Dear all,
most points have been so clearly made in this discussion. As you have
probably realised, my initial criticism of Peter's criticism was not
intending to support non-accessible websites. All the contrary.
The most important asset we have today in building accessible sites are
information and awareness. Information about what accessibility mean
and to whom, and awareness of its importance.
I'm always a more than a little suspicious of automatic validation
processes, as they often miss the point. What if I put an ALT tag
describing a cat on an image of a lion? Would people with a screen
reader understand the true meaning? Accessibility and accessibility for
disabled are crucial, but vary a lot across different solutions and
different audiences. There is no solution to cover them all.
This is why I said at the beginning, in my first post, that it is
mostly a matter of design and it applies in all situations. Recently I
noticed that Barclays have started to lower their cash machines,
presumably to provide better access to children and people on
wheelchairs. The trouble with this commendable idea, is that they
didn't change the design of the cash machines themselves, which were
designed to be accessed by a standard adult (if that exist). This means
that the screen is recessed and in the lower position, "standard"
adults have to bend in a rather uncomfortable way to access it. Is this
better? Certainly it is, as it increases the chances of more people
using the devices, though at the expense of some discomfort for some
(the vast majority). Perfect? Far from it, as Barclays should have
commissioned newly designed machines apt to the new situation.
A perfect solution does not exist. Peter was correct is suggesting that
we should strive to be as good as possible, especially when using
public money, and standard Cascading Styles should avoid the need for
useless spacers (although try testing in Netscape 4, as required,
unnecessarily by most public tenders). But then Peter could avoid
buying a laptop with a screen resolution of 1600x1200 shrunk in a
15-inch monitor, if his view in not perfect :-) That way, a Verdana
10px (but not a xx-small) becomes more legible.
Thanks to all for the good points. We are all learning :-)
Sunny weekend,
Cristiano
PS... There is another point. I noticed, in this very list a few days
ago, a national museum, probably the National Gallery, advertising for
a post of web designer for £21k. A while ago, it was the British Museum
offering £16k for the same position. Now, good skills take time to
learn them and usually cost quite a bit more. At that price tag, you
can usually employ a fairly junior developer, or someone who is so
passionate about art that s/he doesn't consider a correct salary to be
something to be expected, especially when you have to pay rent and
transport in London. Why cannot museums pay the correct rates to have
normal class developers? Is this part of the problem?
On 21 May 2004, at 17:55, Charlotte Sexton wrote:
>> It's been fascinating reading this energetic exchange!
>>
>> We were under the (erroneous) impression that we had tested this to
>> within
>> an inch of its life, but clearly a few coding errors have escaped us.
>> Needless to say we will revisit this and fix the glitches.
>>
>> We welcome constructive feedback as it's one way for us to gauge our
>> success - that's why we made the announcement in the first place.
>>
>> The questions now being discussed are indeed incredibly important. We
>> certainly do take seriously usability and accessibility issues, as
>> shown
>> by the fact that we were the first museum to be awarded the RNIB 'See
>> it
>> Right' award for our main site.
>>
>> Perhaps some of the criticisms raised of our new sites, arguably fall
>> into
>> the area of personal design preference? However, what has been
>> highlighted
>> is the very real challenge we all face in creating new work which
>> contains
>> well-crafted, engaging content, while also negotiating the many
>> technical
>> and design issues that this medium throws at us.
>>
>> I'd be disappointed if we were to lose sight of the fact that these
>> sites
>> have been really well received by the people they were intended for.
>> They
>> are fantastic sites and I'm truly proud to have announced them today.
>>
>> And if it has brightened up your Friday afternoon as well, then so
>> much
>> the better!
>>
> Thanks
> Charlotte
>
> ___________________________
> Charlotte Sexton
> Deputy Head New Media
> National Gallery
> Trafalgar Sq.
> London WC2N 5DN
> Tel +44 020 77472850
> ---------------------------------
> http://www.nationalgallery.org.uk
> ---------------------------------
>
>
>
>
> ==========================================================
>
> Final Days!
> EL GRECO closes 23 May
>
> Extended opening until 10pm every day
> Wednesday - Sunday
>
> For more information and to book tickets:
> http://www.nationalgallery.org.uk/exhibitions/el_greco/default.htm
>
>
Cristiano Bianchi
keepthinking ltd
tel. +44(0)20 7346 0305
mobile +44(0)7739 041169
web www.keepthinking.it
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