WebAIM - Web Accessibility In Mind

E-mail List Archives

Re: Re[2]: Include default text?

for

From: Philip Kiff
Date: Oct 22, 2004 8:26AM

Someone wrote:
> WAI or W3C icons are a lot about showing off, they don't
> fulfil any real purpose.

and Patrick wrote:
> If at all necessary, I wouldn't be adverse to finding such
> badges on a separate accessibility statement page, but not
> plastered on the front page of a site (except for the
> "fizzy good feel nice" effect it gives the developers and/or
> site owners)

I've not heard these arguments against putting accessibility icons on home
pages before. I guess there is a good point there that the accessibility
icons (be they the W3C icons, or Bobby, or whatever) are not generally
useful for many users who have a disability - for one thing, they are
unreliable indicators of whether a site is actually accessible. And perhaps
I am personally a bit guilty of putting icons on pages to "show off" or for
the "fizzy good feel nice" effect that it gives me, sometimes ;-) . But I
would argue that what Glenda and Matt suggest about the purpose of
accessibility icons is much more relevant:

Glenda wrote:
> Perhaps its for the average AB [able-bodied] user to raise
> awareness about Web accessibility.

and Matt wrote:
> Of course, it also promotes accessibility and standards in
> general...when someone sees it for the first time it may
> turn them on to the whole movement!

People on this list may know all about accessibility and the difference
between the various icons, but for many, many webmasters and CEOs and
Marketing and Communications managers, web accessibility is still something
mysterious, misunderstood, or unknown. In this context, the purpose of
accessibility icons can be twofold:
- to symbolize the commitment of a web site, or of an organization, to
accessibility issues, and web accessibility in particular
- to raise awareness about "web accessibility" as an issue for the general
population, including web designers and managers

The same argument would hold true for why one might want to use an icon
which said "Valid CSS" or "Valid XHTML". I don't think that these icons
serve a practical function for a user. Rather, they are a part of a
marketing (read: "disability awareness") strategy which supports either the
promotion of the organization attached to the website that displays the icon
("Hey look at us we meet this accessibility standard!"), or the promotion of
the principles attached to the icon ("Hey look at this, did you know there
was a web accessibility standard?").

In this context, I have in the past argued that it was better to use the W3C
icons as opposed to the Bobby icons, since the W3C icons represent a
standard which is open and international (albeit flawed), instead of one
which depends on proprietary software to evaluate.

Phil.

*****************************************
Philip Kiff
Networking & Information Consultant
New Brunswick Easter Seal March of Dimes