Re: Call for Review: Improving Access to Government through Better Use of the Web

Hi Anna,

(Note that your message was sent only to me and not to EOWG.)

In the EOWG telecon today, we agreed that EOWG would focus on coverage of accessibility to people with disabilities (including older users with accessibility needs due to ageing) in our review of this eGov document.

EOWG will not address broader issues in the document. Individuals and organizations are welcome to address other issues directly to the eGovernment Interest Group via public-egov-ig@w3.org

Regards,
~Shawn



Anna.Zhuang@nokia.com wrote:
>  Dear EOWG,
> 
> I can not join the call today. I will be sending ARIA comments directly to PFWG and will send comments on Improving Access to Government through Better Use of the Web to EOWG list once I finish reading the document. 
> 
> Anna
> 
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: w3c-wai-eo-request@w3.org 
>> [mailto:w3c-wai-eo-request@w3.org] On Behalf Of ext Shawn Henry
>> Sent: Thursday, March 26, 2009 2:48 AM
>> To: Sharron Rush
>> Cc: EOWG
>> Subject: Re: Call for Review: Improving Access to Government 
>> through Better Use of the Web
>>
>> Thanks for the thoughts, William & Sharron. I think it would 
>> be good to focus our discussion (and probably comments) in two areas:
>> 1. specifically how do we suggest that this document address 
>> accessibility and people with disabilities and older users 2. 
>> generally how to change the approach as you discuss below
>>
>> Looking forward to your further thoughts on this!
>>
>> ~Shawn
>>
>> Sharron Rush wrote:
>>> William, you are right about the ponderousness (is that a word?) of 
>>> this document, which seems to be precisely why we should review and 
>>> recommend.  And you are right that "eGovernment cannot survive being 
>>> just a remap of outmoded/ineffective versions"  Several 
>> recent uses of 
>>> the web for governance and related activities like elections have 
>>> proven that point.
>>> So perhaps one of the first recommendations is that this entire 
>>> document and the thinking behind it needs to be accessible in the 
>>> broadest sense.  Last year at the UDEM conference in 
>> Monterrey, Mexico 
>>> there was quite a bit of activity around "Citizen Language" and the 
>>> need for governments to be mindful of it.  In that spirit, this 
>>> document should lead from example.
>>>
>>> If we accept that basic premise, how else can we help make this 
>>> document do the work we would like for it to do?  The web 
>> provides a pretty
>>> unprecedented format to allow for government transparency.   I don't 
>>> know enough about who participates on this working group, but the 
>>> structure and the language seems opaque as it is now and counter to 
>>> the goals they espouse.  Let's help them understand that, and let's 
>>> help facilitate the multi-dimensional, citizen-led dialog 
>> that serves 
>>> people best.
>>>
>>> WAI seems to me like a great place for that to occur, don't 
>> you agree?
>>> So, with William's astute comments in mind, I will try to 
>> read through 
>>> and make more specific comments in the next few days.
>>>
>>> Onward, through the fog,
>>> Sharron
>>>
>>>
>>> William Loughborough wrote:
>>>> As usual, I come late to this dance. As I read the fairly ponderous 
>>>> Introduction I am struck by the near-total inattention to the 
>>>> citizens' role in deference to the governments' roles. This is a 
>>>> pervasive trend leading from the ideals of the Web towards yet 
>>>> another top-down version of what we are about. One thing we must 
>>>> provide to this undertaking is the Disability Rights 
>> Movement's central mantra:
>>>> "Nothing About Us Without Us" - and this goes well beyond 
>>>> Accessibility for People With Disabilities - all the way to pure 
>>>> Usability/Accessibility for People (full stop).
>>>>
>>>> I don't know what to do about this as it seems to be permeating so 
>>>> much of our effort. So I will raise this flag but don't really know 
>>>> what else to do.
>>>>
>>>> *Quit maintaining that there must be some central authority 
>> in all of 
>>>> these matters. eGovernment cannot survive being just a remap of 
>>>> outmoded/ineffective versions of a bunch of fat/old/white 
>> men running
>>>> everything.*
>>>>
>>>> Love.
>>>>
>>>> On Wed, Mar 25, 2009 at 9:43 AM, Shawn Henry <shawn@w3.org 
>>>> <mailto:shawn@w3.org>> wrote:
>>>>
>>>>     EOWG participants,
>>>>
>>>>     Please review "Improving Access to Government through Better Use
>>>>     of the Web" at http://www.w3.org/TR/egov-improving/ from an
>>>>     accessibility outreach and education perspective, that 
>> is, how the
>>>>     document addresses accessibility, people with disabilities, and
>>>>     older users with accessibility needs.
>>>>
>>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>
>

Received on Friday, 27 March 2009 16:00:09 UTC