Re: FW: US DOJ Ruling re Accessible Web Sites

All,

I think both need to be done.  If everyone was ethical and responsible there
would be no need for the ADA in the first place, and people with
disabilities would not have the horrendous unemployment rate that they do.
Such a site with the laws would be useful.  It will also be difficult to put
together, but it should be done.

Just my opinion.

Mike Burks

The opinions expressed here are not necessarily those of my employer.



>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 22:50:56 UTC