- From: John Foliot <foliot@wats.ca>
- Date: Thu, 26 Jul 2007 14:30:48 -0700
- To: <steve@w3.org>, <timbl@w3.org>, <jbrewer@w3.org>, <connolly@w3.org>
- Cc: "'wai-ig list'" <w3c-wai-ig@w3.org>, <wai-xtech@w3.org>, <public-html@w3.org>, <www-html@w3.org>
Mr. Bratt, Mr. Berners-Lee, Ms. Brewer, Mr. Connolly, I am writing today regarding an issue that both shocks and profoundly disappoints me. While I understand that to a large extent there is little that can be done at this point, I personally feel that the issue I am referring to should be brought directly to your attention, as it indirectly affects the reputation and public position of the W3C. As you are no doubt aware, there is much expedited work happening on "HTML5". Since the integration of this work into the W3C, there has been a more public dialogue regarding the shaping of this new specification. One group who have sought to jump into the discussion is those who have worked individually and collectively to advance the cause of Web Accessibility. Sadly, much of the input that this concerned community has offered to the principle authors has been often dismissed or argued, and not always in a productive or positive tone. In fact it would not be inaccurate to characterize it as often hostile [http://www.w3.org/QA/2007/06/html5-call-to-web-professionals.html]. Today, transcripts of the HTML5 Working Groups IRC discussion serve to illustrate how insensitive and antagonistic these authors are, and how their whole attitude towards the goals of web accessibility appear to be marginalized and trivialized. While comments drifted in and out, I would point you to [http://krijnhoetmer.nl/irc-logs/whatwg/20070701#l-225] as a place to start, and read through to (and slightly past) the section regarding "smell-o-vision", and the comments regarding people who lack a sense of smell. While these may be seen as simply innocuous, "private" comments, the fact that they are publicly recorded and associated to the HTML-WG should be of concern. I wish I had simple answers... I wish the web was simple - it's not. But when the people who are entrusted to refine, revise, and re-author the web carry attitudes as illustrated by these semi-personal thoughts/comments, it cause me, and others who care about web accessibility, to be sad, scared, disappointed and ultimately frustrated. If this is how they (members of the HTML-WG) really feel, will our concerns truly be understood and addressed. I find it hard to believe that the answer could be yes, and these comments tend to cement that feeling. I will leave it to the "Powers-that-be" within the W3C to address this gaff; I would hope that at the very least the offending commenters offer a public apology for their lack of sensitivity. Moving forward, I truly hope that web accessibility is properly addressed within the HTML-WG, not as an also-ran, bolt-on obligation, but as a fully formed mandatory requirement - not just because some use-case/test-case indicates it's a good idea, but because treating all humans as equal is a fundamental aspect of humanity - it needs no further use-case requirement. Sincerely, John Foliot
Received on Thursday, 26 July 2007 21:31:12 UTC