Rewrite of Introduction: Purpose

Here is a very basic rewrite of the Purpose:

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Purpose

This document outlines design principles for creating accessible Web sites.
When these principles are ignored, individuals with disabilities may not be
able to access the content at all, or they may be able to do so only with
great difficulty. When these principles are employed, they also make Web
content accessible to a variety of Web-enabled devices, such as phones,
handheld devices, kiosks, network appliances, etc. By making content
accessible to a variety of devices, the content is now accessible to people
in a variety of situations. For example, many bar owners enable the captions
on the television sets in their bars because the background noise in the bar
makes hearing the television impossible.

Not all devices are the same. Not all systems are the same. Not all people
are the same. In following the guidelines, attempt to reach the maximum
number of people in the maximum number of scenarios. This can be achieved
through a single accessible rendering or multiple accessible renderings of
the same content optimized for different situations.

The design principles in this document represent broad concepts that apply
to all Web-based content. They are not specific to HTML, XML, or any other
technology. This approach was taken so that the design principles could be
applied to a variety of situations and technologies, including those that do
not yet exist.
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This will do on such short notice, but I'd like to take a crack at a more
substantial rewrite. I'll try to get to it tomorrow.

Chas. Munat

Received on Thursday, 16 August 2001 21:49:52 UTC