Re: Re[2]: Ability taxonomy bh

Hello Paul

[note that I've taken this thread off the Working group mailing list
onto the Interest group mailing list, since it's not merely technical
at that point - this message is being sent to both lists, to bridge in
the discussion, but I'd prefer people to only send their replies to
the IG one - Thanks]

I'm really interested in this thread.

> Will all of our research dollars be funneled into screen readers? 

No. Captioning of web audio and video for instance doesn't fall in
that category.

> Is the WAI working group aware of the breadth of the
> problem facing the disabled as a whole when 'they' collective try to
> logon? 

The WAI working group is just starting, so the answer is probably
no. 

We're in the early phase of requirements collection, and even for the
visual area, where we have the most experience, we start realizing it
isn't a trivial exercice.

> I do not know. However, I do know that the dev-access list, the
> basr list, and Trace in general all seem to focus their attention on 
> vision impaired users.

I can't speak for Trace or others, but regarding WAI, I've been
looking for months for requirements on the technical work from
disability groups other than visual and hearing impaired.

I talked with research teams doing state of art eye-movement
technology for Internet access (INSERM), to end-user like Gianni
Pellis, who was at our first meeting last week and can only use his
voice or head movement to communicate, and to other disability
organizations not focused on visual or hearing impairements.

Regarding mobility issues, I haven't gotten any requirement or
feedback on the Web formats and protocols.

Of course, there are clearly requirements on the platform itself (say
Win95, or Mac) in terms of input devices (keys, mice and other mikes)
or other accessibility features but this is not what we're working on
right now.

So here's my request again: in terms of what W3C is doing: HTML, XML,
CSS (style sheets), HTTP, and other pieces that are part of the Web
interoperability framework (things that get exchanged between
providers and consumers of information), what needs to be changed to
provide better accessibility to, and I quote you, "'other' disabled
people- spinal cord injured, cerebral palsy, multiple sclerosis, ALS,
stroke, traumatic brain injured, etc-".

Received on Monday, 26 May 1997 05:49:32 UTC