Regrets for tomorrow, comments on "Contacting Organizations with Inaccessible Websites"

Following, sometimes rather freely, the questions Shawn set out in the 
agenda:

High-level review:

Question (a) "Does this have the right type of information? Is anything 
missing? Is anything in there that is not needed?" and (d) "How can it 
be shortened?"

Anything not needed: I think it is the amount of text to read. For 
example, the "Your computer system" section could be thinned out. When I 
got to the snappy one-sentence examples at the end I thought I had read 
a lot of guidance in order to write something rather brief and simple. 
Rather than "what operating system you might be using, e.g. Windows, Mac 
or Linux, you are using and the version if known" perhaps try just 
"operating system and version". I think "you might be using" and "if you 
use some form of" make it too long-winded. The definition by enumeration 
in this section like: "e.g. Windows, Mac or Linux", "browser software 
you view the Web with, e.g. Firefox, Internet Explorer, Opera, Safari, 
etc", "such as screen magnification software, speech recognition 
software, screen reader software" make for a lot of reading for 
something that most people probably already understand. Maybe they could 
be moved to a mini-glossary at the end.

Anything missing: Perhaps it might be necessary to inform website owners 
what assistive technology and adaptive strategies are.

Anything missing: People should also say what effect the problem had on 
them. for example "I had to fly with a competitor airline" or "I am 
unable to buy from you and have to shop somewhere else, you are losing a 
€xxx in grocery orders each month from me," or "I ended up spending $xxx 
dollars more because I missed the special offer banner advert."

Question (b) "How is the tone?" I think that it could be more direct, if 
we expect end users to read it.The opening sentence is in the direct "If 
you are experiencing..." but the second is indirect "It may also assist 
people...". Maybe the second should be "It may also help you if your are 
assisting people..." in which case "people and organizations" is maybe 
unnecessary.

Question (e) "Do any of the points need additional clarification?"

Screen-shot: Will people know how to "take a screen-shot"? There's an 
interesting site [1] but maybe that's beyond our scope.

Question (i) "Does the document need any disclaimer WRT legal issues not 
being addressed in this document, e.g. that people should seek 
appropriate legal advice in their own country?"

Yes, people do need to know that there may be laws or legal precedents 
that give them stronger protection. The possibility of legal action may 
be the only way that the message gets to the right person in an 
organisation. They also need to be up to date as laws may not be 
enforced for some time, until someone finally wins a lawsuit. Maybe not 
a disclaimer, but a pointer in the right direction. A big also is that 
hopefully people in different countries will use this material as the 
basis for more directly-focussed articles in disability or seniors 
magazines, and that perhaps it should speak to such writers directly, 
telling them to adapt it to their local contexts.

Question (ii) "Should the OS become a recommended (not optional) thing 
to include under 'what to report'?"

Yes, I think it is a good idea as some browsers vary from OS to another, 
such as Safari I think and probably others. On the other hand if people 
include that information with the browser information then it probably 
isn't necessary. Assistive technology and adaptive strategy are strongly 
OS-dependant.

I think that this will be a very valuable document.

regards,

Alan

[1] http://take-a-screenshot.org/


Shawn Henry wrote:
> EOWG,
> 
> We've updated the EOWG for this week, along with review questions on 
> Contacting Organizations with Inaccessible Websites ("Responding doc").
> 
> See http://www.w3.org/WAI/EO/#agenda
> 
> (The link to BAD will be available before the meeting.)
> 
> Best,
> ~Shawn
> 
> 
> 


-- 
Alan Chuter
Departamento de Usabilidad y Accesibilidad
Consultor
Technosite - Grupo Fundosa
Fundación ONCE
Tfno.: 91 121 03 30
Fax: 91 375 70 51
achuter@technosite.es
http://www.technosite.es

Received on Thursday, 28 May 2009 12:08:21 UTC