WAI Praise [was: Re: Validating for Accessibility]

> The ER mailing list seems to me a little obscure [...]
> This did not appear particularly welcoming to me, as an
> outsider who has been ignored in the past by W3C people.

I had the same problem with the other W3C groups, but I actually found the
situation completely the opposite with the WAI. Whereas the W3C is mainly
secretive to the utmost, and rightly so (it costs a lot to join), the WAI
is a group devoted to making the Web accessible, and they sincerely
appreciate any help that they can get. I found all of the members of the
WAI very forthcoming and open to me, and within a week or two I was in
three working groups! You'll find that a lot gets accomplished in the WAI,
and there are a lot of "on the edge" experts here. In a way (this is
especially true of PF), the WAI needs to be ahead of the rest of the W3C
and the Web community, because they need to make important decisions about
accessibility *before* things are implemented.
You'll find that no matter what your age (over 50 years separates the
oldest and youngest members), level of experience, etc., you will find that
you are appreciated and useful: at least that how I feel often when
discussing things on the list/in telecons.
The bottom line is that the WAI isn't like any other Web development group
because they have the common interests of the disabled and making the Web
usable ahead of interesting but inaccessible code. - Still, I could rant on
all day about the relative merits of the WAI, but I'll let you see for
yourself!

Kindest Regards,
Sean B. Palmer
http://www.w3.org/WAI/ [ERT/GL/PF]
"Perhaps, but let's not get bogged down in semantics."
   - Homer J. Simpson, BABF07.

Received on Thursday, 28 December 2000 18:17:10 UTC