Re: Rolls of interfaces in your favorite colors (was Re: Terminology)

Scott,

unless I explicitly say so I write my own personal opinions.

No, I am saying that it is stupid to write well-structured content for blind
people and then deny that content to people who do not identify themselves as
blind.

Yes, I am suggesting that technology which enables all users to get
dynamically generated, well-structured content should not be used only to
provide content for blind people, since this does not solve many of the range
of accessibility problems out there and therefore is a relatively expensive
use of resources. I think XML provides the technology to give all the users
out there sensible, well structured content, and to provide tat only to
people who identify themselves as blind is a siginificant mistake, and
seriously short-sells the community of people who have dificulty in using the
web as it is now due to disabilities of various kinds but happen not to be
blind.

In more general terms I am suggesting that it makes more sense, if you are
trying to provide access to all users, to produce a single set of content
which is well designed, than to produce a number of different designs for
different groups, for the reasons I and others have outlined in this thread.

Search engines and portals do not give the option of how to view websites,
only the websites themselves or the client softwre do that at the moment.

Charles McCN

On Tue, 21 Dec 1999, Scott Luebking wrote:

  Hi, Charles
  
  I wasn't sure if you are aware that a number of people in the HCI world
  talk about how web pages can be viewed as interfaces which you use once
  and then throw away.
  
  Since search engines and portals give options to users to get the web
  pages in the formats they like, is there a reason why search engines and
  portals should give users the options to get their web web pages in
  glorious graphics mode?  I'm very visual and about 50% of my thinking is
  in images.  It is easier for me to work with information which I receive
  rendered graphically.
  
  If we can get paper towels in sizes and styles we like, shouldn't we
  also get web pages which are generated dynamically in the styles and
  formats we like?  Shouldn't blind users get web pages which are easier
  for them to use?
  
  Are you suggesting that all users should get the same dynamically
  generated web pages when the technology like XML provide the ability to
  create web pages in formats individualized to each user likes?
  
  Scott
  
  Re:  Is this the philosophy of the WAI?
  

--
Charles McCathieNevile    mailto:charles@w3.org    phone: +61 409 134 136
W3C Web Accessibility Initiative                    http://www.w3.org/WAI
21 Mitchell Street, Footscray, VIC 3011,  Australia (I've moved!)

Received on Tuesday, 21 December 1999 10:56:45 UTC