Al Abut wrote:

>And sorry to come across as so jaded - it's just that sometimes I want to 
>chuck it all and find a web agency that believes in the same values! 
>Evangelism in such a large organization is tiring and I have an INCREDIBLE 
>amount of respect for the tireless efforts of the webstandards.org people 
>and Jeffrey Zeldman in particular. How you guys and gals keep it up, I 
>don't know. Caffeine maybe?