- From: Anne Pemberton <apembert@erols.com>
- Date: Mon, 20 Aug 2001 18:24:43 -0400
- To: Kynn Bartlett <kynn-edapta@idyllmtn.com>, "Charles F. Munat" <chas@munat.com>, "WAI Guidelines WG" <w3c-wai-gl@w3.org>
At 02:12 PM 8/20/01 -0700, Kynn Bartlett wrote: Someone once suggested to me that getting stoned/drunk to excess might >be the equivalent of "a blindfold to simulate blindness" for certain >cognitive disabilities -- sure it doesn't really hit what it's like, but >it might help you get a sense of context through personal experience >as to what it feels like a -little- bit. I am not sure if that person >was joking or not. :) Kynn, drinking to excess may duplicate what it's like to have brain damage including cognitive disabilities, but stoned may or may not duplicate disabilities (am I showing my age here?) .... the classic book to understand cognitive disabilities and super-cognitive disabilities is called "Flowers for Algernon" and it's an interesting story to show you some insight into the mind and limitations of a person with the extremes of cognition. It is difficult to get a feel for what a cognitively disabled person faces in life unless you are a close friend, family member, or teacher to such a person. Since I'm going through it as a daughter, I know that having a parent with dementia or Alzheimer will open you eyes to the incredible differences in cognitive disabilities .... Anne >I agree with your point that just closing your eyes doesn't give a true >sense of what a blind person's life is like -- but I've also seen how >many perspectives can be changed by something like that, too. The first >exercise in my web accessibility course is a "disable your access to >the web" hands-on exercise, in which students turn off images, sounds, >scripting, etc, and disable their pointing device (assuming the user >has no disabilities). > >Does this exactly or even partially duplicate what our friends with >real disabilities go through? No, not at all, and it's not meant to. >It doesn't represent what it's really like to have a disability at all, >when using the web. > >However, what it -does- do is build empathy and identification -- most >web authors have never really thought about what it's like to not have >full access to the web. By personalizing it -- by them having to >EXPERIENCE difficulties, instead of just hearing about it -- these >web designers, over the rest of the course, can look back and remember >how it made them feel, the frustration they had, the difficulties >they encountered, and resolve that they want to remove those barriers >both for themselves and for someone else. > >Until it's made -real- to them, it will only be an intellectual >exercise; until someone suffers through web sites they can't use, >web accessibility will just be one on a list of checkpoints and >statutory language. "Walking a mile" is where we can bring the point >home. > >--Kynn > >PS: I had an idea for an excellent project as spin-off supporting > material for WCAG 2.0 -- a checkpoint-by-checkpoint multimedia > experience that shows exactly what happens if you don't follow > the checkpoint, expressed in ways that bring the importance home > to the average web developer. > >-- >Kynn Bartlett <kynn@reef.com> >Technical Developer Liaison >Reef North America >Accessibility - W3C - Integrator Network >Tel +1 949-567-7006 >________________________________________ >BUSINESS IS DYNAMIC. TAKE CONTROL. >________________________________________ >http://www.reef.com Anne Pemberton apembert@erols.com http://www.erols.com/stevepem http://www.geocities.com/apembert45
Received on Tuesday, 21 August 2001 06:54:58 UTC