- From: Anne Pemberton <apembert@erols.com>
- Date: Wed, 14 Mar 2001 17:01:07 -0500
- To: Kynn Bartlett <kynn-edapta@idyllmtn.com>, Al Gilman <asgilman@iamdigex.net>
- Cc: <w3c-wai-gl@w3.org>
Kynn, I've exerpted from your note to Al: At 07:35 AM 3/14/01 -0800, Kynn Bartlett wrote: >At risk of beating a drum, I really need to emphasize that the above >description -- which has been used by a number of people to illustrate >the problem -- is incomplete because it is really only along one >axis. There are -numerous- reasons to try to communicate, and applying >a fog index (e.g.) to -every- form of written or verbal communication >is improper. E.g., editorials, advertisements, parodies, humor, >fiction, and a vast number of other content types are even -harder- >to apply such a standard to. First of all, Kynn, a reading level index is NOT a fog index. It will not point out stupid word choices, or unsupported claims. Reading levels are used in all areas of education, and routinely include parodies, humor, and fiction. Even advertisements (if they have enough words in them to measure), have been tailored for young readers as well as their parents and grandparents... Even the ubitquitous Weekly Reader mags include editorials and think pieces aimed at children just learning to read. The Reader's Digest, which is aimed at the average reading levels, has pages of jokes that can be read without having a sheepskin on the wall! Yes, there is a mindset in all this, a mindset that, for me at least boggles at the resistance to setting a checkpoint that ensures that general content will be readable by a general audience. Not all disabilities are aided by the slick "devices" that make the web possible by varying the presentations possibilities. Sometimes it is the mundane, everyday stuff, such as reading level and illustrations that carry the day. Never underestimate the value of getting some mud under your nails ... .... From warm and sunny Virginia where the bulbs are blooming, the temp is in the sixties and seventies, and the itch to get into the garden is rampant.... Anne Anne Anne Pemberton apembert@erols.com http://www.erols.com/stevepem http://www.geocities.com/apembert45
Received on Wednesday, 14 March 2001 16:56:42 UTC