I see I've set an interesting hare running here. I want to conform to
accessibility issues but am not sure exactly what standards to meet, nor how
soon I should achieve this.
Dr. John S Conway
Principal Lecturer in Soil Science
Royal Agricultural College, Cirencester, Glos. GL7 6JS
Phone +44 (0) 1285 652531 ext 2234
Fax +44 (0) 1285 650219
http://www.royagcol.ac.uk/~john_conway/
<http://www.royagcol.ac.uk/~john_conway/>
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-----Original Message-----
From: Smith, Tony [SMTP:[log in to unmask]]
Sent: Tuesday, April 23, 2002 11:41 AM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: Accessible websites
It does not only affect commercial sites see s19(2)(c) of the DDA
" it is irrelevant whether a service is provided on payment or
without payment."
Tony
-----Original Message-----
From: Skeates,St.John DEAL Awards Tm
[mailto:[log in to unmask]]
Sent: 23 April 2002 11:37
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: Accessible websites
I agree completely but with emphasis on the reasonably practicable.
Who
decides what is reasonable? Ultimately that would be a decision for
the
courts. And should that apply only to commercial websites or also to
those built and maintained by hobbyists. Am I being discriminatory
since
accessibility was not a consideration when constructing my various
websites? Should I be forced to either redesign them or take them
offline?
It's easy to say that it would only impact commercial sites but how
many
"cease and desist" notices have we seen served on small, home run
sites
because they infringe some obscure copyright law. I suspect that
even
many commercial sites may think twice about providing online
services if
they discovered the threat of legal action hanging over their heads.
Let me stress again that I agree any media should be made as
accessible
as possible. I'm just not convinced that legislation is the best way
to
achieve it.
St.John Skeates
Awards Section
Bedfordshire County Council
-----Original Message-----
From: Hubert, Paul [STU] [mailto:[log in to unmask]]
Sent: Tuesday, April 23, 2002 11:05 AM
To: [log in to unmask]; Skeates,St.John DEAL Awards Tm
Subject: Accessible websites
>Of course the aim should always be to make media as accessible as
> possible but if this suggestion/threat is to be taken seriously,
it can
> only be another nail in the Internet coffin.
>
I don't think the second part of this argument follows from the
first.
Surely the issue here, as with other forms of access, is to try to
build
accessibility in at the start (so far as reasonably practicable)
which
takes a bit of planning. The alternative is that when organisations
and
firms realise it's an issue they try to add it on afterwards which
is
more cumbersome and costly.What's a reasonable adjustment will
depend on
what the website's for and whose it is, which presumably will impact
on
the viability of any discrimination claim.
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