Strict Guidelines Considered Harmful

"In my experience, "realistic" is an industry code word for "requires little
effort and costs us nothing." Every -- EVERY -- standard ever imposed on
industry, from seat belts to emissions standards, has been met with
tremendous resistance and the cry of "be realistic." In my mind, what is
unrealistic is expecting people with disabilities to continue to accept
second-class status because industry doesn't want to be bothered."


Yeah, go to it Charles, I'll hold your coat. You tell 'em, and whilst they 
are out for the count I will bring up the humble pie I ate the other day 
right in their laps.

Of course the other consideration is the tendency in schools and colleges 
over here (UK) to teach simple drag and drop web building software, this 
makes life easy for the teachers as the kids can produce a web site without 
actually teaching them anything apart from how to use a mouse and what page 
attributes means. So they get a result. These kids are this afternoon's web 
builders.

12 years ago a customer of mine could not pay his bill so offered me his 
expensive but manual camera and a whole host of accessories in lieu of the 
debt. I took the offer, as I was still married then, and rich. (a wife can 
be a transitory thing, an ex-wife is for life)

I had been taking snapshots for years with expensive but automatic cameras, 
so once I was confronted by F stops, aperture settings, delayed flashes a 
whole host of complicated things I was totally lost. I had to go back to 
college in the evening to learn how to use it. And whilst I am currently 
having a short love affair/fling with my new digital camera, when I want to 
take a proper photograph I still use my old manual camera. Everything else 
are just snaps.


Paul Davis
www.ten-20.com The UK portal site for disabled people and associated 
professionals.

Received on Saturday, 16 December 2000 10:39:53 UTC