RE: Challenge: Defining accessibility

Steve Baty wrote:
"Sorry, one further point here....approximately half of the world's
population has never made a telephone call. We have a long, long way to go
before Web content is accessible to this group."

Reply:
The WCAG can't address this problem: it isn't content-related. But the
guidelines certainly can address the needs of *everyone* who has a computer
and an Internet connection, regardless of how dated or slow their
computer/connection is.

Let's not read too much into my suggestion. I'm not suggesting that the WAI
solve the problem of world poverty (would that we could!). I'm suggesting
that accessibility requirements should not force Web pages/sites to become
too expensive to access (or to produce), and in fact should strive to erase
any such barriers that might already exist.

Charles F. Munat,
Seattle, Washington

Received on Tuesday, 24 October 2000 02:46:49 UTC