Thread Subject: Re: Authoring Tools -- Wiki section added

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From: William Loughborough
Date: Wed, Jul 25 2007 1:20 PM

Robinson, Norman B - Washington, DC wrote:
> My suggestion for resolving these concerns:
> 1. Remove the section on authoring tools. Rationale is they are
> no different than any other software!
>
The rationale falls a bit short because of historical reasons.
"Authoring Tools" as commonly understood are different from other
software in that they have a "meta" character to them: they "create"
other software than themselves and in the case of the Web they have
provided a long-term barrier to producing accessible Web content, so
deserve special attention.

Although it is possible to write Web content using a simple text editor,
virtually nobody does that: we all use special tools to prepare such
materials. Those special tools merit close attention because they've
been repeatedly/demonstrably shown to contribute inordinately to
problems of inaccessibility. Just as the Ku Klux Klan isn't simply an
organization for social togetherness, so Authoring Tools aren't merely
ordinary software, they are culprits in repeated offenses against
accessibility.

Love.

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