- From: Michael R. Burks <mburks952@worldnet.att.net>
- Date: Wed, 8 Jun 2005 19:04:50 -0400
- To: "'Mark D. Urban'" <docurban@nc.rr.com>, <w3c-wai-ig@w3.org>
Mark, Nicely said! Bam!!!! Kick it up a knotch! About time someone said it! Sincerely, Mike Burks -----Original Message----- From: w3c-wai-ig-request@w3.org [mailto:w3c-wai-ig-request@w3.org] On Behalf Of Mark D. Urban Sent: Wednesday, June 08, 2005 10:11 AM To: w3c-wai-ig@w3.org Subject: Standards vs. Guidelines (was: RE: Clear communication: (was RE: Re: Accessibility of "CHM" format resources) Stu and Jon bring up an interesting point - that is, why do people keep pointing at the various WAI Guidelines as Standards? The answer, of course, is that industry and governments use Standards all the time, as mechanisms to ensure normative activity. Without sounding like the esteemed Mr. Gilman (who is without a doubt one of the most verbally precise people I've met, in addition to being a great guy), what this means in real life is that governments and industry need to have a measurable, testable way to ensure that accessibility exists in a given web document, and to what extent. When people note that accessibility is a quality, not a quantity - and therefore not measurable except to an individuals' unique needs - one of two things happen: 1) Eyes roll and people say "Of course - I understand now" and then they go and use the automated tool and accept whatever comes out as a test and measure. 2) People agree, and then in frustration a specific user community (i.e. Blind folks with JAWS) is used as the metric for accessibility. So, the issue here for me (as both a regulator and an implementer) is that the WAI has consistently failed to write measurable, testable standards FOR THE WEB TECHNOLOGIES WITHIN THE W3C PURVIEW. The guidelines are, by definition, a "best practice" for any document on the Web in any form. What is needed is a Standard for HTML, XHTML, etc. that is specific, testable, and measurable. Such a Standard would be ideally submitted to ISO or ANSI/INCITS for fast-track incorporation. Regulators and industry could then reference the Standard, making it easy to keep pace with changes in technology. Regards, Mark D. Urban HHS 508 Project Manager New Editions, Inc 919-395-8513 murban@neweditions.net docurban@nc.rr.com -----Original Message----- From: w3c-wai-ig-request@w3.org [mailto:w3c-wai-ig-request@w3.org] On Behalf Of Stuart Smith Sent: Wednesday, June 08, 2005 4:31 AM To: w3c-wai-ig@w3.org Subject: RE: Clear communication: (was RE: Re: Accessibility of "CHM" format resources) Jon That isn't always the case. It's about how you fight the fight. If we start off believing all is lost then we are! This is more than contracts (as necessary as they are), if we don't tackle this problem now it will become imbedded. OK but for the bean counters out there. Let's put this problem in that perspective. If the current situation i.e. turning Guidelines into standards becomes the norm and therefore all that organisations will do. At some point a disabled user faced with a "compliant" but un-usable web site will launch the law suit. Then the house of cards will come tumbling down. The wizards will soon loose those govt contracts because their magic no longer works i.e. lost business, lost revenue. So that's the marketing dealt with. But I still say the real tragedy will be thousands locked out of the system and turned increasingly into second class citizens. Cheers Stu -----Original Message----- From: w3c-wai-ig-request@w3.org [mailto:w3c-wai-ig-request@w3.org] On Behalf Of Jon Hanna Sent: 08 June 2005 10:20 To: w3c-wai-ig@w3.org Subject: Re: Clear communication: (was RE: Re: Accessibility of "CHM" format resources) Stuart Smith wrote: > ---Then in that case Jon isn't time we shrugged our image of being wizards? I never liked it anyway :) I think the fight is worth having to try to make sure the Guidelines don't become the be all and end all of accessibilty. The people we are trying to help deserve better. > The "wizards" get the govt. contracts though. -- Regards, Jon Hanna "It is the most shattering experience of a young man's life when he awakes and quite reasonably says to himself, 'I will never play The Dane.'"
Received on Wednesday, 8 June 2005 23:05:09 UTC