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Re: list etiquette

for

From: John Foliot
Date: Dec 7, 2009 5:39PM

Keith Parks wrote:
>
>
> Other lists I've been on have been over the "top quote" versus "bottom
> quote" debate many times, usually ending with everyone doing whatever
> they want. Given this lists atypical audience, is there a recommended
> way to do it with accessibility in mind, other than trimming quotes
> judiciously?

It has been my experience that most daily users of screen readers prefer /
tend-to-use top posting, which of course pre-supposes that the discussion
thread is top-of-mind. However, for those users, it gets them to the
current information quickly, with little to no effort. However I suspect
for those with cognitive issues this could be a significant comprehension
issue - those users would likely benefit most from inter-woven responses
placed directly after judiciously edited prior comments. True "bottom
posting", especially without prior editing is both cumbersome and tiring
for many AT users - both screen readers but at times mobility impaired
users who must scroll all the way to the bottom of a lengthy posting -
heck I get annoyed with that.

So I guess you know which one I prefer right? The inter-woven response
method requires the most amount of work to the author, but IMHO it truly
is the best option for the majority of end users - and it certainly trains
frequent contributors to be both accurate and judicious in their writing -
a happy side-benefit which results in higher quality content for all
concerned. (And if I can further pipe in - leave your fancy HTML emails
for the family - 'business' emails are best written in plain text)

Just my $0.02

JF
===========================John  Foliot
Program Manager
Stanford Online Accessibility Program
http://soap.stanford.edu
Stanford University
Tel: 650-862-4603

SOAP is a program directed by the
Vice Provost for Student Affairs
============================