Re: ACollab Work Groups 1.1 Content accessible?

> Perhaps someday AChecker could evaluate uploaded content, but that's a
> ways off. AChecker is a web content accessibility verifier. It evaluates
>  HTML. Though you could use HTML files with ACollab, users would
> probably  be more likely to be sharing MSword docs, text files, or some
> other  non-web format.
Yes, That is what I am having problems trying to solve.  When someone
uploads an article, for instance in word format, how do you make sure it
is converted to accessible html on the fly?  If web desingers didnt have
to adapt the uploaded files for accessibility, their acceptance of an
accessible web would be more open.

>
> Forcing authors to make their content accessible, though perhaps
> desirable, is not practical from a business perspective. If they don't
> like being forced, they will use someone else product that does not
> force accessibility upon them.
> There has to be legislation to enforce
> this type of requirement. You're better off making the accessibility
> tools available, and informing your users, than forcing them to abide
> (in most cases).
>

I think they should be forced, and the legislation, though not quite there
at the moment, is certainly headed there.  I think having a tool to
convert the different files into something accessible would be a good
start.  I believe having the authoring tools force accessibility while
creating the documents would eliminate these problems.  As to companies
using other products, if the accessibility were forced with little extra
effort on the user, I would think they would use the product.  I believe
the choice of a product would be for other reasons where accessibility
forcefullness being at the bottom.

-Steve

Received on Monday, 14 June 2004 20:45:10 UTC