Re: Stickin' to m' guns

-----Original Message-----
From: Dan Cash <dmcash(at)facstaff.wisc.edu>
To: hwg-theory(at)hwg.org <hwg-theory(at)hwg.org>
Cc: hwg-theory(at)hwg.org <hwg-theory(at)hwg.org>
Date: Wednesday, April 08, 1998 11:58 AM
Subject: Re: Stickin' to m' guns


>At 08:26 PM 4/8/1998 +0530, J.R.K.Rao wrote:
>
>>Come on now ! The issue is not content *versus* presentation. It is
>>content *plus* the best presentation that your resources, skills,
>>bandwidth, technology, and your viewers' patience will permit. Period.
>>
>
>Maybe the issue has been talked to death, maybe it hasn't.
>But my opinion is still unchanged. Use all the flash you want,
>as long as you know your audience. If you're creating a site
>for everyone, you absolutely must make it available to
>everyone. Cathy Murtha, as far as I know, is still subscribed
>to several hwg lists. Her website is the definitive manual
>for sight-impaired viewing, and makes the argument for doing
>it much better than I can. It is in extreme poor taste to
>overlook it out of hand, IMHO.

It is not just poor taste, in some cases it is against the law.  I might
also add that if any of you read the newsletter April is accessibity month.
I have the impression that some people in this disucssion look upon
themselves as as an Elite group.  Who only design for certain audiences.
IMHO this is a non productive attitude at best.  Excluding  anyone for any
reason such as disability or race or language s not the wisest course to
take.  I caution against that attitude.  The fact is that in the commerical
market place excluding groups of people can put you out of business.

Let me give you some figures

It is estimated that one out of three people who use the web run with either
no graphics, with them turned off, or they cannot see them.

It is estimated that one in three people shows some symptoms of dyslexia,
making text difficult for them to interpret.

Younger people tend to use the Web for entertainment.

Older people tend to use the Web to gather information

Studies by Sun Microsystms Jakob Nielson indicate that gratuitious use of
technology(Cool?) tends to turn off a large portion of the population.

Older people at least in America are using the Web in much larger numbers
than was thought originally.

These people are the ones who will have the highest percentage of
disabilities such as:
Blindness
Hearing Impaired or deaf(One in ten)
Mobility problems.

Now these same people control most of the money in the US

50 % of the discretionary funds in this country are controlled by people
over fifty.

66 % of the assets are controlled by folks over 65.

Marketwise this is a powerful group to have annoyed at you.

If you offer goods and services you must be ADA compliant over the web.  The
DOJ has ruled on this.  I have the ruling if you want it, email me I will
send it to you.

If you are an educator your web pages must be compliant.

If you are an educational institution your web pages must be compliant to
the ADA and other laws or you can lose ALL of your federal grants.

If you are a government contractor your technology must be accessible or you
are in violation of the law.

Only one percent of the world is wired to the Internet.  The explosion has
just begun, and most of the people coming on do not speak English or adhere
to our cultural values.

I present these figures and ideas to make the point that exclusion of any
group is a mistake.

I suggest that designers who design their sites so they can only be viewed
in the way the designer wants them viewed and not in the way the user wants
them viewed are making a major mistake.  This includes all users, those who
want or need glitz, and those who do not.

Just my opinion

Sincerely

Mike Burks
>
>http://www.esrin.esa.it:8080/handy/om/distr/doc/uk_w3access.html

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