RE: Validity as a technique

> I find that most techies read the techniques and ignore the guidelines.

Agreed, the techniques are very valuable.  I use them myself, and routinely refer others to them.  But that is not the point!

The pertinent topic is the Guidelines.  If you go through the exercise of trying to find reference to the WAI WCAG 1.0 techniques documents in the following link [PDF warning], you will better understand my biased perspective:
http://www.access-board.gov/sec508/508standards.pdf