Dedication to Len Kasday will be removed from the WAI Glossary

In response to a polite request (siphoned expertly through a good friend
of mine as the messenger), to "though this is difficult to ask, could
you remove the dedication to 
Len? (*from the WAI Glossary*) People have expressed discomfort seeing a
memorial at the beginning of a glossary........."

Lucky for me that I have a very dear friend that gives truly spectacular
advise and direction, in a compassionate forgiveness-fostering fashion.
A quality that I believe Len Kasday had......as well as......admired in
others.

On reflection of that sage advise...........and NOT as a result of the
somewhat pathetic state of the "facts" which constrain me.........YES, I
will remove the dedication in this WAI Glossary that I made to Len
Kasday's memory. Rather than continuing to ride my anger, and thereby
endangering meaningful and important friendships (with the living), I
capitulate. You win. Bravo.

Len Kasday was/is a man who inspires me greatly. I believe that most
people involved in campaigning for an accessible world and web, are here
BECAUSE of their humanity and compassion. I feel that the recollection
of those people who do this work, and, the reaffirmation that they are
important to us, by giving us inspiration, direction and
hope.........are good and meaningful things to do.  Len is the reason
that I decided to take on the WAI Glossary work in the first place.

As the primary editor of the WAI Glossary, people have approached me
often (of course, only in the positive), about the inclusion of the
memorial to Len. This is one of the reasons that it was so important to
me that it remain.

But I do not need to use a WAI document as my own personal bully-pulpit.
I think I can best find my answer in..........what would Len have
wanted/advised me to do?  What would be the best thing to do (in this
personal-private struggle) for furthering the "Cause"?  There-in lies
the simple answer. That recognition can be more appropriately expressed
elsewhere, and the WAI Glossary can obviously be a very useful document
without this dedication to him.

So, the mention of Len Kasday is stricken from the opening of the
Glossary, where to many it was comforting and inspirational, but to an
important few it provided "discomfort".........and sent respectfully,
for the time being, to the bottom of the document, to later be mentioned
in the official sanctioned "Acknowledgements" section.

I am pouting a bit, but will easily recover........one of the most
surprising aspects about this whole issue that sort of exploded/imploded
today..........was that when I suggested to Ian Jacobs that this issue
be sent to x-tech and/or WAI CG for a consensus of what others might
like to see done with this problem...........he said..........in this
circumstance, a majority consensus probably would make no
difference..........would not be the determining factor! Process (and
the "responsible adults") would rule.

When I was running my own business, it got so tiring being the
"responsible adult", it is so much more fun to be the "righteous
irritating juvenile"...........;-)............Katie

Hopefully...........by exposing my human frailty...........I myself will
not be stricken from this esteemed body, by a similar
"process"................. 


Katie Haritos-Shea
Vice Chair, INCITS V2

Internet/Software/Device Accessibility and Standards
Strategist/Developer/Evangelist

#571-220-7777
mailto:ryladog@earthlink.net


"The best and most beautiful things in the world
     cannot be seen or even touched.
    They must be felt with the heart."
                - Helen Keller

Received on Friday, 1 November 2002 15:52:13 UTC