Re: AWARE Center Common Myths About Web Accessibility

Kynn, 

Thanks for getting a myths page going. I think we need something along
these lines. 

I made sure a lot of common questions and misconceptions were addressed in
the FAQ which accompanied the press release, and we've gotten some good
feedback on that. For now I moved it up to the headline of the WAI Home
page and I've listed it separately in the resources section. You can point
people to a specific answer, which I've been doing in a few cases to save
time. 

On the myths list, I think for those people already familiar with Web
accessibility, it will make sense. For someone new to the issue, which is
really a lot of the audience who is now becoming aware of this issue now
that the guidelines are out, 'accessibility is hard, let's go shopping' may
be confusing since people may not even be able to recognize the myth, while
"good assistive technology can solve all..." is a straightforward
exploration of an unconscious assumption some people make, and so will
probably have more clarifying impact for the reader who lands on this page.

I'm interested in others' reactions.

Judy


At 06:17 PM 5/7/99 -0700, Kynn Bartlett wrote:
>I've just added the following page at the HTML Writers Guild's
>AWARE Center:
>
>     http://aware.hwg.org/why/myths.html
>
>Common Myths About Web Accessibility 
>
>MYTH #1: An accessible web page is dull, boring plain text. 
>MYTH #2: Accessible web authoring is expensive and time-consuming. 
>MYTH #3: Accessibility is hard! Let's go shopping! 
>MYTH #4: Disabled people don't use the web! 
>MYTH #5: Good assistive technology can solve all accessibility problems. 
>MYTH #6: Web accessibility only helps people with disabilities. 
>
>I don't directly address legal requirements (ADA, 508, etc) and
>the misinformation surrounding that, because other folks (such as
>Judy) are true experts on such matters and I'm just a dabbler in
>law-related issues.
>
>But I'd like your feedback on this page as well as any additions
>or comments you may have.  Thanks!
>
>
>--
>Kynn Bartlett <kynn@hwg.org>
>President, Governing Board Member
>HTML Writers Guild <URL:http://www.hwg.org>
>Director, Accessible Web Authoring Resources and Education Center
>  <URL:http://aware.hwg.org/>
>
----------
Judy Brewer    jbrewer@w3.org    +1.617.258.9741    http://www.w3.org/WAI
Director, Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI) International Program Office
World Wide Web Consortium (W3C)
MIT/LCS Room NE43-355, 545 Technology Square, Cambridge, MA,  02139,  USA

Received on Friday, 7 May 1999 21:49:41 UTC