- From: Ann Navarro <ann@webgeek.com>
- Date: Fri, 18 Feb 2000 13:19:36 -0500
- To: Dick Brown <dickb@microsoft.com>, lake@netscape.com, WAI Interest Group Emailing List <w3c-wai-ig@w3.org>
- Cc: thatch@us.ibm.com, "Gregory J. Rosmaita" <unagi69@concentric.net>, pjenkins@us.ibm.com
At 09:59 AM 2/18/00 -0800, Dick Brown wrote: >At 9:36 AM 2/18/2000, Ann Navarro wrote: > >> Sites can be single-A compliant without even trying if they use valid HTML >and even marginal design sense. > >Ann, I respectfully disagree. > >I think Web site owners *should* devote whatever resources and money are >necessary to make their sites accessible. But it is simplistic to say that >sites can be Single-A compliant just by using valid HTML and "even marginal >design sense." There are all sorts of goals to consider when designing a >site, and accessibililty is just one of them. Other goals include making >money, appealing to diverse audiences, being visually appealing, and fitting >in with a corporate image. Web developers are not magicians - they have to >work hard to balance the design requirements of those various goals. Without any disrespect to Dick or Lakespur, this is pretty disheartening coming from usability and program manager staff at the major browser vendors. Web designers are not magicians, but nor is fitting accessibility in with those goals a magic act. I'll happily hold up the HTML Writers Guild site as a site that a: makes money (and we're not talking pennies here), appeals to a diverse audience, is visually appealing, and fits in with our corporate image. It's valid, it has some fun design elements (a few that work better currently in IE than NN (though that's not an endorsement :) )), and it's single-A compliant. It *cost us* no more to produce the site in that manner than it would have to leave off ALT attributes, not include a doctype, and rely on color alone for meaning, etc (see the checkpoints for priority 1 guidelines). If *we*, as people who are interested in accessible design, and as people who are in a position to influence other designers say 'well, it can cost money, and often that's just asking too much', we've skewered our own efforts before even beginning. Lead by example. Ann --- Just Released! - HTML BY Example Now shipping - Mastering XML Also in print: Effective Web Design: Master the Essentials Founder, WebGeek Communications http://www.webgeek.com Vice President-Finance, HTML Writers Guild http://www.hwg.org Director, HWG Online Education http://www.hwg.org/services/classes
Received on Friday, 18 February 2000 13:19:49 UTC