Question: Accessible web authoring is expensive and difficult
?
23th of July 1999
From: Marti <marti47@MEDIAONE.NET>
To: Francisco Godinho <f.godinho@mail.telepac.pt>;
WAI Interest Group <w3c-wai-ig@w3.org>
Date: Sexta-feira, 23 de Julho de 1999 12:31
Subject: Re: URGENT: Help
Francisco,
I don't know much about accessibility law in Portugal but it is often
helpful if you relate things like this to physical access law which people
seem to understand better. Curb-cuts are a great example! They do cost more
to install and a retrofit is even worse but the benefits have turned out to
be great, far beyond the wheelchair access it was meant for. I don't think
we really know how far reaching accessible web design will be but I think we
can safely predict that it will be useful for other emerging technologies
such as telephone web access.
Another good point is that "retrofit" is always more expensive so the sooner
new web design meets the criteria the less retrofit, i.e. less expense.
Marti
Top
From: Robert Neff <robneff@home.com>
To: Francisco Godinho <f.godinho@mail.telepac.pt>;
WAI Interest Group <w3c-wai-ig@w3.org>
Date: Sexta-feira, 23 de Julho de 1999 13:00
Subject: Re: URGENT: Help
Costs are two fold, qualitative and quantitative.
1. Quantitative - Cost to train the web developers. There will be a short
term cost increase realized, that is the bell curve will be i the front.
2. Qualitative - Cost to deny PWD access to information. PWD can function
in society if they are provided the means that we certainly are capable of
providing. Compare it to automobile safety requirements.
3. Qualitative and Quantitative - Cost to have PWDs as an unproductive
members of society relying on government assistance, instead of being
productive members of society and contributing to taxes.
They will either see a net loss or net gain!
rob
From: Joe Roeder <Jroeder@nib.org>
To: 'Francisco Godinho' <f.godinho@mail.telepac.pt>
Date: Sexta-feira, 23 de Julho de 1999 13:53
Subject: RE: URGENT: Help
Another argument is that as more PWDs are better able to function
independently they become employable, productive citizens and as their
discretionary income increases they can also participate in the electronic
marketplace thus contributing to the general economic health of society. As
the population ages, many people with financial means will also develop
disabilities and require accessible websites to participate as consumers.
Put another way, turning away potential customers is bad for business.
Designing accessible websites may have a higher initial cost as we correct
past mistakes. As accessible design techniques are learned and put into
practice, the cost of designing new sites will become negligible.
Joe
From: Alessandro Biagi Costa
<biagi@micropower.com.br>
To: 'f.godinho@mail.telepac.pt'
<f.godinho@mail.telepac.pt>
Date: Sexta-feira, 23 de Julho de 1999 14:06
Subject: EN: URGENT: Help
Prezado Francisco,
Segundo nossa experiência no sentido de incentivar os web developers a
criar e/ou ajustar sites accessíveis, acreditamos que um bom argumento
para regulamentar essa questão e rebater a idéia de que há
problemas de custo é que as empresas que mantém sites na internet:
1. Já possuem infraestrutura para manutenção do site.
2. Não necessitam treinar seu pessoal em novas tecnologias, pois os recursos para criar sites acessíveis já existem nas ferramentas utilizadas pelos web developers.
3. Tudo que precisa ser feito é ajustar o "estilo" de construção do site a nível de detalhes como identificadores de figuras (muito simples de implementar nos sites existentes).
Muitas empresas tem adotado esta política aqui no Brasil e não temos notícias de nenhuma que tenha se queixado quanto a aumento de custos.
Um abraço,
Alessandro.
From: Leonard R. Kasday
<kasday@acm.org>
To: Robert Neff <robneff@home.com>;
Francisco Godinho <f.godinho@mail.telepac.pt>;
WAI Interest Group <w3c-wai-ig@w3.org>
Date: Sexta-feira, 23 de Julho de 1999 14:25
Subject: Re: URGENT: Help
Are there some particular sites we could comment on? For example, do some
of the key legislators have some web sites? If we can show how simple it
would be for their own sites I think it would help.
