Re: the text in images issue

----- Original Message -----
From: "William Loughborough" <love26@gorge.net>


> At 09:00 AM 12/19/00 -0800, Matt May wrote: If it doesn't come in the box,
> most people don't download it.
>
> Over 90% of Web users have downloaded Flash! I bet (metaphorically) that a
> similar stat for RealAudio and certain other implementations is not out of
> order? This stuff happens very fast. The Web is only a decade old and
> Mosaic is already a museum curiosity.

Most of the Flash users in fact didn't download it, but had it bundled,
which is the web version of "in the box."
I'm talking about the development tools here, though. Adding plugins to
Adobe products is a much more involved process than what is seen as a
transparent process in adding to IE (but is still pretty goofy in NN 4).

> This is the first trillion dollar industry to happen in such a short time.
>
> We *can't* wait until it's already widespread or it won't get widespread.
> Our recommendations won't be "Recommendations" for at least six months.

What makes you think SVG is going to be implemented any more successfully by
the designers, user agents and tools vendors than PNG? After all, they'll
say, we've already got Flash to do vector graphics, don't we? Why change?
And this is the opportunity for WCAG to say, use SVG for vector graphics
(i.e., rather than Flash) if you want to be accessible. It's my belief,
though, that pitching it as a drop-in replacement for raster graphics before
it even takes hold -- or worse, demanding it to satisfy a compliance
level -- is not the best of strategies.

Like I said earlier, I don't think six months is enough time to assume an
acceptable level of absorption. Sure, some things move fast in the industry,
but I think the inertia here, especially when it comes to new technologies,
is being severely underestimated.

----
matt

Received on Tuesday, 19 December 2000 13:13:37 UTC