both sides of the argument have strong weight I think and I am personally undecided as I have read through the emails coming...
BUT even though I support a government site, which puts accessibility as a fairly high priority and rightly so for a site of that nature, I do agree with Taz's argument that perhaps the decision should ultimately stay with whoever is creating the website or service Sites such as banks, large E-commerce, government should perhaps make efforts to ensure accessibility because there is a good chance that people who need it will be using the services however, i have a site I run for my football club, there is an external link from the league website but it doesn't get many hits from outside of our club members, all of which I know have no disabilities such as blindness - so, why should I build in accessibility to a site such as that? i don't think it is fair to have the risk of being sued for not doing so either (not that it is likely but the principle remains nice light hearted debate for a Friday afternoon :o/ ;o) -----Original Message----- From: Ian Westbrook (FDM) [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: 16 April 2004 13:30 To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: Re: [ cf-dev ] Website accessibility in the UK > I do agree it may be difficult to prosecute larger companies tho... only from the perspective of the cost of litigation. It's actually _easier_ to prosecute large companies, I would imagine, because they can't argue mitigating factors (ie cost) as an issue. 'So, Mr Nat West, you're owned by Royal Bank of Scotland, which made �6.5billion in pre-tax profits last year. Why isn't your web site accessible?'... Ian W ----- Original Message ----- From: "Damian Watson" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sent: Friday, April 16, 2004 1:23 PM Subject: RE: [ cf-dev ] Website accessibility in the UK > I don't think that's true though Neil- you can't argue that there's a > major degradation of experience on anything other than a Flash site and > why you need a site to be in Flash is in most cases questionable. > > If you manage/ own a public space then you have to follow certain > procedures- if everyone could get away with it then there would be very > little disabled access etc -- then you would have a two tier exclusive > situation. The same is true of websites, they are a public space in a > similar sense. > > I do agree it may be difficult to prosecute larger companies tho... > > -----Original Message----- > From: Robertson-Ravo, Neil (RX) > [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] > Sent: 16 April 2004 13:14 > To: '[EMAIL PROTECTED]' > Subject: RE: [ cf-dev ] Website accessibility in the UK > > I would be very very surprised if someone could successfully proceed > with a > case and win against a site which does not include or adhere to > accessibility "guidelines" - agree with Taz, its entirely up to the > freedom > of speech and thought how you move forward with a site.... > > There would be uproar if someone shut a site down as in some cases you > could > counter the whole scenario by saying that by making it accessible may > lead > to the whole experience being degraded which means able-bodied (or > whatever > term you want to use) are being discriminated against..... > > It's a no win situation whatever way you look at it. > > > > > -----Original Message----- > From: Taz [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] > Sent: 16 April 2004 13:04 > To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > Subject: Re: [ cf-dev ] Website accessibility in the UK > > > well, the DRC _is_ the enforcenment body, and if you read the foreword > > > of the report Bert Massie, the (disabled) Chair, states quite clearly > > that > they > > will be launching actions against companies, or supporting disabled > > people who want to do so. They have the power to close web sites down > > if, after advising about the issues, the site takes no notice/action. > > I'll apologise in advance for being politically incorrect, but I can't > fathom why it should be illegal for a site not to be accessible to every > user. > > Effectively it's more of a problem for the company involved, who may be > losing a potential revenue stream, but essentially it's up to them who > they > target their advertising and services at. > > Okay, so you could call it discrimination, but then by the same token > you > could argue that book publishers are being discriminatory by not making > all > of their books available in Braille or audio. In fact, why aren't we > getting > sued for not translating sites into 60 different languages? Hey, that's > xenophobia isn't it? Chinese sites for all! 2 billion people can't all > be > wrong. > > Don't get me wrong, I'm all for accessibility for all. And since nearly > all > of my work has to conform to RNIB guidelines (among others), I tend to > build > in accessibility from the start. But I get the feeling that all this > political correctness is getting just a little out of hand. > > I agree that sites should be accessible to as many people as possible. > But > if the Government want to get the electronic UK on the map as the best > in > the world, why don't they offer incentives to businesses to implement > these > things, instead of the draconian attitude of biting off the hand that's > paying taxes. > > Oh crap! I've gone all serious again. > > Nob Giblets! > > Taz > > > -- > These lists are syncronised with the CFDeveloper forum at > http://forum.cfdeveloper.co.uk/ > Archive: http://www.mail-archive.com/dev%40lists.cfdeveloper.co.uk/ > > CFDeveloper Sponsors and contributors:- > *Hosting and support provided by CFMXhosting.co.uk* :: *ActivePDF > provided > by activepdf.com* > *Forums provided by fusetalk.com* :: *ProWorkFlow provided by > proworkflow.com* > *Tutorials provided by helmguru.com* :: *Lists hosted by > gradwell.com* > > To unsubscribe, e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > This e-mail is from Reed Exhibitions (Oriel House, 26 The Quadrant, > Richmond, Surrey, TW9 1DL, United Kingdom), a division of Reed Business, > Registered in England, Number 678540. It contains information which is > confidential and may also be privileged. It is for the exclusive use of > the > intended recipient(s). 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