WOAW now. Lets all shake hands and come out talking

I encountered an insult in a memo from no less than 4 different people in
the course of about a dozen emails.  Some are worse than others but all are
not helpful

Lets see if we can do better.

I know it gets frustrating sometimes in these discussions.  I know that the
ideas we post are not always easy to communicate.   I know that the problems
we are trying to solve are not easy - especially given the diversity of
people with disabilities and the massive number of sites and technologies
used on them.  I know that we are not always understood.   (and I know we
don't always understand others)

But we need to think about these issues very carefully.  We need to think
about each others comments very carefully.  Then we need to draft our own
very carefully.


I would like to ask that members of the list
1)	read the other people's postings twice if you have trouble with them.
Three times if you are going to respond.
2)	Read your own posting twice before sending it.   You know how you meant
it to sound.  How might it sound to others.
3)	If you try to re-summarize someone else's views (which is sometimes very
effective) - try to address your note back to them in the form of a question
like…”if I understand you correctly - it sounds like you are saying   x y z.
do I have that right?”    It can be very helpful - or very aggravating to
have your comments clarified by others depending on whether they get them
right or not.

But ALWAYS remember that we are all TRYING to work toward the same goal or
we wouldn't be on this list.  So lets try to take a walk/roll before we
respond and read and think before we send.

I want to also thank those who were on the receiving end and who didn't rise
to it - but rather tried to focus back on the issues.   You all are such a
great group - and the issues we are facing are some of the tougher ones (we
took care of the easier ones earlier).

There is also such a careful balance we need to maintain between what is
needed and what is possible today - that we need to be thinking about our
own needs and those of others (including the webmasters) simultaneously.  If
we don't look out for them - why should we expect them to look out for us.
And then we lose it.  Because the law can provide encouragement and
incentive - but it will never happen if we lose good will.   Lawsuits can
only address the most grievous problem with large sites or companies.
Everything else will depend on keeping the good will of the webmasters and
not losing the support of the public.  (and not giving any ammunition to
those who would attack accessibility)

Having re-read this twice and edited it - I now post this.

Please re-read both postings you are responding to and your own before you
post.  Especially if you are upset.  And remember - we can all use a little
exercise.  Between memos can be a great time for it.

Thanks everyone

Gregg



-- ------------------------------
Gregg C Vanderheiden Ph.D.
Professor - Human Factors
Dept of Ind. Engr. - U of Wis.
Director - Trace R & D Center
Gv@trace.wisc.edu, http://trace.wisc.edu/
FAX 608/262-8848
For a list of our listserves send “lists” to listproc@trace.wisc.edu

Received on Thursday, 16 March 2000 13:24:07 UTC