Re:web-accessibility

Dear Mr. Fox -

As a relative newcomer to the web design and development world, I was
most interested in your request for "the other side" on the issue of
designing for accessibility.  My understanding is that it is not at all
difficult to design for the blind -- it mostly involves, in its simplest
form, attention to ALT text which is helpful to sighted readers who have
images turned off and crosses over international boundaries where the
costs of being online are astronomical compared to the U.S. that having
images turned off and reading the ALT text allows faster loading and
thus less time online and thus less cost to the individual user.

It would be to the advantage of everyone if a radio producer and station
would use the air waves and their ability to impact the listening world
with how wonderfully easy it is to accommodate the universe online. 
Accessible and usable web sites are not only for persons with
disabilities as I mentioned above.  But if they were, have you
considered the wheelchair bound person who can now download IRS forms
without having to negotiate the physical trip to a post office, the
local IRS office or the local library to pick up a form?  And how about
the hearing impaired or persons with motion impairment who find it
difficult to negotiate the telephone answering system and can now get
their IRS forms online?

Have you considered that there are lots of times that one might use
closed captions other than for television viewing?  How about when you
are in a noisy bar or trying to get the attention of someone on the
telephone?

Please let me know if I can be of further assistance in helping you
focus your attention to designing web sites in the positive direction
that I am sure we all would like to go.  Usability should not be a
divisive issue, especially when it can be so simple to accommodate
others.

Best regards,

Gayley Knight
Connecting Links
www.conlinks.com
"making the web usable one site at a time"
Web Site Consultants
www.conlinks.com

Received on Thursday, 3 June 1999 22:17:13 UTC