Re: Multiple versions of a web page

it takes good research like compairing sets of standards.  When wcag
v1.0 was first being developped, there was a lot of input on it.  Things
admittedly have changed a lot since them and some even for the good.

----- Original Message -----
From: "Kynn Bartlett" <kynn-edapta@idyllmtn.com>
To: "Scott Luebking" <phoenixl@sonic.net>; <poehlman1@home.com>;
<w3c-wai-ig@w3.org>
Sent: Monday, December 24, 2001 2:45 PM
Subject: Re: Multiple versions of a web page


At 8:19 AM -0800 12/24/01, Scott Luebking wrote:
>in a way goes back to the question that I was asked by some CHI-WEB
>people, especially in light of Jakob Nielsen's report.  How much
>is accessibility improved by the guidelines?  How is this improvement
>measured?

I think this is an excellent question that needs to be addressed by
the WCAG working group; I think it's vitally important that we have
some testable metrics not only to whether or not our guidelines are
being met, but also to what degree that improves (or doesn't improve)
access by our core audiences.

If Nielsen's work teaches us nothing else, it should teach us that
standard empirical methods of research and study can be applied to
accessibility and it's not just pie-in-the-sky hopes and personal
anecdotes. [*]

--Kynn

[*] Yes, I am aware that many organizations, e.g. TRACE, have been
     doing research on such matters for years; however, I still see
     very little of hard, citable research going into guideline
     development, and a lot more weight is given to the dogmatic
     desires of markup purists or to a few random, unsupported
     assertions by people with or without disabilities.

--
Kynn Bartlett <kynn@idyllmtn.com>                 http://kynn.com
Chief Technologist, Idyll Mountain            http://idyllmtn.com
Web Accessibility Expert-for-hire          http://kynn.com/resume
January Web Accessibility eCourse           http://kynn.com/+d201

Received on Monday, 24 December 2001 14:57:45 UTC