RE: the Ruler - Rule question

At 02:04 PM 7/30/2001 , Gregg Vanderheiden wrote:
>but does it help us with our goal? -- which is to make pages more
>accessible.

It depends on what our goal is. :)  If our goal is to make pages more
accessible, then yes, because (I maintain) "accessible web design
is a methodology not a set of checkpoints."

>Would a page be considered accessible if it just documented its
>accessibility - or lack of it?

No, a page is only accessible BY SOMEONE if that someone can use
the page.  Regardless of anything else.

>Isn't accessibility a measure of
>usability by people with disabilities, not just a measure of
>documentation of usability?

Right, and concrete attempts to measure accessibility -- such as
WCAG -- are merely _approximations_ used to determine "will this
work FOR SOMEONE, and what's more, for ENOUGH SOMEONES."

Checkpoints and techniques are -tools- which are properly utilized
by someone with the right mindset.  Without the right mindset, WCAG
(any version) will just seem like a set of dos and don'ts.

>Having said that -- I still see utility in D.   Having people document
>what they have done may be a very effective way of getting them to
>improve it.   It doesn’t meet our goal of defining what makes something
>accessible.  But it could help to make it more accessible.   Soooooooo.
>How do we deal with this.......
>A process guideline?

I think something that doesn't necessarily describe "the one
process" but rather something that outlines "the mindset" and
defines characteristics of a worthwhile process.  (A specific
process is a technique, while the "mindset" is a guideline and
perhaps even a checkpoint.)

--Kynn

PS:  Gregg, I saw your happy face smiling at me today from my
      postal box; I got my CSUN "call for papers" in snail mail
      this afternoon.

--
Kynn Bartlett <kynn@reef.com>
Technical Developer Liaison
Reef North America
Accessibility - W3C - Integrator Network
Tel +1 949-567-7006
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BUSINESS IS DYNAMIC. TAKE CONTROL.
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http://www.reef.com

Received on Monday, 30 July 2001 18:20:38 UTC