Len
-------
Leonard R. Kasday, Ph.D.
Universal Design Engineer, Institute on Disabilities/UAP, and
Adjunct Professor, Electrical Engineering
Temple University
Ritter Hall Annex, Room 423, Philadelphia, PA 19122
kasday@acm.org
(215} 204-2247 (voice)
(800) 750-7428 (TTY)
From: Dominique BURGER <dburger@hall.snv.jussieu.fr>
To: Francisco Godinho <f.godinho@mail.telepac.pt>
Date: Sexta-feira, 23 de Julho de 1999 14:34
Subject: Re: URGENT: Help
Dear Francisco,
I think Robert Neff, summarised perfectly the economical arguments for a
more accessible Web.
In addition, you could claim that in several countries there is a strong
will to have a law making the Web Accessibility mandatory. Thus, it could
be that Europe decide it as a matter of standard one day. Then, the cost of
making the adaptation afterward would be high.
Cheers,
Dominique Burger
From: Neill
McBride <support@dolphinuk.co.uk>
To: f.godinho@mail.telepac.pt
<f.godinho@mail.telepac.pt>
Date: Sexta-feira, 23 de Julho de 1999 15:46
Subject: RE: URGENT: Help
Dear Francisco
The World Wide Web Consortium has launched a Web Accessibility
Initiative, the idea of this is to give help/information to Web site
developers to enable them to make Web sites that are accessible to all
internet users. The web site for the World Wide Web Consortium's Web
Accessibility Initiative is located at - http://www.w3.org/WAI
Hope it helps!
Yours sincerely
Neill McBride
Technical Support Engineer
Dolphin Computer Access
E-mail: support@dolphinuk.co.uk
Tel: (+44) 1 905 754 765
Fax: (+44) 1 905 754 559
Http://www.dolphinuk.co.uk
From: Charles McCathieNevile
<charles@w3.org>
To: Francisco Godinho <f.godinho@mail.telepac.pt>
Cc: WAI Interest Group <w3c-wai-ig@w3.org>
Date: Sexta-feira, 23 de Julho de 1999 16:31
Subject: Re: URGENT: Help
Francisco,
As a web designer, ensuring that the content I am producing can be read is
what I do. In terms of work specifically devoted to ensuring access to people
with disabilities I would guess that it takes perhaps 5% of the time I spend
in design work. Compare that to around 40% for ensuring that a preferred
visual presentation can be realised, and around 30% of the time in ensuring
that the information structure of the website is sensible. (the rest of the
time is usually spent clarifying a briefing, providing interim versions,
making phone calls, etc.)
The major cost is a one-off expense to learn what is required - this can be
delayed, but means that more retrofitting will have to be done, and that can
be more expensive. I have done a couple of retrofits, and the expense was in
the order of 10% - 20% of the original site cost.
For sites which use a very substantial amount of video, or which are really
badly designed, the cost of accessibility is two to three times higher - for
example up to 15% of development time to produce accessible video, or up to
50% of the cost of retrofitting for a really badly designed site, although
that includes some basic design work which is not accessibility-specific.
cheers
Charles McCathieNevile
From: Michael Burks <mburks952@worldnet.att.net>
To: Francisco Godinho <f.godinho@mail.telepac.pt>;
WAI Interest Group <w3c-wai-ig@w3.org>
Date: Sexta-feira, 23 de Julho de 1999 17:03
Subject: RE: URGENT: Help
Francisco,
I think the point should be made that the cost is actually reduced for the
following reasons:
Much of accessibility is good design. A well designed site will serve more
customers and achieve its purpose. This in and of itself increases the cost
effectiveness of the site.
