Politics: Humanity of Web Designers

At 9:58 AM +0900 12/17/00, Davey Leslie wrote:
>Both you and Kynn raise valid points. Professional web designers have set up
>shop between content providers and end users. The best design therefore
>would be the simplest: feather-light and nearly transparent. But working
>like this requires an intelligence, maturity and a fundamental humanity that
>will never turn a young web designer into a rock star.
>But this is surely the toughest nut to crack: what to do about a basic lack
>of humanity. Punish it? Educate it? A little of both? A lot of both?

As I did before with Charles, I have to take you to task, Davey, for
ascribing moral failings to people who are doing their jobs as they
are paid and trained.

Web designers who make inaccessible web pages do _not_ lack "fundamental
humanity".  They do _not_ lack intellect.  They do _not_ lack
maturity.

At worst, they are ignorant of certain issues -- just as most of us
on this list are ignorant of their issues (and stubbornly refuse to
dispel our ignorance, which is tragic) -- but that is not a moral
failing, just a lack of awareness.

Web designers should be considered as potential students; as untrained
troops who need to be educated, not as stupid, immature, morally
bankrupt young punks who are "the enemy."  They are people who -are-
on our side, they just don't know it yet, and if we share with them
what we know, without condemning, we have a vast army of people who
go around spreading the good news.  If we try to fight a jihad against
them, we will only die ourselves.

Therefore, I urge strongly that you reconsider any proclamations that
these graphical artists have a "basic lack of humanity" -- nothing
could be more untrue nor more insulting, nor, ultimately, more self-
destructive to our cause.

--Kynn
-- 
Kynn Bartlett <kynn@idyllmtn.com>
http://www.kynn.com/

Received on Sunday, 17 December 2000 13:34:56 UTC