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Thread: Bureau of Internet Accessibility (BOIA) ?

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Number of posts in this thread: 7 (In chronological order)

From: James Bailey
Date: Fri, Oct 26 2012 5:09PM
Subject: Bureau of Internet Accessibility (BOIA) ?
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Anyone heard of or worked with this group? This is *not* a promotion. I was asked about this organization and I know nothing about them.

http://www.boia.org/

Thanks in advance.

--
Best regards,

James

--

James Bailey M.S.
Adaptive Tech Coordinator
University of Oregon

From: John Foliot
Date: Fri, Oct 26 2012 5:27PM
Subject: Re: Bureau of Internet Accessibility (BOIA) ?
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James Bailey wrote:
>
> Anyone heard of or worked with this group? This is *not* a promotion. I
> was asked about this organization and I know nothing about them.
>
> http://www.boia.org/
>
> Thanks in advance.
>

Trust your instincts.

You can get a free scan just about anywhere - we all know that it covers
about 25% of the accessibility issues that can be tested exclusively by a
machine. Then sign up for the repeat scan service, which will continue to
scan for those 25% issues for a nominal charge (right?).

Who are the folks behind this organization? What other methodologies do they
use in their evaluations?

I don't mean to cast aspersions, but... (the name alone, and the associated
branding artwork that alludes to the idea that it is some kind of government
agency... ya...)

JF

From: Karen Mardahl
Date: Sat, Oct 27 2012 5:32AM
Subject: Re: Bureau of Internet Accessibility (BOIA) ?
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On Sat, Oct 27, 2012 at 1:09 AM, James Bailey < = EMAIL ADDRESS REMOVED = > wrote:

> Anyone heard of or worked with this group? This is *not* a promotion. I
> was asked about this organization and I know nothing about them.
>
> http://www.boia.org/
>
>
I don't know them, but I am one of many who was annoyed by their Twitter
behavior. They keep following people - as in, follow, then unfollow,
followed by a new follow! I have no clue why they do this. Maybe like a
puppy wanting attention? They ended up being blocked by a number of people
according to tweets I saw, myself included.

They could be a fine company, but their social media behavior has lost them
some credibility.

Regards, Karen Mardahl

From: Ryan E. Benson
Date: Mon, Oct 29 2012 9:11PM
Subject: Re: Bureau of Internet Accessibility (BOIA) ?
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I've seen the same behavior as Karen, but haven't blocked them yet. As John
mentioned they have sort of scan. I had somebody at work ask about them,
and essentially told them if they could point me to which agency they were
under, I'd do more. I think the name is to trick people, but they're not as
bad as essential accessibility of whatever that other group is.

--
Ryan E. Benson
On Oct 27, 2012 7:33 AM, "Karen Mardahl" < = EMAIL ADDRESS REMOVED = > wrote:

> On Sat, Oct 27, 2012 at 1:09 AM, James Bailey < = EMAIL ADDRESS REMOVED = > wrote:
>
> > Anyone heard of or worked with this group? This is *not* a promotion. I
> > was asked about this organization and I know nothing about them.
> >
> > http://www.boia.org/
> >
> >
> I don't know them, but I am one of many who was annoyed by their Twitter
> behavior. They keep following people - as in, follow, then unfollow,
> followed by a new follow! I have no clue why they do this. Maybe like a
> puppy wanting attention? They ended up being blocked by a number of people
> according to tweets I saw, myself included.
>
> They could be a fine company, but their social media behavior has lost them
> some credibility.
>
> Regards, Karen Mardahl
> > > >

From: Chagnon | PubCom
Date: Mon, Oct 29 2012 9:55PM
Subject: Re: Bureau of Internet Accessibility (BOIA) ?
← Previous message | Next message →

BOIA is listed with the BBB, the Better Business Bureau. From their BBB
webpage, they are located in Providence, RI (USA) and headed up by Mark
Shapiro.
http://www.bbb.org/boston/business-reviews/information-bureaus/bureau-of-int
ernet-accessibility-inc-in-providence-ri-122715/

Don't know much else about them.
--Bevi Chagnon

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
www.PubCom.com - Trainers, Consultants, Designers, Developers.
Print, Web, Acrobat, XML, eBooks, and U.S. Federal Section 508
Accessibility.
New schedule for classes and workshops coming this fall and winter.
- It's our 31st year! -

-----Original Message-----
From: = EMAIL ADDRESS REMOVED =
[mailto: = EMAIL ADDRESS REMOVED = ] On Behalf Of Ryan E. Benson
Sent: Monday, October 29, 2012 11:12 PM
To: WebAIM Discussion List
Subject: Re: [WebAIM] Bureau of Internet Accessibility (BOIA) ?

I've seen the same behavior as Karen, but haven't blocked them yet. As John
mentioned they have sort of scan. I had somebody at work ask about them, and
essentially told them if they could point me to which agency they were
under, I'd do more. I think the name is to trick people, but they're not as
bad as essential accessibility of whatever that other group is.

