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Re: No decision from the Appeals court

for

From: Michael R. Burks
Date: Sep 28, 2004 11:44AM


If people are wondering about whether or not to make their web sites
accessible perhaps having them read what the Attorney General of NY did
about this issue.

http://www.oag.state.ny.us/press/2004/aug/aug19a_04.html

Sincerely,

Mike Burks

-----Original Message-----
From: khall51 [mailto: <EMAIL REMOVED> ]
Sent: Tuesday, September 28, 2004 1:20 PM
To: WebAIM Discussion List
Subject: Re: [WebAIM] No decision from the Appeals court



The headline writers don't appear to have actually read the legal brief or
understood what the Court said in this case. This was a matter of the
plaintiff's attorneys screwing up their arguments and procedural issues
rather than the merits of the case being weighed and ruled against. The
Court made this clear in their brief. CNET News should really be ashamed for
such shoddy and misleading headlines. It's really a shame because it is a
well written and carefully considered decision by the Appellate Court. They
clearly thought about the impact of the case and did not dismiss this out of
hand, they looked many reasons arguments and precedents pertaining to their
considering the new arguments being presented by the plaintiffs. I think
they did the right thing.

As to the legal standing of web sites with respect to the ADA, I think we
should be careful what we wish for. It's nice to be able to browbeat
business people into making accessible web sites in the short term, but do
we really want the buffoons in Congress legislating what good markup is? The
last thing I want is Orrin Hatch or Debbie Stabenow telling me how to build
a web site. That's the fastest way I can think of to make all web sites
worse. They won't bother to get input from people like us who care and
understand the technological issues and need for flexibility and innovation
in the future. They'll listen to whatever lobbyist or mega-corporation has
their ear.

We are probably better off in the long run if we argue that the ADA doesn't
apply to web sites and focus our efforts on educating web designers and
stakeholders in web sites on the importance of good accessibility and
usability practices. We've made huge progress recently in getting the word
out to designers and getting trend setters like ESPN and Wired to move
toward standards based design and thinking about accessibility, and I think
that's how we should keep moving forward. The courts and Congress are not
the right place to decide how web sites should be built.

-Kevin Hall
www.infinitewebdesign.com


-----Original Message-----
From: Jared Smith [mailto: <EMAIL REMOVED> ]
Sent: Tuesday, September 28, 2004 12:27 PM
To: WebAIM Discussion List
Subject: Re: [WebAIM] No decision from the Appeals court


> They didn't rule on the public accommodation
> issue because the appeal didn't raise that issue. They dismissed the
appeal
> on procedural grounds and did not consider the question of "public
> accommodation."

....and how much are these lawyers making?

The only thing more disappointing than the fact that the lawyers messed
up is the way in which the media is misinterpreting it. I don't read
"Disabilities Act doesn't cover Web..."
(http://news.zdnet.com/2100-9588_22-5384087.html) anywhere in the ruling.
The fact that the case was dismissed on procedural grounds does not
mean that it did not have merit.

Jared Smith
WebAIM (Web Accessibility In Mind)
Center for Persons with Disabilities
Utah State University

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