Re: FW: [techlunch] Website owners face prosecution

(Thank you, John)

Well, although almost everyone subscribed to this list is an Accessibility
protectionist, I'm really struck by this article -- this can't be true. Is
this a job-creation measure, or a method to punish either unaware or
unexperienced site producers/owners? Is it something else, e.g. a technology blockade by
declining everything not 100% accessible (okay, chuck away Flash)?

I don't think Accessibility or Discoverability matters should be a
duty-by-law, but a kind of altruistic (I don't do it for me, I do it for other people)
option and a self-imposed duty related to the thought there are people who
are not that competent to make content accessible for everyone (right now).
And remember, when you created your first Web page, did you think about (color)
blind people or other disabled Web users? I didn't, sorry (so I'm glad to
see I'm not in prison right now).

Last but not least, I think W3C's way is best -- to (strongly) recommend
Accessibility to all Web site owners or content providers, alluding to all
people who cannot handle blinking screens with grey-on-black text and who want to
know what 150k image adorns the upper part 'above the fold'.


Don't get me wrong,
 Jens.


PS.
This is one of the topics I definitely don't need before having had
breakfast.



> -----Original Message-----
> From: Sharron Rush [mailto:srush@knowbility.org] 
> Sent: Tuesday, September 23, 2003 1:58 pm
> To: techlunch@smartgroups.com
> Subject: [techlunch] Website owners face prosecution
> 
> 
> ** Website owners face prosecution **
> RNIB takes action over websites which fail to comply with new laws on
> ease of use for people with disabilities. <
> http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/em/fr/-/1/hi/england/norfolk/3117050.stm >
> 
> Andrew Sinclair
> BBC Look East reporter
> 
> Ensuring web sites are easy for disabled people to use is no longer an
> option - it is a legal obligation. The Royal National Institute of the
> Blind in Peterborough is warning that anyone running a site faces
> prosecution if they fail to comply with the law.
> 
> Mark Smith is blind and a great fan of the internet. Using voice
> recognition software he spends hours surfing the net. Many of the sites
> he showed me were easy to navigate but not all of them. When we find a
> site for a well known tourist attraction in Norfolk there are graphics
> and pop-up windows.
> 
> "It can be quite confusing," Mark said.
> 
> "Often there can be difficulties with graphics on the screen, sometimes
> there aren't always text labels and sometimes websites are so large you
> spend some time having to manipulate your speech programme to find the
> information you need."
> 
>   Adapted keyboards which allow people to use Braille when they type and
> special software to enlarge the screen allows access to a world of
> information.
> 
> "It's quite exciting because we can get much more of what we need when
> we need it, " says Richard West, of the Norfolk and Norwich Association
> for the Blind.
> 
> "But now we've got to learn how to manage all the information that's
> available."
> 
> Under new legislation websites must be easy for disabled people to
> navigate.
> 
>  From their offices in Peterborough Julie Howell of the Royal National
> Institute of the Blind has begun to prosecute organizations whose sites
> fall short.  "Companies would be really wise to think about this now,"
> she said. "Opening up a website to more people shouldn't mean stifling
> creativity - it should bring firms so much more business."
> 
> "A lot of companies haven't done anything about it yet. You can't avoid
> this. It is the law and it's enforceable," said Peter Ballard, of
> Foolproof, a company in Norwich which advises companies on web page
> design. He said ensuring a site is disabled user-friendly is not as
> daunting as it sounds.  Fancy graphics and flash technology are fine as
> long as it can still be read by basic software.  The new legislation
> applies anyone who runs a website - individuals or companies. There are
> signs that some webmasters are beginning to get the message - but many
> have not and the RNIB is planning to step up its prosecutions until all
> websites are user-friendly.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
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-- 
Jens Meiert
Interface Architect

http://meiert.com

Received on Wednesday, 24 September 2003 01:38:36 UTC