Comments on: Make your web site accessibile, else the courts will force you http://www.sidesofmarch.com/index.php/archive/2007/10/03/make-your-web-site-accessibile-else-the-courts-will-force-you/ Thoughts on life, liberty, and information technology Tue, 24 Jan 2012 10:43:34 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.0.1 By: brian http://www.sidesofmarch.com/index.php/archive/2007/10/03/make-your-web-site-accessibile-else-the-courts-will-force-you/#comment-1906 brian Thu, 04 Oct 2007 14:18:20 +0000 http://www.sidesofmarch.com/index.php/archive/2007/10/03/make-your-web-site-accessibile-else-the-courts-will-force-you/#comment-1906 "... you have to treat it as something more than a print catalog or media." Why? The closest analogy to an e-commerce site is a print catalog with a paper order form in it. There's no violation of ADA rules because it's not printed in Braille, is there? Ultimately, a company makes a choice in their web site: make it more accessible and open yourself up to a wider audience, or don't. It should be up to them, not up to a judge who probably doesn't know the first thing about web technology. “… you have to treat it as something more than a print catalog or media.”

Why? The closest analogy to an e-commerce site is a print catalog with a paper order form in it. There’s no violation of ADA rules because it’s not printed in Braille, is there?

Ultimately, a company makes a choice in their web site: make it more accessible and open yourself up to a wider audience, or don’t. It should be up to them, not up to a judge who probably doesn’t know the first thing about web technology.

]]> By: Louis http://www.sidesofmarch.com/index.php/archive/2007/10/03/make-your-web-site-accessibile-else-the-courts-will-force-you/#comment-1903 Louis Thu, 04 Oct 2007 12:25:32 +0000 http://www.sidesofmarch.com/index.php/archive/2007/10/03/make-your-web-site-accessibile-else-the-courts-will-force-you/#comment-1903 I have to agree with the nonsense about the accessibility… BUT let me add the following. When we value a “social network” such as Facebook (which by the way is not that great or designed with the novice in mind) to be worth 10+ billions of dollars, and have a company like Google stock at $580.00+ per share as of today, you have to treat it as something more than a print catalog or media. We the public and geeks alike created this mess! We need to look at the complete picture if a site can be worth that much money; it has a responsibility to make it accessible for all and possibly offer an alternative like RSS, and speech options. We have the technology and if the web2.0 idiots stopped the nonsense with the social networking BS and ego-stroking each other we can accomplish such task. So I say this is just the beginning. You will see more of this and I can’t wait to read what next on the list. I have to agree with the nonsense about the accessibility… BUT let me add the following. When we value a “social network” such as Facebook (which by the way is not that great or designed with the novice in mind) to be worth 10+ billions of dollars, and have a company like Google stock at $580.00+ per share as of today, you have to treat it as something more than a print catalog or media.

We the public and geeks alike created this mess! We need to look at the complete picture if a site can be worth that much money; it has a responsibility to make it accessible for all and possibly offer an alternative like RSS, and speech options. We have the technology and if the web2.0 idiots stopped the nonsense with the social networking BS and ego-stroking each other we can accomplish such task. So I say this is just the beginning. You will see more of this and I can’t wait to read what next on the list.

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