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Re: Check of an Accessibility Statement

for

From: Chris Price
Date: Jun 10, 2005 3:36PM

On 10/6/05 2:13 am, "Paul Bohman" < <EMAIL REMOVED> > wrote:

> Lisa Snider wrote:
>> I have created an accessibility statement for my site ...
>> http://gaccin.pair.com/ghosty/accessibility.htm
>> I wanted to get some feedback on it. ...
>

> it seems a little condescending to me, even though it's not meant to be.
> It calls attention to the fact that people with disabilities have
> special needs and that Web developers must put in extra effort to
> accommodate them.

Stating that your website meets the standards whereby special needs are
accommodated seems reasonable, and a brief explanation of access keys seems
appropriate but the impression I get from this this statement is that the
author is trying to impress me that he/she understands the issues and how to
build websites accordingly rather than seeking to inform.

It could be likened to explaining browser differences. I don't explain how I
went the extra mile getting this site to work in Internet Explorer or
explain how my links change colour so you can tell you've been there.

When I design a website I don't want the visitor to be aware of why the
website works like it does, I just want it to behave like they expect it to.
Who wants to know that all the images have alt tags?

As a statement I would say its unnecessary and its kind of weak technically,
e.g. colour blindness is not a technical term and 'alt' is not a tag.

--
Chris Price

Choctaw

<EMAIL REMOVED>
http://www.choctaw.co.uk