- From: Chuck Hitchcock <chitchcock@cast.org>
- Date: Thu, 7 Sep 2000 15:16:11 -0400
- To: <paciello@webable.com>, <david@davidsaccess.com>, "Kynn Bartlett" <kynn-edapta@idyllmtn.com>, "Kathleen Anderson" <kathleen.anderson@po.state.ct.us>, <w3c-wai-ig@w3.org>
You guys play rough -- and I agree with both sides of the discussion. The Bobby icon is now widely recognized, was not intended to represent authority, and is problematic now that Bobby is used on every continent. We realize that some Websites avoid using the icon because it is a cop or, in some cases, because it seems too goofy. It is true that Bobby is more well known than CAST, a small not-for-profit educational technology R & D organization. Briefly, the Bobby icon was originally intended to represent the friendly English cop on the beat prepared to prevent problems before they occur. Only later did it occur to us that an English cop might be viewed as a symbol of authority or even imperialism in some parts of the world. We had modest expectations at the time. We have commissioned the design of a new icon and it will be available soon but we do not intend to change the name of the accessibility tool. Bobby will remain Bobby. Your comments are appreciated and confirm our own concerns with the current icon. I sort of wish we could keep but its gotta go. By the way, I thought that Bobby got a pretty good review in the 9/4/00 GNC at http://www.gcn.com/vol19_no26/news/2841-1.html. The author told me that it was highly unusual for Government Computer News to evaluate freeware. Chuck __________________________________ Chuck Hitchcock Chief Education Technology Officer, and Director, National Center on Accessing the General Curriculum, CAST, Inc., 39 Cross Street, Peabody, MA 01960 Email chitchcock@cast.org Voice +1 978-531-8555 x233 TTY +1 978-531-3110 Fax +1 978-531-0192 <http://cast.org/> <http://cast.org/bobby/>
Received on Thursday, 7 September 2000 15:17:10 UTC