- From: Al Gilman <asgilman@iamdigex.net>
- Date: Tue, 08 Jun 1999 13:51:13 -0400
- To: Anne Pemberton <apembert@crosslink.net>, w3c-wai-ig@w3.org, Chris Maden <crism@oreilly.com>
Anne, please do not equate the formation of a dedicated subgroup to address techniques to remove cognitive barriers with shunting aside your clients. One should expect that the seamlessness of the mainstreaming of this or that exceptional subpopulation can be increased by increasing the depth of understanding that is brought to bear on designing the accomodations. The role of cognitive function in the use of the Web and the possible strategies for working around specific cognitive exceptionalities is something which, if anyone understands it, there aren't many. [Gross reading level excepted. There are mass market tools out there today whose systematic use would definitely reduce the incidence of gratuitous barriers in this sense.] We need an agent with some cognitive agility (ability to change what they understand) to tackle this problem. While the group should contain good representation from the stakeholders experiencing the problem, smallness in itself is a virtue once the basic background-diversity requirements have been met. A small group focused on one issue can deepen their shared understanding faster than a large group can. This is the basic "tiger team" rationale, perhaps in this case it fits. Al
Received on Tuesday, 8 June 1999 13:46:01 UTC