Re: Netscape

I submit that if I am stuck with a particular technology, telling me to
change technologies is not a way to step across this issue.

----- Original Message -----
From: "Kynn Bartlett" <kynn-edapta@idyllmtn.com>
To: "RUST Randal" <RRust@COVANSYS.com>; "WAI (E-mail)"
<w3c-wai-ig@w3.org>
Sent: Monday, January 14, 2002 1:51 PM
Subject: RE: Netscape


At 1:48 PM -0500 1/14/02, RUST Randal wrote:
>Netscape does not support the <label> tag.
>
>Therefore, if I build a form and use the <label> tag, and the user has
a
>disability, and is viewing my site with Netscape, how is the browser
going
>to understand the form?
>
>Does that make more sense?

It makes some degree of sense, but there are still additional
questions such as:

(1) Which versions of Netscape don't support <label>?
(2) What is the user's specific disability?
(3) What assistive technology is the user employing?
(4) How would or should that assistive technology interface with
     Netscape to display <label>?
(5) If the user is using assistive technology with software that
     doesn't work right (this version of Netscape which doesn't
     support <label>), why does the user expect to be able to
     access forms correctly?

I think the answer to your question as written currently is, "well,
there obviously won't be any connection between the <label> and the
input field, and so the browser probably won't understand the
form."

But my question would be "how many users with disabilities which
make <label> useful " -- which primarily means blind or visually
impaired users -- "are using Netscape 4 anyway?"

If a browser doesn't support markup necessary to make accessible
pages, then anyone with special needs really should consider the
idea of NOT using that browser.

"Hi, my panda doesn't seem to have wings. How is she going to be
able to fly?"

--Kynn

--
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
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Received on Monday, 14 January 2002 16:16:17 UTC