RE: any suggested alternatives to accessible version

Hi Roger and all

I recently saw a website that said "if you are using a screen reader, please click here" and it then presented a more stream-lined website which had all of the functionality of the original site, however more resembled a site used with CSS off.


Regards

Vivienne L. Conway, B.IT(Hons), MACS CT
PhD Candidate & Sessional Lecturer, Edith Cowan University, Perth, W.A.
Director, Web Key IT Pty Ltd.
v.conway@ecu.edu.au
v.conway@webkeyit.com
Mob: 0415 383 673

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________________________________________
From: David Woolley [forums@david-woolley.me.uk]
Sent: Thursday, 16 February 2012 5:19 PM
To: Roger Hudson
Cc: w3c-wai-ig@w3.org
Subject: Re: any suggested alternatives to accessible version

Roger Hudson wrote:

>
>  From previous research I know that many web users do not understand
> what the term “accessible” means when it comes to web content. This
> appears to be particularly the case with older users of the web.

"easy to use"

The real problem though is that web pages are advertising and in
advertising you must not use anything that has negative implications
about your product.  Saying that there is an easy to use version of the
site implies that the main site is not easy to use (which while probably
true, is not something that the designer would want to admit, even to
themselves).  To be suitable for advertising copy, the words chosen must
not suggest that there is anything wrong with the main site.

"accessible" is a positive word, but sufficiently jargon that it doesn't
signal anything to the general public whilst still allowing someone
trained to use such pages to find it.

--
David Woolley
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Received on Thursday, 16 February 2012 08:54:46 UTC