- From: gregory j. rosmaita <oedipus@hicom.net>
- Date: Sun, 13 May 2001 17:35:08 -0400
- To: <w3c-wai-gl@w3.org>
amen, brother! that's precisely one of the point i've been attempting to articulate for the past god-knows-how long -- false dichotomies are the most effective form of divide-and-conquer... accessibility isn't an either-or proposition, nor should it ever be presented as such, which is why any attempt to make WCAG a blueprint for "specialized" design runs counter to the very concept of accessibility... the entire point of WCAG is to provide solutions -- we simply need to step back, take a deep breath, and expend our energies on providing interoperable solutions -- a term which we must understand as pertaining not only to technology, but modalities and functionalities as well -- rather than in perpetuating threads in which we reargue the same issues we've been arguing for the past 4 years... which is why it is incumbent upon us, as a working group, to ensure that WCAG 2.0 is the synthesis of: technical expertise -- how does one break down barriers to comprehension and functionality in one modality without erecting barriers to comprehension and functionality in another? practical knowledge -- what is optimal, what is necessary, what is required by spec, what is interoperable, what is actually supported by the technology, how users use the technology, why, and how, and if, they can be convinced to change common sense -- or, rather, what i'd prefer to call "common sense", but which practical experience has taught me is more accurately called "uncommon sense", of which, intelligent curb-cut design is an excellent example real-life experience -- a large chunk of which consists of listening closely to what actual users have to say about what works and what doesn't, which also implies testing contested/competing solutions gregory. ------------------------------------------------------------------ RATIONAL, adj. Devoid of all delusions save those of observation, experience and reflection. -- Ambrose Bierce, _The Devil's Dictionary_ ------------------------------------------------------------------ Gregory J. Rosmaita, oedipus@hicom.net Camera Obscura: http://www.hicom.net/~oedipus/index.html ------------------------------------------------------------------
Received on Sunday, 13 May 2001 17:33:48 UTC