- From: William Loughborough <love26@gorge.net>
- Date: Thu, 31 Aug 2000 07:17:39 -0700
- To: Jonni Burnham <Jonni.Burnham@tasc.dot.gov>
- CC: w3c-wai-ig@w3.org
JB:: [quoting DOT Webmaster] "We want to make sure the work we do on
converting pdf formats to html is thorough, but we also want to
make
sure that the converter is the best place to start"
WL: There are two (at least) things: conversion success is almost
totally dependent on original designer's attention to issues (frequently
this is mostly total unawareness of the issue); anything short of
initial attention renders a result, even a "converted" version, with a
result having a frustration index (FI) of about 11 on a scale of 10.
Keep in mind that the trivial part (straight text conversion) is a very
minor part and that in the instant case (schedules, etc. - table
intensive info) the information about the layout started *and remained*
visual in concept. The original designers, being usually blindless,
weren't even aware that the tables were merely a means of representing
data for easy visual access - oblivious to other access means. It's
built in to the "sighted culture" and to date efforts to mend the
inherent attitude are fairly futile.
--
Love.
ACCESSIBILITY IS RIGHT - NOT PRIVILEGE
Received on Thursday, 31 August 2000 10:15:51 UTC