Re: My Retirement Letter

Hi Wayne,

We have been so fortunate to have your expertise to rely on. Your work
truly made a lasting impact, and one that has changed accessibility
for the better in so many ways.

Thank you for everything you've done for me directly and indirectly;
it's much appreciated and I will truly miss working with you. It has
been a pleasure.

Enjoy this next journey of your life, my friend.

Kind Regards,
Laura

On 7/13/20, Wayne Dick <wayneedick@gmail.com> wrote:
> Dear Friends,
>
> I am retired from AG. I’m 72 and I am gardening, teaching my grandchildren
> on Zoom and studying mathematics. It’s fun, and I strongly recommend giving
> yourself time to enjoy your time on earth.
>
> This letter is to reflect on my time with the W3C. It has been wonderful,
> even if I got really frustrated at times. That is the nature of changing
> the world. We all have good ideas, and at the W3C many are brilliant. I
> felt honored to bask in the glow of so many luminaries. I was so lucky to
> meet people who had a lot to give and gave all of it.
>
> I also love what you have accomplished. Incomplete, sometimes flawed, but
> always improving life for people with disabilities, the W3C work has done
> more for print disabilities than any other group in history. I can read
> almost every topic I need to read. Sometimes I hit dead ends, but today
> that is rare.
>
> I am mildly sorry about being a pain in the --- at times. I do wish I could
> have remained diplomatic, but I am flawed.
>
> There one thing I would like to suggest for future Wayne’s. When a person
> complains about an access issue please listen to the need. People with
> disabilities often perceive issues that support personnel and researchers
> do not know. Support personnel and researchers are experts, but the person
> with the disability knows more than any expert.
>
> When a person with a disability says, “I cannot do activity X.” There
> really might be profound accessibility issues that have not been recognized
> at present. At that point we need to ask four questions.
>
>    1.
>
>     Does the issue observed problem reveal of a new accessibility barrier?
>    2.
>
>     Can the barrier be addressed with web technology?
>    3.
>
>     Does the structure of web accessibility guidelines enable a strategy
>    that can address this issue?
>    4.
>
>     If 1 and 2 are true and 3 is false, is it ethical for the AG to ignore
>    the issue because it exceeds the scope of the current accessibility
>    guidelines?
>
> I am not sure how to implement a protocol like this, but I think it is
> necessary. Silver is moving in this direction, but I think our new
> guidelines need to build in mechanisms for growth and foundational review.
>
> WCAG 2 attempted to anticipate changes in web technology with the Robust
> Principle, but it did not make room for changes to assistive technologies
> or the need for new assistive technologies. At the writing of WCAG 2 there
> was little to no consideration of the personalization issue. WCAG 2
> addressed transformations of one learning mode to another mode like
> text-to-speech and speech-to-text, and mouse access (visual) to keyboard.
> However, WCAG 2 did not address intra modal transformatio. For example,
> text to modified text was not addressed in an effective way. Real access to
> intra modal transformation lives outside the scope of WCAG 2. For example,
> change of color is impossible within the scope of WCAG 2. We just gave that
> up.
>
> Sadly, the WG often questions the user need when the current technology or
> limits of the guidelines cannot slove the problem.
>
> When a future Wayne comes along, maybe you could just say. “You have
> identified a serious problem, but we don’t know how to solve it.” That
> would be disappointing, but it would not feel dismissive.
>
> With Love, Wayne
>


-- 
Laura L. Carlson

Received on Tuesday, 14 July 2020 15:51:40 UTC