Gordon... How do you propose I handle making my site accessible to those who are blind and deaf? Should all developers be required to code sites that can be printed in Braille by specially designed million dollar systems?
The Internet, even as many forms of media as it employs, simply cannot be for everyone, as the radio cannot accommodate the deaf and TV cannot accommodate the blind. I'm not insensitive to various people's needs, but there are always those whose needs are simply greater than *all* developers/companies can accommodate. Ski resorts aren't required or expected to make their slopes and lifts accessible to those without legs. Accommodation taken to the extreme bankrupts everyone, except for the government, which can always demand more tax money to pay for the accommodations. My point is, there has to a degree of inaccessibility that is acceptable. Bottom line... everyone in everyone situation simply cannot be accommodated, as callous as that may sound. And I believe that for people with poor eyesight (and as I age, mine is getting worse) a "screen magnifier" is a better overall solution than simple text-enlargement. I want and need to be able to view photographs and graphics on the screen, not just read about them or have them described to me by a screen reader. And this has nothing to do with political correctness. I couldn't care less about being politically correct. I just believe in doing what's right. But, again, there has to be a line which people aren't expected to cross when it comes to accommodation. Rick > -----Original Message----- > From: jquery-en@googlegroups.com [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Gordon > Sent: Friday, February 15, 2008 9:14 AM > To: jQuery (English) > Subject: [jQuery] Re: a small accessibility rant > > > I'm sorry, but your attitude sucks. As a) a jQuery developer and b) a > person with serious eyesight problems I always take great care to > ensure code I develop doesn't impose accessibility issues. It really > isn't that hard and your callous attitude towards doing work that's > not only "politically correct" and the right thing to do but is also > mandated by law in some places demonstrates a lazy slipshot work-ethic > on your part. > > We're interviewing for new staff at the moment and I'm being asked to > evaluate the PHP/Javascript guys as that's my central areas of > responsibility. Any CV I had in front of me that demonstrated your > kind of attitude would go straight in the bin. > > On Feb 14, 5:16 pm, J Moore <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > Well, a pixel could be a tiny dot or it could be 5mm. So, really, > > isn't saying "font-size: 11px" proportional too? > > > > It sounds like your friend needs a better screen magnifier. Increasing > > just the font size in the browser is a hack. > > > > The one build into OS X (see 'universal access' in system prefs) is > > excellent. It just zooms the whole screen and everything on it (fonts, > > divs, gifs, etc.). > > > > -j > > > > On Feb 14, 11:44 am, "[EMAIL PROTECTED]" > > > > <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > > Before (trying to) adopt jQuery, I've never used Javascript to control > > > content. In reading hundreds of blogs by Javascript developers over > > > the past weeks, I've been alarmed by their attitude to accessibility. > > > It's not just a matter of 'political correctness', and it's not just > > > about minority users. One tiny example: a friend of mine has rubbish > > > eyesight - she's not blind, she's fit to drive - she has her screen > > > resolution set to LARGE so she can read it. > > > > > The other day, she wanted to open a new 'internet-only' savings > > > account. This is business; she has quite a lot of money to invest. The > > > idiot who made that bank's website hadn't accounted for variable > > > fonts; on her screen, the text overwrote the fields! So, she could not > > > open this account, which is only available via the Web, because the > > > form was unusable. The bank may as well have advertised the account > > > as "only available to savers with normal eyesight"! > > > > > Things like this, you can fix very simply by making all your sizes > > > proportional - if my friend then has to scroll off the screen to fill > > > the form, she don't care, as long as she can read & complete it. > > > > > All of my problems with jQuery, so far, have been to do with trying to > > > solve basic accessibility issues. I understand why making a site "do" > > > something feels more important! It's more exciting. But I wish you > > > would, at the same time, ensure a readily-available alternative that > > > can be used as well. > > > > > Just a gentle reminder :) > > > Cherry.http://jquery.cherryaustin.com
