RE: the ramp to nowhere:

You are right, your point is not moot (some what irrelevant, but still
not moot). If we are ignoring the digital medium of the web in this
argument, a Braille document is as accessible to a sighted user as the
same document written in Spanish, Italian or Asomtavruli. In the written
world, it is probably easier to write the document in English (if you
are in the U.S.) and hire a reader for the user who might need it on
tape.  So even though the document is written in a non-accessible
format, the organization can make it accessible.

On the same lines, if we are talking about the digital world, writing a
website using a different language is not an accessibility issue, it's a
usability issue.  

There is markup to tell web browsers the language of the document and
changes in language within the document (Sorry, I don't think you can do
Asomtavruli).  And yes, if you access a website that is written in a
language that you do not speak will cause you to have usability
barriers, the similar to the sighted person trying to read a Braille
document.

Juan C. Ulloa   [ x2487 ]


>  
>  no, a sighted user can see and feel braille, there is nothing that a
>  blind
>  user can do about images on the web.
>  
>  Johnnie Apple Seed
>  
>  ----- Original Message -----
>  From: "Juan Ulloa" <julloa@bcc.ctc.edu>
>  To: "wai-ig list" <w3c-wai-ig@w3.org>
>  Sent: Thursday, August 26, 2004 10:38 AM
>  Subject: RE: the ramp to nowhere:
>  
>  
>  
>  David Poehlman said:
>  
>  > So, if braille is inaccessible
>  >  to the sighted, than, it follows that a site that is unusable to a
>  blind
>  >  person using assistive technology even though it is coded with all
>  >  accessibility techniques in play leaving out all the checks that
>  cannot
>  >  be
>  >  done automatically is also inaccessible since as with the braille,
>  the
>  >  sighted can read it with their eyes and even with their fingers if
>  they
>  >  are
>  >  capable of doing so and the assistive technology user can access
all
>  the
>  >  information on the web page, it's just not meaningfull or usefull
>  which
>  >  gives her the feeling that it is not accessible.
>  
>  That depends; is there Braille reading software that can read the
>  content to a sighted user? So, in that sense, Braille text is
>  *inaccessible* to a sighted user the same way an image containing
text
>  is *inaccessible* to a blind user.
>  
>  The point is moot.
>  
>  Juan
>  
>

Received on Thursday, 26 August 2004 15:42:06 UTC