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Re: Lift Assistive

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From: Moore,Michael (Accessibility) (HHSC)
Date: Feb 10, 2016 12:16PM

If you have actually achieved WCAG AA compliance then I do not see a reason to continue to keep your Lift license, unless your web office is way overfunded and you just cannot figure out what to do with all of the money.

Seriously though, I think of these kinds of tools as a way to provide limited access while work is done to make everything work as it should. Once the work is done they should be retired.

Mike Moore
Accessibility Coordinator
Texas Health and Human Services Commission
Civil Rights Office
(512) 438-3431 (Office)

-----Original Message-----
From: WebAIM-Forum [mailto: <EMAIL REMOVED> ] On Behalf Of Thompson, Rachel
Sent: Wednesday, February 10, 2016 11:59 AM
To: WebAIM Discussion List < <EMAIL REMOVED> >
Subject: [WebAIM] Lift Assistive

Hi, esteemed list.

One of the web decision makers on our campus is asking for opinions on the Lift Assistive tool. It has been in use on our campus for a long time as a way to produce a text-only version of web pages.

I know text-only does not mean accessible and I think tools like this give our web teams the erroneous feeling that content is accessible when it is not. I also hate the lack of equity with separate-but-equal approaches.

If our web resources are created to meet WCAG 2.0 AA (our goal), is there a reason to keep our Lift Assistive license?

If you have an opinion or have faced similar questions, could you please share?

Much obliged,
Rachel

Dr. Rachel S. Thompson
Director, Emerging Technology and Accessibility Center for Instructional Technology University of Alabama