WebAIM - Web Accessibility In Mind

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Re: Using Tables

for

From: Donna Lettow
Date: Feb 13, 2012 7:00AM


Steve Faulkner:

>many aspects of HTML5 are here right now and being used so it makes sense take it into account.Part of the accessibility support problem is/has

> been that what is in specs and what is supported are not always the same thing.

> As accessibility practitioners we need to be mindful of this and provide best practise advice based on implementation realities.

As someone who is not currently a programmer/developer, but whose charge it is to ensure accessibility to my vocational rehabilitation constituents -- many of whom do not have access to the latest and greatest technology and who cannot afford to update JAWS each and every time Freedom Scientific releases a new version, and many of whom are not technologically savvy enough to know that people on Internet mailing lists mock the versions of Internet Explorer that they run (or that they run Internet Explorer at all) because they've never been taught how to update it - I worry that this rush to embrace the shiny new toys of HTML5 and ARIA is going to leave behind an accessibility underclass who won't have the equipment or the navigation skills to keep up.



When you're building your shiny new Ferraris for the Power Users, please make sure the little old lady who just wants to drive to the supermarket still can.



Donna Lettow

Staff Specialist, Electronic Accessibility & Internal Communication

MD Division of Rehabilitation Services






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