Re: WCAG 2.0 and JAWS

Karen, well said. I was about to respond, but you took the words right off
my keyboard.  :-)

David Best, Advisory IT Specialist and Accessibility Consultant
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From:	Karen Lewellen <klewellen@shellworld.net>
To:	"Patrick H. Lauke" <redux@splintered.co.uk>
Cc:	w3c-wai-ig@w3.org
Date:	07/24/2012 02:21 PM
Subject:	Re: WCAG 2.0 and JAWS




a comment below...

On Tue, 24 Jul 2012, Patrick H. Lauke wrote:

> On 24/07/2012 17:32, Ryan Jean wrote:
x>>  I?m not sure how to ask this, but does JAWS have a limit for
meeting the
>>  criteria for WCAG 2.0? In other words, does JAWS 12.0 meet the
criteria?
> Your question is confusing two concepts: JAWS/IE/etc are User Agents, and

> you're asking how they meet the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines?
That
> doesn't make sense.

Indeed it does not, however this is a mistake that is far too often made.
Those who are responsible for access, do not fully understand what it
means,
finds a single individual  experiencing a certain disability often
blindness, asks what they use, and then check based on what they use.
lets face it the disability experience has poor pr and rich stereotypes,
with many still stuck at...what do you mean disabled person using a
computer?
Many populations get skipped all together where access is concerned
because of the miss focused only on vision loss.
Many end users make the same mistake, that their screen reader is
responsible for how web content is presented, not that the concepts are
different, or that the site Creator must build an open site.
My understanding is that the wcag is basically road construction
information.  you build the road correctly and the user agents should be
able to swing it.  Which is why basic road building rules are n place and
basic browsers recommended for testing so some foundation exists.
still this question illustrates what I personally think is a serious
situation here.
All of you work so very very hard.  i sit and read in total awe and
respect
of and appreciation  for what you put into creating these standards.
...then I watch all that energy wasted preaching to the choir!
What I mean by this is that there is no, or not that I have ever noticed
major effort to educate the general public, those who may be small
business owners learning about wcag 2.0 for the first time, those iin
political arena who are being told that this is the standard they are
to follow, even the end user who thinks because it is what they are told,
that it is the screen reader's job to fix the website....in fact those who
are supposed to create an open door say as much.

There is even a tool marketed called essential accessibility that
represents itself as the only thing you need for anyone regardless of
disability experience to use your site...no site design creation with
access in mind required.
I need not share that the tool fails at this.  But those choosing to add
it work from the idea that they are insuring an open door so never check
again.  after all every disabled person lives the same right?...i. am.
not. kidding.

This frankly is due to little effort on anyone uniform part to bridge
the gap information wise.
Mind if I ask why this is?
I am sure all of you are far too intelligent to think that most sites are
created by those in your own industry?
Especially given how the standards are written in your industry jargon?
will wait for some thoughts before I share more,
Karen

WCAG specifically deals with how content should be
> authored, not what user agents should do with it. For that, you need to
look
> at UAAG (User Agent Accessibility Guidelines).
>
> P
> --
> Patrick H. Lauke
> ______________________________________________________________
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Received on Tuesday, 24 July 2012 19:58:57 UTC