RE: Legal requirements RE: statistics

On Wed, 16 Jan 2002, RUST Randal wrote:

> In the U.S. Section 508 is a mandate for Federal agencies.  However, the
> ADA, which has requirements concerning "effective communication" applies to
> all covered entities.  This is according to the U.S. Department of Justice.
> The way I view it is that if a company has buildings that must be wheelchair
> accessible, then their subsequent web site should be accessible to those
> with disabilities.
> 
> Now, let's pretend for a moment that I am a lawyer, and that I have a client
> who is being sued by a user who says that my client's web site is
> inaccessible to them.  
> 
> For now, we will not specify a disability.  And my client is not a Federal
> agency.
> 
> However, let's continue and theorize that the plaintiff's lawyer provides
> the argument that their client cannot afford the money for new equipment, or
> is unable to upgrade their browser.  He or she argues that, on those
> grounds, my client should be providing content that is accessible in older
> browsers.

now let's throw into the mix the fact that the compainant is physically
unable to use (or use effectively) the newer browsers.

> How would I counter this?  I would say that, under the provisions of Section
> 508 and the ADA, it would provide an "undue burden" on my client to create a
> second version of their web site that is built on workarounds, and therfore

the backup to the lowest level (ASCII TEXT) will always be able to be
viewed by ANY browser that I am aware of, so what is the point of not
having that drop down level?   any site that has graphics that cannot be
worked around in text has a problem ?! 

> is non-compliant with the rules.  I would also say that the plaintiff
> chooses to continue to access the internet with hardware and software that
> does not comply with standards, and that my client cannot be made

what is the standard, if the standard excludes certain groups of people
then the standard could be declared illegal, it has happened in the past
with other standards.

> responsible for the internet experience of this one person.  I would also

rarely is it one person, it is usually one person who gets fed up and sues
but it is very rarely just "one person"

> say that, in the U.S., you can get current copies of IE or Netscape almost

but not everyone can use IE or Netscape of any version, where do you think
the other browsers came from...from LYNX to Kconquerer and Mozilla

> anywhere.  You don't have to download them.  And I know for a fact that many
> of the computer-industry magazines (Internet Works, Computer Arts, Create
> Online), which are sold in Europe come with CDs that have current versions
> of the browsers on them.  

and why would a visually impaired person for example buy a print
magazine???

Bob

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Received on Wednesday, 16 January 2002 10:11:22 UTC