WebAIM - Web Accessibility In Mind

E-mail List Archives

RE: LIFT Text Transcoder

for

From: Philip Kiff
Date: Jul 26, 2006 11:50AM

On July 26, 2006 12:50 EST, Jason Taylor wrote:
> Too many times people over react to positive efforts organizations
> make towards supporting assistive users just because it does not fit
> their view, much like in this case. The University of Georgia are
> very committed to web accessibility in many forms, including
> encouraging creating good code from the start and aids such as
> the LIFT Text Transcoder.

Perhaps my comments imply a too-harsh criticism of the University of
Georgia's commitment to accessibility, and if so, I apologize for that. I
don't know anything about UGA or the history of their website or commitments
to accessibility; it was just happenstance that led me to look at the UGA
site as an example. I meant to criticize their implementation of the LIFT
Text Transcoder in their current site for the reasons outlined.

This is a fairly specialized mailing list that has seen more than its share
of harsh criticism levelled at products in the past. It seemed as good a
place as any to engage with these issues.

> Over criticizing organization that have dedicate time and resources to
> better support assistive users will only have a long term negative
> effect.

I disagree with this sentiment. While overly harsh criticism may cause some
people to associate negative feelings with issues related to web
accessibility, it is often (and demonstrably) an effective means to push an
organization towards change. So the long term real effect of harsh
criticism can be positive, while the short term effect may be negative.

Phil.