Posts by Chilli 5 publicly visible posts • joined 4 Jun 2010
There is real possibilities for overloading/destabilising the laser using that heatproof diamond coated mirrored tie-pin that the lab boys inexplicably gave the hero on the off-chance it would come in useful. Then there's just the damsel saving, thrilling escape and double entendre in the escape dinghy to go.
Flames to depict the fate of poor old Sparky the shark.
I'm afraid I disagree that professional pride is sufficient motivation as shown by the raft of needlessly inaccessible websites out there. Nor is the "spending power of disabled people" a valid argument. To misquote a famous Irishman "He who first turns to legislation admits that all other ideas have run out".
Bear in mind we are talking about websites offering goods and services and the freedom to needlessly discriminate against disabled people is not one I recognise (I work in the charity sector so, I'm afraid, I do have a bit of an axe to grind).
Regardless I think we need to agree to disagree. There are many more valid comments being made in this forum which I would hate to detract from and I think any argument should end at the first invocation of 'Godwin's Law' (I have some very nice German friends, none of whom display an "appetite for coercion").
Fare thee well Suboptimal and please feel free to have the last word,
Much of the accessibility software is pretty good but it does need to be able to pick out the information.
A screenreader cannot describe a picture and should not have to try to do character recognition on a button. The inclusion of an alt tag just gives it the info it needs. Proper use of header tags means screenreaders can serve these up to a user to navigate by and some screenreaders allow users to easily flick through the links on a page so putting links on meaningful words and phrases saves a blind user from hearing a long list of "Click here"s.
Using clear and concise English can help BSL users for whom English is a second language or people with a cognitive impairment but this is only generally necessary on pages of information such as terms and conditions.
Generally it doesn't require a major overhaul as much as a few tweaks.
Socialist? It's rare I get called that.
To be honest I see designing stuff to be accessible to people with disabilities to be in line with the (apparently very British) ideals of sportsmanship and fair play. Not all that new but then maybe I'm just an out-of-touch idealist.
As a few people are pointing out you can make things a lot more accessible very easily with a few basic principles so when people throw their arms in the air and complain about the unfairness of it all then it makes me wonder if they've read the guidelines at all. You'd design your site to work on different browsers but not for people with different needs?
Besides, if it means there are less web developers out there that think that white text on grey is readable or that their five minute flash-based intro to a site is fun and entertaining then it can only be a good thing.
Troll icon cos I can't decide whether to keep winding the handle or just accept that "believers in freedom" have far more energy and bile then I can muster.
Can I just shorten that to Suboptimal? Thanks.
I am sorry that you feel you are being pressed into 'slavery' (sounds like someone's learnt a new word) by the government asking you to make your no doubt award-winning life-changing software accessible but that is the nature of the society you have chosen to live in. Here in the UK we look after our own and if that means working a little harder then that's a sacrifice I, for one, am willing to make. Mind you if you don't agree with the general feeling of the country you're in then you know where the doors are.
As someone pointed out earlier good accessibility isn't too hard if you design it in from the start but then I guess that's the difference between a proper engineer and...well, you get the point.
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