An accessible site can serve more people, quicker and more effectively than
an inaccessible site. It allows for more customers for the money spent. It
reduces the need to deliver the information in other ways such as a live
person. With many years of experience in the customer service area I can
tell you that the web can reduce expenses greatly.
Virtually all of the techniques used to make a site more accessible improve
the overall quality of the site so if these are incorporated in the original
design specifications it should not raise the price of the site at all, it
may in fact reduce the cost and surely reduces the need for retrofitting.
I hope this is helpful.
Mike Burks
Chairman Internet Society SIG for Access to the Internet for people with
Disabilities
http://www.isoc.org/isoc/access/
Member Advisory Board International Center for Disability Resources on the
Internet
http://www.icdri.org
From: David Bolnick <davebo@MICROSOFT.com>
To: 'Francisco Godinho' <f.godinho@mail.telepac.pt>;
WAI Interest Group <w3c-wai-ig@w3.org>
Date: Sexta-feira, 23 de Julho de 1999 17:23
Subject: RE: URGENT: Help
The biggest expense in creating an accessible Web site is changing attitudes
- the rest is negligible. I recently worked with a Web design contractor. He
already knew good Web design practices so it took him a total of 1 hour of
studying the www.w3.org/wai
guidelines to be fully conversant in accessible
Web design.
David.
______________________________
David A. Bolnick, Ph.D.
Accessibility Product Manager: Government and Legislation
Producer: Microsoft Enable Productions
(http://microsoft.com/enable/productions/)
Microsoft Corporation, One Microsoft Way, Redmond, WA 98052
Tel: 425-936-8342 Page: 888-899-0841 Fax: 425-936-7329 Cell:
206-660-3054
E-mail: davebo@microsoft.com
Web: http://microsoft.com/enable
From: Waddell, Cynthia <cynthia.waddell@ci.sj.ca.us>
To: 'Francisco Godinho' <f.godinho@mail.telepac.pt>;
WAI Interest Group <w3c-wai-ig@w3.org>
Date: Sexta-feira, 23 de Julho de 1999 19:00
Subject: RE: URGENT: Help
Francisco
I have had to answer the same question from government administrators and executives about whether or not accessible web design is expensive and difficult. Perhaps some of my comments can assist you.
Regarding the issue of difficulty, it is important that an accessible web design policy be in place so that it can be implemented consistantly throughout the organization. Implementation requires that technical tools and training be made available. The initial cost will be the training of webmasters and the development of templates for ease of management.
Regarding training of webmasters, we know that if a webmaster codes HTML properly, they will satisfy many accessibility requirements without specific access design training. The problem has been the development of web authoring software that strips accessibility out of their deliverable. The industry is now aware of the problem and is working to build accessibility checkers, like spelling checkers, into the software, but it will take some time.
Meanwhile, as webmasters continue to update their training, accessibility can be built into their training. As you know, the training can be done on-line. Currently I am recommending my webmasters to receive training by taking the HTML Writer's Guild on-line course that begins next month. The cost of this commercial training is $50. The cost would be significantly lower if the government of Portugal entered into a group contract for the purposes of training.
Cost is also lowered by the creation of templates created by the organization. For example, take a look at the State of Washington in the USA. Their website has posted the templates for their webmasters: http://www.aasa.dshs.wa.gov/access/ Practically speaking, a governmental entity should develop templates so that a consistent look and feel can be created as well as to contain cost of maintenance. This step should be done whether or not accessibility is addressed anyway.
As you know, many tools are available free on the Internet. Bobby, an automated validator, will perform an accessibility diagnostic free and even suggest HTML code to correct the code. Lynxviewer, HTML 4.0, CSS validators are available free as well. The W3C site http://www.w3.org/WAI/ER/existingtools.html and the Washington State site http://www.aasa.dshs.wa.gov/access/ are excellent free resources. Again, even if someone were to not implement accessibility, these tools enable clean HTML that webmasters should be doing anyway. Each of these tools have their limitations, but the industry and the W3C are working on solutions.
