Re: Web video accessibility

>
> I will not forget their faces and the desire to connect. and for many of them lynx is the advanced browser.
>

I'd still like to see data which substantiates your claim that this is "common".

As long as we (accessibility people) continue to treat accessibility
as an all-or-nothing topic, people who are not accessibility people
will continue to regard us as unreasonable hysterics.  With all due
respect, your messages on this topic do more to substantiate this
all-too-common feeling.  Statements like "the web is not accessible
until everyone can use it.  and I define "everyone" as everyone." are
extremely unreasonable and fail to take into consideration the fact
that other things matter, too - sometimes just as much as
accessibility and frankly some things even more than accessibility.

I remember talking to someone right after the Target lawsuit was filed
and they said "Good! I hope NFB bankrupts them!".  I've heard other
statements aimed at JetBlue and major US Government agencies like SSA,
SBA and IRS.  Everytime I hear things like that, it makes me
embarrassed for the person who said it.  What people like this fail to
understand is that these companies and organizations still have a job
to do.  In the case of the government, for instance, they still need
to fulfill the mandate set forth upon them from the taxpayer.  They
still need to do the job that their country's citizens have asked (and
funded) them to do.  Educational institutions still need to educate
students.  Private companies still need to conduct commerce.

The person who said they wanted Target to go bankrupt was so
myopically focused on accessibility, they ignored the fact that Target
employes 355,000 people across 1750 locations in the United States and
are a major employer in Minneapolis.  "Bankrupting" Target because of
an inaccessible website would have done far more harm than good, but
people with such extremist views don't seem to understand or care
about this.

Wanting every website on earth to be accessible to everyone is a great
idea. I'd love it. Its funny, because it would put me out of a job,
but I think it would be a great thing.  Maybe I'd go work in the music
business again or something.    *Expecting* the web to be accessible
to everyone is unrealistic.  Its like expecting politicians to be
honest. It won't happen, and beating our chests about it won't do
anything but make outsiders more resistant to the idea.

Instead, what we need to do is understand that, as John put it:
Perfection is the enemy of the good.  We need to place reasonable
expectations on organizations and their developers. We need to guide
them toward making the highest impact changes first and deferring that
which takes more time. We need to educate them and give them guidance
on practical and realistic approaches that work for *most* people in
*most* circumstances and understand that there may be some cases where
not *everyone* can be accommodated in every situation.

Karl

Received on Wednesday, 17 August 2011 18:25:34 UTC