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Thread: accessibility courtesy

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Number of posts in this thread: 4 (In chronological order)

From: Laurie Kamrowski
Date: Tue, Feb 18 2020 8:08AM
Subject: accessibility courtesy
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Hi everyone!

While looking through an open source textbook website, I noticed that they
have a pdf file labeled as accessible, but when I opened it - there is a
lot of scanned text with no alt text listed; the reading order is
incorrect; etc...

The file didn't appear to be created by the website itself, but a third
party. Is it considered rude to let them know? Due to the inaccessibility
of their file, my school has opted to remediate our versions, with
permission of the website. Should we share the remediated files with them
once finished, in the spirit of open source resource sharing?

Any input would be appreciated!

Thank you so much,

Laurie Kamrowski
She/Her/Hers
Accessibility Specialist
Mid Michigan College

From: chagnon@pubcom.com
Date: Tue, Feb 18 2020 9:49AM
Subject: Re: accessibility courtesy
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I'd "gently" let them know that the file isn't accessible and note the 3
most critical errors in the file.
-Bevi

- - -
Bevi Chagnon, founder/CEO | = EMAIL ADDRESS REMOVED =
- - -
PubCom: Technologists for Accessible Design + Publishing
consulting . training . development . design . sec. 508 services
Upcoming classes at www.PubCom.com/classes
- - -
Latest blog-newsletter - Accessibility Tips at www.PubCom.com/blog

-----Original Message-----
From: WebAIM-Forum < = EMAIL ADDRESS REMOVED = > On Behalf Of
Laurie Kamrowski
Sent: Tuesday, February 18, 2020 10:09 AM
To: = EMAIL ADDRESS REMOVED =
Subject: [WebAIM] accessibility courtesy

Hi everyone!

While looking through an open source textbook website, I noticed that they
have a pdf file labeled as accessible, but when I opened it - there is a lot
of scanned text with no alt text listed; the reading order is incorrect;
etc...

The file didn't appear to be created by the website itself, but a third
party. Is it considered rude to let them know? Due to the inaccessibility of
their file, my school has opted to remediate our versions, with permission
of the website. Should we share the remediated files with them once
finished, in the spirit of open source resource sharing?

Any input would be appreciated!

Thank you so much,

Laurie Kamrowski
She/Her/Hers
Accessibility Specialist
Mid Michigan College
http://webaim.org/discussion/archives

From: glen walker
Date: Tue, Feb 18 2020 11:59AM
Subject: Re: accessibility courtesy
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I often let companies know about inaccessibilities of their website or
digital documents. I typically word it from the perspective of a customer
trying to access the information and what's causing the problem and then
add that I'm an accessibility consultant and give them a few technical
recommendations. I always use a passive voice and not sound accusatory.
"Gentle" is how Bevi put it.

For example, in your PDF case where it contained scanned images without
alternative text, I would say something first about how I appreciate them
providing an accessible document, as worded on their website, but that I
noticed a few things in the document that couldn't be accessed by a screen
reader (or some assistive technology) and ask if they're still working on
the accessibility of that document.


On Tue, Feb 18, 2020 at 9:50 AM < = EMAIL ADDRESS REMOVED = > wrote:

> I'd "gently" let them know that the file isn't accessible and note the 3
> most critical errors in the file.
> -Bevi
>
> - - -
> Bevi Chagnon, founder/CEO | = EMAIL ADDRESS REMOVED =
> - - -
> PubCom: Technologists for Accessible Design + Publishing
> consulting . training . development . design . sec. 508 services
> Upcoming classes at www.PubCom.com/classes
> - - -
> Latest blog-newsletter - Accessibility Tips at www.PubCom.com/blog
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: WebAIM-Forum < = EMAIL ADDRESS REMOVED = > On Behalf Of
> Laurie Kamrowski
> Sent: Tuesday, February 18, 2020 10:09 AM
> To: = EMAIL ADDRESS REMOVED =
> Subject: [WebAIM] accessibility courtesy
>
> Hi everyone!
>
> While looking through an open source textbook website, I noticed that they
> have a pdf file labeled as accessible, but when I opened it - there is a
> lot
> of scanned text with no alt text listed; the reading order is incorrect;
> etc...
>
> The file didn't appear to be created by the website itself, but a third
> party. Is it considered rude to let them know? Due to the inaccessibility
> of
> their file, my school has opted to remediate our versions, with permission
> of the website. Should we share the remediated files with them once
> finished, in the spirit of open source resource sharing?
>
> Any input would be appreciated!
>
> Thank you so much,
>
> Laurie Kamrowski
> She/Her/Hers
> Accessibility Specialist
> Mid Michigan College
> > > at
> http://webaim.org/discussion/archives
> >
> > > > >

From: Jonathan Cohn
Date: Tue, Feb 18 2020 1:27PM
Subject: Re: accessibility courtesy
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I have run into cases where the owner of the site says they don't own the copyright, and therefore cannot modify the document at all. I personally don't know the legal aspects of such.

> On Feb 18, 2020, at 10:08 AM, Laurie Kamrowski < = EMAIL ADDRESS REMOVED = > wrote:
>
> Hi everyone!
>
> While looking through an open source textbook website, I noticed that they
> have a pdf file labeled as accessible, but when I opened it - there is a
> lot of scanned text with no alt text listed; the reading order is
> incorrect; etc...
>
> The file didn't appear to be created by the website itself, but a third
> party. Is it considered rude to let them know? Due to the inaccessibility
> of their file, my school has opted to remediate our versions, with
> permission of the website. Should we share the remediated files with them
> once finished, in the spirit of open source resource sharing?
>
> Any input would be appreciated!
>
> Thank you so much,
>
> Laurie Kamrowski
> She/Her/Hers
> Accessibility Specialist
> Mid Michigan College
> > > >