I understand that HTML certainly can be interpreted on other mediums. You don't think it caters to one medium over another?
Perhaps some web designers concentrate on a particular CSS media type [1] more than another. And perhaps on some web sites, sighted, dexterous, able-bodied users outnumber users with a disability.
But HTML does not cater to a single media type. That's the beauty. HTML and (X)HTML are markup languages, designed for modeling the logical structure of information, not its appearance. Cascading Style Sheets (CSS) control the visual appearance as well as other display media when using structural markup.
The strengths of the web, which makes it unique as a medium of communication, is that it isn't limited to a visual-only output. A correctly designed web site would communicate effectively aurally as well as visually. Accessibility is not only about 'locking someone out' - everyone, after all, is a potential user of your site. But it is also about backward and forward compatibility, about writing one version of a web site (rather than several) that everyone, no matter how old or new their Internet device / OS / computer hardware, will be able to access in some way or other. Accessible web design is socially responsible and equitable web design. It shows that you are committed to providing equal access to web-based information to all people.
It does not mean boring, as many will tell you. But there is an important point which shouldn't be overlooked. Most visitors to a web site are not coming there to look at it. They are coming there to accomplish a specific task. Almost invariably a simple interface will have high usability and high accessibility at the same time.
What it comes down to is the ability to access information. A complete focus on the user (all users) stems from an understanding of why people are coming to your web site: Information. Accessibility is the effort toward providing equal access to the information to all-regardless of the methods they use to access it.
Laura [1] http://www.w3.org/TR/CSS21/media.html ___________________________________________ Laura L. Carlson Information Technology Systems and Services University of Minnesota Duluth Duluth, MN, U.S.A. 55812-3009 http://www.d.umn.edu/goto/webdesign/ ****************************************************** The discussion list for http://webstandardsgroup.org/ See http://webstandardsgroup.org/mail/guidelines.cfm for some hints on posting to the list & getting help ******************************************************