Next, I have found a significant cost savings in both time and money in meeting government's obligations to provide communications in an accessible format to our citizens. For example, under US law all documents must be accessible in an alternate format and that format could include Braille, diskette, large print, audio-tape or email. Whereas previously I contracted for documents to be Brailled and audio-taped, I can now send an accessible electronic version of the document must faster and cheaper. Frequently I find that I no longer have to contract for the audio-taping or Braille and I do not have to use staff time for mail handling. I also find that the alternate format can be sent to the requestor in a timely manner whereas previously audio-taping could take from 3 days to 3 weeks to prepare. (And if it took 3 weeks, I was paying for the time of the transcriber to do this as well!)
The same cost savings is also applicable to employees in government with disabilities. Posting documents on both the Internet and Intranet have facilitated communication within and between agencies. By posting the information in an accessible manner, I do not have to stop every time an employee with a disability needs an alternate format and prepare that document for access. Documents posted in an accessible manner give employees with disabilities equivalent access and enables them to continue with their work in the same manner as those without disabilities.
Lastly, if Portugal does not address accessible web design, they will not be able to have dynamic web pages and participate in the benefits of web-based applications and the emerging information appliances. As you know, accessible web design enables the web page to be accessed by palm pilots, internet kiosks and personal digital assistants. More importantly, accessible web design enables low technology to access high technology. A telephone browser on the server can enable someone without a computer or modem to call the web site and listen to the content of that website. Currently I am working on this feature for internet voting. Government will reap tremendous savings and increase election participation by enabling people to vote by telephone. This is just the beginning of the many applications for the web, simply because the functionality found in the assistive computer world is now being mainstreamed to create new information appliances.
On the other hand, if accessibility is not implemented, the cost to society will be the erection of new barriers to both people with disabilities as well as people without the state of the art computer technology.
Good luck in your work.
Cynthia D. Waddell
---------------------------------------------------
Cynthia D. Waddell
ADA Coordinator
City Manager Department
City of San Jose, CA USA
801 North First Street, Room 460
San Jose, CA 95110-1704
(408)277-4034
(408)971-0134 TTY
(408)277-3885 FAX
http://www.rit.edu/~easi/webcast/cynthia.htm
http://www.aasa.dshs.wa.gov/access/waddell.htm
From: FERNANDO BOTELHO <fbotelho@interport.net>
To: f.godinho@mail.telepac.pt
<f.godinho@mail.telepac.pt>
Date: Sexta-feira, 23 de Julho de 1999 20:17
Subject: accessibility
Francisco,
Let me first apologize for writing in English... I am Brazilian but my
synthesizer situation right now makes it quicker to write in English.
I would just like to briefly add the following arguments to your
collection for Portuguese legislators:
1. Accessible sites are searchable and indexable by search engines which
makes it a very wise business decision to have accessible sites.
2. Web accessibility when considered at a design stage, is like wheelchair
accessibility when considered at a design stage for architects. It costs
next to nothing to implement. Finally, for something like accessibiloity
to be considered at a design stage it must be law.
3. Accessible sites are not only accessible to search engines but are also
accessible to individuals using voice-based clients. By this I mean not
just blind individuals but also sighted individuals accessing information
from their cellular phones or cars. Laws have to be future-compatible and
in this case could also prepare today's businesses for the next wave of
Internet use, which is the "internet-everywhere trend".
I hope these ideas are useful to you. I have to go back to work, but good
luck,
Fernando
Fernando H. F. Botelho
Work e-mail: Fernando_TAB@Altavista.net
Personal e-mail: FernandoBotelho@Altavista.net
Note: Cynthia D. Waddell, David A. Bolnick and Neill McBride were members of the International Accessibility Board that PASIG (Portuguese Accessibility Special Interest Group) invited to review the proposal of the Portuguese Internet Accessibility Guidelines submitted to the Portuguese Parliament.