>Posted-Date: Fri, 26 Mar 1999 06:57:24 -0600 (CST)
>Date: Fri, 26 Mar 1999 07:50:08 -0500
>From: Jamal Mazrui <74444.1076@compuserve.com>
>Subject: W3C Proposes Guidelines On Web Access
>Sender: Jamal Mazrui <74444.1076@compuserve.com>
>To: Blind.Copy.Receiver@compuserve.com
>
>>From the web page
>http://www.newsbytes.com/pubNews/128454.html
>
> NEWSBYTES(R) Top Story
>
>W3C Proposes Guidelines On Web Accessibility
>
>25 Mar 1999, 3:12 PM CST
>By Laura Randall, Newsbytes.
>CAMBRIDGE, MASSACHUSETTS, U.S.A.,
>
>
> Charging that most Web sites don't provide adequate
> accessibility for users with disabilities, the World Wide
> Web Consortium (W3C) released draft guidelines on how Web
> site designers and managers can provide better access to all
> Internet users.
>
> The guidelines, which were developed by the consortium's Web
> Accessibility Initiative, are aimed at creating greater
> awareness in the Web community of users who operate in
> contexts different from the average Web user, including
> persons who are visually or hearing impaired, those who
> cannot a keyboard or mouse and those using text- only
> screens.
>
> "The majority of large sites are not accessible to people
> with disabilities," Judy Brewer, director of the Web
> Accessibility Initiative, tells Newsbytes. "There's not a
> consistent level of awareness yet among Web developers that
> it's important to maintain accessibility of their sites."
>
> The World Wide Web Consortium, or W3C, is an industry group
> that develops technologies used for the Web. Its hundreds of
> members include AT&T, America Online, IBM, Microsoft and
> SAP. Implementation of the guidelines is subject to member
> approval.
>
> The guidelines discuss accessibility issues and provide
> accessible design solutions. For example, one way to make
> Web sites more accessible is by using style sheets to
> control font styles and eliminating the font element. This
> gives hypertext markup language (HTML) authors more control
> over their pages and makes those pages more accessible to
> people with low vision.
>
> Another guideline explains how content developers can make
> images accessible by providing a text equivalent that states
> the purpose of the image. This would allow a blind Internet
> user with a speech synthesizer installed on his computer to
> understand the function of the image. The total cost to the
> Web site designer has yet to be established, Brewer said.
>
> Other groups are also pushing for improved accessibility on
> the Web. Disabilities Information Resources, a Trenton,
> N.J.-based organization, is urging Web site managers to
> voluntarily provide complete access to Internet users before
> anti-discrimination challenges arise in conjunction with the
> Americans with Disabilities Act.
>
> "We don't think it's intentional discrimination, but it
> would make more sense to address this before any problems
> arise," DINF spokesman Phil Hall tells Newsbytes
>
> For the most part, Web sites large and small are unaware of
> the process involved in making their sites accessible and
> maintaining that accessibility, Brewer said.
>
> Jeff Thomas, director of marketing at iSyndicate, admits
> that accessibility isn't a top priority at the San
> Francisco-based Internet content service provider right now.
> But, he adds: "It's on our radar screen. It seems like
> something we would ethically want to do. The short-term
> answer is we aren't doing anything now. The long-term answer
> is it's definitely something we'd want to consider."
>
> Reported by Newsbytes News Network, http://www.newsbytes.com
> .
>
> (1999032499/Contact: Phil Hall, Open City Communications,
> 212-714-3575 /WIRES ONLINE/W3C/PHOTO)
>
>
> Copyright (c) Post-Newsweek Business Information, Inc. All
> rights reserved.
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>
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