- From: David Poehlman <poehlman@clark.net>
- Date: Tue, 26 Oct 1999 16:53:34 -0500
- To: Claude Sweet <sweetent@home.com>
- CC: Al Gilman <asgilman@iamdigex.net>, W3c-wai-ig@w3.org
if they can make it at all, they can make it accessible. we'll accept no more excuses. Claude Sweet wrote: > > Al, > > Do your comments apply if the following conditions exist: > > 1. A small, moderately capitalized company what to establish an Intranet > 2. None of the existing employee's have any disabilities > > Is it realistic to expect small companies to expend a large percentage > of > its resources on a solution for which there isn't an existing problem? > > I believe most companies will allocate their resources to expand their > business > opportunities, maximizing market potential for existing products, and > funding new > product research. > > These companies do not have "deep pockets" to do the planning that > ideally > takes place in Fortune 500 companies. > > In the business world decisions are frequently based on short term > goals. > Remaining in business takes immediate precedent over lofty goals of 5 > and > 10 year plans. > > Claude Sweet > Educational Technologist > > Al Gilman wrote: > > One magnitude that I don't see anyone addressing in business-credible terms > > is the curb cut effect for universal design of internal web communications. > > Doing the up-front homework to design the intranet practices for any > > browser, or for WAI compliance, will result in intranet content which is > > _more_ effective communication with _all_ employees, totalled across the > > employee population without regard for disability. It is not just that you > > won't lose effectiveness, you will gain. Making the words tell the story > > independent of the pictures, and the pictures tell the story independent of > > the words, will reduce employee time spent and error rate in extracting > > information from the intranet. But I don't know how much. I would really > > love to see Pugh or Arthur Andersen Consulting or somebody with credibility > > among the readers of the Wall Street Journal attempt to measure the > > cost-benefit curve for this effect. > > > > This gain in communication effectiveness is the major economic incentive > > for the employer, not the threat of lawsuits. Employers can play the law > > game very effectively against employees because of the increasing returns > > to scale in lawyer-buying. > > > > Businesses implementing intranets need to realize that the Web is an infant > > industry, and Best Commercial Practice (a.k.a. what the market will bear) > > is not really very good yet. If they want to play smart and get ahead of > > the curve they will use the WCAG in an internal communications quality > > program and have a happier, better informed and better bonded workforce. > > And business (to read the WSJ) generally understands that that is an > > enterprise asset worth investing in. > > > > Al -- Hands-On Technolog(eye)s Touching The Internet: mailto:poehlman@clark.net Voice: 301.949.7599 ftp://ftp.clark.net/pub/poehlman http://poehlman.clark.net Dynamic Solutions Inc. Best of service for your small business network needs! http://www.dnsolutions.com ---sig off---
Received on Tuesday, 26 October 1999 16:54:05 UTC