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Steve, RE: your comments regarding the CanDo web site. I'm sorry that you have had problems using the Web site. We have made strenuous efforts to ensure that our site is as accessible as possible to ALL users regardless of their disability (sometimes it is difficult to reconcile the needs of different users with different disabilities). We are aware, though, that there are still parts of the system that are causing problems for users of some adaptive technology. We _are_ working on this, and in fact just this week completed a study on accessible Web design. Last year, CanDo put considerable effort into investigating the information and advice about designing accessible web sites before providing the design brief to the software developers who developed the existing software. They are currently working on the second phase of the development and are correcting some of the mistakes in the initial version. We believe that the main problems currently stem from the use of frames, which while much more appealing to visual users are less useful for visually impaired users. A non-frames version is provided as an alternative that mimics the frames site, although navigation is slightly more awkward. The CanDo site has been designed to be simple to navigate (although currently slightly more problematic without frames), with minimal unnecessary graphics. What graphics are provided should all have appropriate descriptive alt tags. In the future, I would appreciate hearing directly about any specific constructive criticisms that you have, so that we can address the particular issues concerned. In the meantime, the disability statements continue to be a popular part of the Web site, some having been read by over 150 users within the first two weeks of going live. David Filmer Research & Development Officer CanDo Service Lancaster University ---------- From: Steve Metcalfe To: [log in to unmask] Subject: Cando web page Date: 29 July 1997 16:21 I have just tried to connect to the cando web site at http://cando.lancs.ac.uk to look at the universities disability statements, as I have not yet submitted ours to them. I was stunned to discover that the site is inaccessible to me. I am using Netscape 3.02 and the Jaws for Windows screen reader. I found it slightly more accessible with Internet Explorer, but not much. I cannot believe that this site has been constructed in this way, with no regard for people with disabilities accessing it using adaptive technologies. Do these people understand disability, access issues and adaptive technologies? Have they not noticed the vast amount of debate and information concerning accessible web page design that has been around on the web for years? If people who claim to be dedicated to promoting access for people with disabilities cannot set a good example what hope do we have in persuading the rest of society to consider access issues! Steve Metcalfe Division of Assistive Resources and Technology University of Lincolnshire & Humberside, UK Tel: +44 (0)1482 440550 ext. 4029 Fax: +44 (0)1482 441411 EMail [log in to unmask] %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%