> -----Original Message-----
> From: Managing an institutional web site
> [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of K Fearon
> Sent: Wednesday, December 07, 2005 4:24 PM
> To: [log in to unmask]
> Subject: Re: response to accessibility statement (was Fixed
> or variable (was Two queries)
>
> > Some of these points were addressed in a paper on "Forcing
> > Standardization or Accommodating Diversity? A Framework for
> Applying
> > the WCAG in the Real World" which was given at the International
> > Cross-Disciplinary Workshop on Web Accessibility held in
> Chiba, near
> > Tokyo, Japan on 20th May 2005. See
> >
> > http://www.ukoln.ac.uk/web-focus/papers/w4a-2005/
>
> Interesting... but where does it leave us on the issue of
> fixed vs relative width sites (and other implementation
> issues)? I think we need standards because thinking through
> issues on a case by case basis, at the level most web authors
> work to in universities, is just impractical. Some people
> still don't spell check their work, never mind validate or
> accessibility test it.
>
> Another issue is that we are judged on the basis of tests by
> these tools - we've been contacted once that I can remember
> by a person with a disability regarding the design of our web
> pages, in the last few years.
> But the number of staff/external users who've put our pages
> through Bobby and written to comment - or written articles
> about compliance issues based on automated test results - is
> significantly higher. This has an affect on the public
> perception of our site and that matters a lot.
>
This second para interests me because the WCAG itself says that it's
just not possible to use automated tests to fully judge compliance.
Therefore human intervention is required. I think that's where the
case-by-case issue becomes more important; a professional judgement has
to be exercised at that point.
I would personally go with rhe var-width for compliance, with the sure
knowledge that some compromises will certainly have to be made in
layout. That's what makes this medium so problematic :)
I don't envy your position in this at all...
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