- From: Cynthia Waddell <Cynthia.Waddell@psinetcs.com>
- Date: Fri, 11 Jan 2002 11:42:04 -0800
- To: "Simon White" <simon.white@jkd.co.uk>, "David Poehlman" <poehlman1@home.com>, "Charles McCathieNevile" <charles@w3.org>, "SHARPE, Ian" <Ian.SHARPE@cambridge.sema.slb.com>
- Cc: "WAI \(E-mail\)" <w3c-wai-ig@w3.org>
Mr. White makes an excellent point. The primary reason for accessible web design is to enable the broadest range of users to reach the content of the website. Laws protecting the rights of individuals with disabilities to access this content have come about because barriers have prevented this protected class from participating in the benefits of the Internet. For example, as many of you may know, access to information, whether it be via print or the Internet, has been recognized by the United Nations as a human right. Cynthia Waddell --------------------------------------- Cynthia D. Waddell, JD Ciber Principal Consultant Subject Matter Expert Accessibility Center of Excellence (800)547-5602 or Fax (800)228-8204 ACE Offices are located at San Jose, CA, Sacramento, CA and Raleigh, NC USA San Jose Office: PO BOX 5456 San Jose, California USA 95150-5456 http://www.icdri.org/cynthia_waddell.htm -----Original Message----- From: Simon White [mailto:simon.white@jkd.co.uk] Sent: Friday, January 11, 2002 9:53 AM To: David Poehlman; Charles McCathieNevile; SHARPE, Ian Cc: WAI (E-mail) Subject: RE: Legal requirements RE: statistics Yes, but they are both *accessibility* issues, so let's not lose site of that. I wouldn't want to reiterate my previous posts on this subject, but surely accessibility is the key here, and promoting it whether there is a legal requirement or not should be high on the agenda. I know for a fact that the UK government takes this issue very seriously and will shortly be producing legislation that includes websites in a more explicit nature. But, we shouldn't need to think of the legal aspects, we should be thinking: who will use this service? Well, I bet as many pounds/dollars/euros that you want that a disabled person would be interested in pretty much any service that was available on the Web, because they are no different to me in any aspect - i.e. they listen to music, they surf the Web, they buy grocieries, they need medical advice, etc, etc, etc, etc... Am I wrong? I just feel that it is a shame that we have the need for this kind of legislation when we are all human beings, not something to be labelled. *grin* Kind regards and a happy weekend to all Simon White -----Original Message----- From: David Poehlman [mailto:poehlman1@home.com] Sent: Friday, January 11, 2002 17:36 To: Charles McCathieNevile; SHARPE, Ian Cc: WAI (E-mail) Subject: Re: Legal requirements RE: statistics the aol issue was not a web issue but a software issue. ----- Original Message ----- From: "Charles McCathieNevile" <charles@w3.org> To: "SHARPE, Ian" <Ian.SHARPE@cambridge.sema.slb.com> Cc: "WAI (E-mail)" <w3c-wai-ig@w3.org> Sent: Friday, January 11, 2002 12:13 PM Subject: Legal requirements RE: statistics Ian, Actually I believe that the Americans with Disabilities act would also apply to the Web (it was the law under which an American blindness organisation sued AOL over accessibility of their service), and to more organisations thatn are covered by section 508. Definitely the equivalent Australian legislation applies, as shown by the case of Maguire v SOCOG - the "Sydney Olympics case". There are other countries with similar legislation - the UK and Portugal are two that I know of. I think the big issue is, as you say, awareness - not just of the fact that it has to be done, but also how it can be done. The Education and Outreach group of WAI - http://www.w3.org/WAI/EO works on promoting this information, and they have a page on policies that are known to cover Web accessibility in various countries. (I am not a lawyer - if you want real legal facts you need a skilled lawyer with experience of the particular area, or a very skilled one who can learn it) cheers Charles McCN On Fri, 11 Jan 2002, SHARPE, Ian wrote: Simon, couldn't agree more with your sentiment but sadly am not so confident that legislation will ensure sites are made accessible. As far as I'm aware only 508 in the US ensure sites/software purchased by US government be accessible. (That's my understanding anyway, maybe I'm wrong?) Even this limited legislation isn't even true in the UK. It should be!! And the rest!! The other big problem we have is simply awareness of accissiblity issues. _____________________________________________________________________ VirusChecked by the Incepta Group plc _____________________________________________________________________
Received on Friday, 11 January 2002 14:39:57 UTC