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Re: WCAG 2 and Javascript

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From: Steve Green
Date: May 13, 2009 6:25AM

Steve, I trust that you passed on all of your concerns when WCAG 2.0 was in
its last call?

And what would you prefer? Sticking with WCAG 1.0, in all its outdated glory
that does not aknowledge any of today's web (other than simply saying "don't
do it")? Or a static document that sets out exact SCs for each individual
technology, making it again instantly outdated as soon as new tech gets
used?

Back in 1999 there were only a handful of technologies available, and sites
were simple...nowadays, with the number of technologies, complexity of
online systems, etc, real accessibility is a complex topic, which
unfortunately can't be boiled down into a simple 5 page tech requirements
document.

--

Patrick, you are taking a developer-centric view, but the WCAG are not
supposed to be about developers - they are about the users. I take a
user-centric view, and my opinions are based on the results I see in user
testing. And what I see is that all these new technologies cause
accessibility barriers that did not used to exist.

As they stand, the guidelines are impenetrable to most people, and I fear
that even fewer developers will attempt to follow them. And we are now
seeing AA-compliant websites that have very poor 'real world' accessibility,
which has been a concern from the start.

I have no problem with people who want to use PDFs, Flash or whatever
technology they want. Just don't try to pretend they are accessible because
they are not (or at least they present significant barriers). WCAG 2.0 gives
a false sense of confidence, and that's why I don't like it.

Steve