Re: One of those pesky questions

Hi,
Having worked in the software industry, here are my concerns from that
view.  My impression is that if a software company doesn't participate
in the process of developing guidelines, it will be much more reluctant
to expend the resources to implement the guidelines.  Part of the problem is
there is less likely to be a person in the company to "champion" the guidelines.
If a company assigns an individual to participate in developing the guidelines,
that individual is more likely to help move the company into implementing
the guidelines.

Another advantage to having someone involved in the guideline development
process is that that individual will be exposed to the learning process
involved in developing the guidelines and can better defend the guidelines
in a software company.  If a person just picks up the guidelines,
he or she may not understand why the choices were made, especially if
they don't have the background in disability issues.

Also, participation in developing guidelines can be a loose measure of
commitment.  If a company won't expend the resources to help develop
guidelines, how likely are they to expend the resources to develop,
test and document software needed to implement guidelines?

I'm wondering if other people who have worked in the software industry
have similar impressions and experiences or different ones.

Scott

PS  I've been told that I'm coming off as somewhat negative.  I'm sorry
because I do not intend that at all.  I just tend to be of the school of
thought of identifying problems early and figuring out how to fix them.

Received on Tuesday, 3 March 1998 14:20:13 UTC