--
Ryan E. Benson
On Oct 27, 2012 7:33 AM, "Karen Mardahl" < = EMAIL ADDRESS REMOVED = > wrote:

> On Sat, Oct 27, 2012 at 1:09 AM, James Bailey < = EMAIL ADDRESS REMOVED = > wrote:
>
> > Anyone heard of or worked with this group? This is *not* a
> > promotion. I was asked about this organization and I know nothing about
them.
> >
> > http://www.boia.org/
> >
> >
> I don't know them, but I am one of many who was annoyed by their
> Twitter behavior. They keep following people - as in, follow, then
> unfollow, followed by a new follow! I have no clue why they do this.
> Maybe like a puppy wanting attention? They ended up being blocked by a
> number of people according to tweets I saw, myself included.
>
> They could be a fine company, but their social media behavior has lost
> them some credibility.
>
> Regards, Karen Mardahl
> > > list messages to = EMAIL ADDRESS REMOVED =
>
messages to = EMAIL ADDRESS REMOVED =

From: Kim Testa
Date: Tue, Oct 30 2012 12:53PM
Subject: Re: Bureau of Internet Accessibility (BOIA) ?
← Previous message | Next message →

Hi Everyone,
The behavior on Twitter was brought to my attention, and I agree, it is unacceptable.
This was the work of an inexperienced social media employee.
We have remedied the behavior and I assure you that it will not happen and again.
My apologies to anyone who has been affected negatively.
I am available to talk directly with anyone who has any questions or comments.

Kim Testa - 401.383.5332 or = EMAIL ADDRESS REMOVED =



-----Original Message-----
From: Chagnon | PubCom [mailto: = EMAIL ADDRESS REMOVED = ]
Sent: Monday, October 29, 2012 11:56 PM
To: 'WebAIM Discussion List'
Subject: Re: [WebAIM] Bureau of Internet Accessibility (BOIA) ?

BOIA is listed with the BBB, the Better Business Bureau. From their BBB webpage, they are located in Providence, RI (USA) and headed up by Mark Shapiro.
http://www.bbb.org/boston/business-reviews/information-bureaus/bureau-of-int
ernet-accessibility-inc-in-providence-ri-122715/

Don't know much else about them.
--Bevi Chagnon

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
www.PubCom.com - Trainers, Consultants, Designers, Developers.
Print, Web, Acrobat, XML, eBooks, and U.S. Federal Section 508 Accessibility.
New schedule for classes and workshops coming this fall and winter.
- It's our 31st year! -

-----Original Message-----
From: = EMAIL ADDRESS REMOVED =
[mailto: = EMAIL ADDRESS REMOVED = ] On Behalf Of Ryan E. Benson
Sent: Monday, October 29, 2012 11:12 PM
To: WebAIM Discussion List
Subject: Re: [WebAIM] Bureau of Internet Accessibility (BOIA) ?

I've seen the same behavior as Karen, but haven't blocked them yet. As John mentioned they have sort of scan. I had somebody at work ask about them, and essentially told them if they could point me to which agency they were under, I'd do more. I think the name is to trick people, but they're not as bad as essential accessibility of whatever that other group is.

--
Ryan E. Benson
On Oct 27, 2012 7:33 AM, "Karen Mardahl" < = EMAIL ADDRESS REMOVED = > wrote:

> On Sat, Oct 27, 2012 at 1:09 AM, James Bailey < = EMAIL ADDRESS REMOVED = > wrote:
>
> > Anyone heard of or worked with this group? This is *not* a
> > promotion. I was asked about this organization and I know nothing
> > about
them.
> >
> > http://www.boia.org/
> >
> >
> I don't know them, but I am one of many who was annoyed by their
> Twitter behavior. They keep following people - as in, follow, then
> unfollow, followed by a new follow! I have no clue why they do this.
> Maybe like a puppy wanting attention? They ended up being blocked by a
> number of people according to tweets I saw, myself included.
>
> They could be a fine company, but their social media behavior has lost
> them some credibility.
>
> Regards, Karen Mardahl
> > > list messages to = EMAIL ADDRESS REMOVED =
>

From: Rick Hill
Date: Tue, Oct 30 2012 3:34PM
Subject: Re: Bureau of Internet Accessibility (BOIA) ?
← Previous message | No next message

Ran a scan on their site. Their pages have issues (HTML, CSS and WCAG2). For this page, for instance:

http://www.boia.org/seal/scan/

36 error(s): Parsing: 2, HTML: 20, CSS: 1, WCAG v2 A: 13 and 1 warning(s): Link: 1

Have some color issues. Content order doesn't match styled order. Three skip nav links. None exposed to sighted users using keyboard navigation.

Just wondering aloud if they have a good testing tool …
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