WebAIM - Web Accessibility In Mind

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Re: Data in tables or lists with accessibility and responsive design in mind

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From: Steve Green
Date: Feb 11, 2014 4:25PM

I would have a slightly different recommendation. Report bugs to the vendors but publish code that works right now. In my view it is irresponsible to publish code that *should* work but doesn't. Sadly there are a number of people who are perfectly happy to publish code that they know doesn't work, and say it's not their problem if browsers and ATs don't render that code according to standards.

In some cases people are using ATs that pre-date the standards, and in some cases the standards do not fully specify what the behaviours of the browsers and ATs should be. Not everyone can afford to upgrade to the latest AT version even in the Western world, let alone poorer parts of the world. And many people cannot quantify the benefit of a costly upgrade.

There is a disturbing narcissism in the development community. The most important people on any project are the project owner and the end user. Everything that developers do should be done with the intention of supporting them. But some developers, designers and consultants choose to pursue their own agenda even when it is not in the best interest of the people they should be serving. In my view that is not professional.

Steve Green