Re: Feedback on "How to Make Presentations Accessible to All"

Thanks for the input, Matt.

~Shawn

Matt May wrote:
> Hi,
> 
>  
> 
> I had the chance to read this document, and I think it contains a great 
> deal of advice that’s relevant not only to accessible presentations, but 
> to good presentations in general. In fact, I think the W3C 
> Internationalization Activity and admin team may have even more to 
> contribute, should you be interested in broadening this into a general 
> best-practices document.
> 
>  
> 
> Here are my comments:
> 
>  
> 
> As usual, I chafe at statements that hint at absolute accessibility. The 
> title “How to Make Presentations Accessible to All” is such an 
> expression. There are several ways to improve this:
> 
>  
> 
> ·         Use “more accessible” rather than “accessible” (showing that 
> you are further along the continuum from where you started);
> 
> ·         Use “barrier-free” instead of “accessible to all” (showing 
> that you are working to eliminate architectural constraints, not 
> practice magic);
> 
> ·         Choose an example audience question other than “If you make 
> your sites fully accessible…”
> 
>  
> 
> While this is not strictly about human language, speakers of languages 
> other than that of the presenter exhibit most if not all of the same 
> traits as someone with a cognitive disability. I would add that to 
> Additional Benefits.
> 
>  
> 
> The term “raising the bar” isn’t the most confusing of expressions (and 
> is eerily similar to the name of a major accessibility initiative). I 
> would suggest something like “jumping the shark” instead.
> 
> 
> For presentations incorporating captions or interpreters, I would make 
> it clear that both should be visible to the greatest possible portion of 
> the audience, to avoid ghettoizing people who need them. That could be 
> incorporated under “Arrange for good visibility of the speaker and 
> interpreters.”
> 
>  
> 
> Thanks,
> 
> m
>

Received on Monday, 19 July 2010 12:57:32 UTC