Re: FW: US DOJ Ruling re Accessible Web Sites

On Thu, 19 Mar 1998, Scott Luebking wrote:

> Hi,
> Can WAI establish a web site for legal information concerning
> web accessibility?  It be great to have a one-stop shopping center.
> It would need to be broken down by country.

JW:: I understand that in the early stages of the WAI, a project of this
kind was attempted, but that reliable information was not readily
obtainable. I think there is definitely scope for such a site. However,
the primary task of the WAI educational effort should be to persuade
authors and software developers to adopt universal design strategies out
of a sense of justice and responsibility, rather than to raise the threat
of legal liability. It is preferable to appeal to the high ethical
standards and integrity of web content providers and software developers
than to base one's argument on the provisions of antidiscrimination law.
Nevertheless, it may be useful to provide information concerning the
relevance of anti-discrimination laws in different countries to the
provision of web-based documents and services. The Human Rights and Equal
Opportunity Commission in Australia has already done so by releasing a
discussion paper, a reference to which is included in the WAI page author
guidelines.

Received on Thursday, 19 March 1998 22:41:05 UTC