Re: Flickr and alt

If the user-generated content of these public site creates code that is
non-compliant then so be it. We are here to set the standards and raise the
bar for document structure, accessibility and usability (where applicable).
Perhaps the public sites such as Flickr should take additional steps to
press the user for more information (requiring photo/video titles or
descriptions) and if no alternative is entered perhaps the photos could be
held in queue until the photos are titled? Then again, the user initiative
groups (WASP, etc) should be pressing such issues with these user content
submitted sites to demand improved accessbility, not the W3.

Cheers,
Jonathan

On Mon, Aug 18, 2008 at 6:13 PM, Maciej Stachowiak <mjs@apple.com> wrote:

>
>
> On Aug 18, 2008, at 6:37 AM, David Poehlman wrote:
>
>
>> adding provisions for access to many many public facilities was not easy
>> to
>> meet either, but it became law and everyone benefits except those who
>> didn't
>> want the disabled in.
>>
>
> That's right, *public* facilities. Note that it is not legally mandated
> that every private dwelling must be made accessible, or that every handmade
> poster placed on a public bulletin board must have braille or audio
> equivalents. That is because the focus of accessibility law, and of our
> moral intuitions about the topic, is on public accommodations provided by
> institutions, not private actions of individuals.
>
> Flickr is one of many public sites featuring user-generated content that is
> mostly shared with friends and family, but which is mostly visible to the
> general public. In terms of our moral sensibilities about accessibility, it
> is more like a public bulletin board where anyone can put up a poster, than
> like the professional signage in a store or school.
>
> Regards,
> Maciej
>
>
>
>>
>> ----- Original Message -----
>> From: "Anne van Kesteren" <annevk@opera.com>
>> To: "Philip TAYLOR (Ret'd)" <P.Taylor@rhul.ac.uk>
>> Cc: "David Poehlman" <david.poehlman@handsontechnologeyes.com>; "James
>> Graham" <jg307@cam.ac.uk>; "Steven Faulkner" <faulkner.steve@gmail.com>;
>> "Ian Hickson" <ian@hixie.ch>; "W3C WAI-XTECH" <wai-xtech@w3.org>;
>> <public-html@w3.org>
>> Sent: Monday, August 18, 2008 9:30 AM
>> Subject: Re: Flickr and alt
>>
>>
>>
>> On Mon, 18 Aug 2008 15:25:11 +0200, Philip TAYLOR (Ret'd)
>> <P.Taylor@rhul.ac.uk> wrote:
>>
>>> Anne van Kesteren wrote:
>>>
>>>> [...]I was trying to point out that Flickr cannot start requiring
>>>> users to <perform some task> as that will simply kill their business.
>>>>
>>>
>>> Exactly the same argument was adduced about requiring
>>> public houses to require their customers to either
>>> refrain from smoking completely, or to smoke outside.
>>>
>>> The pubs /didn't/ go out of business, and most of their
>>> customers came to accept that -- by following the rules --
>>> they were improving the environment for everybody.
>>>
>>
>> Not smoking or smoking outside is a requirement that is easily met. Adding
>> useful alternate text to the ~300 images you upload a couple of times a
>> year is not. (The requirement not being easily met was the core point of
>> my argument, but you forgot to quote it.)
>>
>>
>> --
>> Anne van Kesteren
>> <http://annevankesteren.nl/>
>> <http://www.opera.com/>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>
>