RE: Can ADA be counterproductive (was Re: Legal leg to stand on?)

I do not know about any websites being taken down because of the ADA.
However, I do know about web sites that have been subject to ADA complaints
where the Settlement Agreement requires the affected entities to follow the
City of San Jose Disability Access Design Standard and the WAI draft
guidelines.  

I am also aware of a growing number of government and business web sites
that are including accessible web design in their web site upgrades.

So that there is no misunderstanding, the City of San Jose web accessibility
standard was developed for the City webmasters (over 30!) as a minimal
requirement so that I could manage ADA web site complaints.  I point my
webmasters to the W3C WAI effort for technical assistance and for helps in
going beyond our minimal requirements to improve customer service.

Cynthia D. Waddell
ADA Coordinator
City of San Jose, CA USA
---------------------------------
Cynthia D. Waddell   Cynthia.Waddell@ci.sj.ca.us
ADA Coordinator       City of San Jose, CA

801 North First Street, Room 460
San Jose, California 95110-1704
(408)277-4034
(408)971-0134 TTY
(408)277-3885 FAX


> ----------
> From: 	Brian Kelly
> Reply To: 	Brian Kelly
> Sent: 	Tuesday, March 23, 1999 8:18 AM
> To: 	'WAI Interest Group'
> Subject: 	Re: Can ADA be counterproductive (was Re: Legal leg to stand
> on?)
> 
> I think my original posting has been misunderstood.  I wanted to know if
> it's true that websites have been taken down as a result of the ADA - not
> why they're are behaving unethically, or that we're well rid of them.
> 
> I'm still interested in hearing an answer.  I'd also be interested to know
> the reasons they give - if this is the case.  Is it due to the costs (real
> or perceived) in making the site accessible, worries about legal bills, or
> something else.
> 
> Thanks
> 
> Brian
> 
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Brian Kelly <lisbk@ukoln.ac.uk>
> To: Kynn Bartlett <kynn-hwg@idyllmtn.com>
> Cc: 'WAI Interest Group' <w3c-wai-ig@w3.org>
> Date: Tuesday, March 23, 1999 8:37 AM
> Subject: Can ADA be counterproductive (was Re: Legal leg to stand on?)
> 
> 
> >
> >Kynn Bartlett said:
> >
> >
> >> My _guess_ is that you won't be able to use this approach on them.
> >> I would suspect that an economic motive would work better rather
> >> than a legal one
> >
> >Kynn's comments (which I'd agree with - especially as the ADA is not
> >relevant to most of the world!) reminds me that I've heard rumours that
> some
> >websites have been removed, rather than made accessible, when threatened
> >with the ADA.  Can anyone confirm this?
> >
> >Thanks
> >
> >Brian Kelly
> >------------------------------------------------------
> >Brian Kelly, UK Web Focus
> >UKOLN, University of Bath, BATH, England, BA2 7AY
> >Email:  b.kelly@ukoln.ac.uk     URL:    http://www.ukoln.ac.uk/
> >Homepage: http://www.ukoln.ac.uk/ukoln/staff/b.kelly.html
> >Phone:  01225 323943            FAX:   01225 826838
> >
> 
> 
> 
>

Received on Tuesday, 23 March 1999 13:25:08 UTC