Comments on: British Standard for accessibility

By: Johnny Gaze

Johnny Gaze — Sun, 05 Oct 2008 03:56:46 +0000

Congrats to Bruce Lawson and Patrick Lauke.I wish you all the luck there.

BTW it is interesting to see it’s the first British standart for Web Accessiblity…

Johnny

By: DeniDe

DeniDe — Fri, 26 Sep 2008 07:00:20 +0000

I absolutely agree with Simon. This standard is necessary for all World. I am very glad.

By: Raimond Wills

Raimond Wills — Thu, 11 Sep 2008 21:34:56 +0000

Well, perhaps not in the first draft, but this is a British Standard..

By: Raimond Wills

Raimond Wills — Thu, 11 Sep 2008 21:32:00 +0000

Bold steps, and good luck with your first draft. The accessibility interested community is wider than legally bound public service and institutional bodies. Hope you provide an unambiguous interface spec for haptic devices.

By: Rick

Rick — Fri, 29 Aug 2008 14:36:05 +0000

Kudos to ‘the team’. Lets hope that when the new spec is in place, it is received and acted upon – rather than languishing with half-hearted efforts as it has here in the States.

By: mark evely

mark evely — Sun, 17 Aug 2008 22:12:49 +0000

Regarding your working title – encouraging the development of fantastic user experiences for disabled people online
I feel this shows a total lack of understand of the issues, and presents a patronising and offensive view point.

Why? Well because standards on the web are not about being ‘disabled’ it is about accessibility and usability. I have a specific learning ability which is covered by the disability act, but I am not ‘disabled’ I just process information differently. It does not alter my IQ, which is considerably higher than most of the population at 130 ish. I also wear glasses and the quality of my eyesight has diminished with age, but I am not ‘disabled’.

I suggest you first understand that it is about presenting information in ways that is clear and easy for all, irrespective of age, and whatever some ones physical, aural, visual or cognitive capabilities are. Good usability and accessibility produces good websites that every one can use comfortably with few restrictions.

By: sven

sven — Fri, 15 Aug 2008 12:51:41 +0000

I agree with simon. Most web development companies haven´t even realize that e.g. 7-10% of male users have a red-green color blindness. A standard would help to raise awareness for the whole accessibility issue.

By: Simon Frost

Simon Frost — Thu, 07 Aug 2008 14:33:57 +0000

It’s great that the PAS78 standard has been recognised as being worthy enought to be upgraded to a full BSI standard, but I agree with Edwards Clarke’s comments – at the moment, for most web development companies, accessibility is barely an afterthought and perceived as an expensive one at that.

If this new standard can make accessibility a cost-effective part of web development, it will have a much greater chance of being included in projects from the beginning, rather than being a bolt-on at the end.

By: Sander Aarts

Sander Aarts — Sat, 19 Jul 2008 21:17:09 +0000

Congratulations!

BTW. I guess I’ve missed a couple of posts… when did the Group Lead shift take place?

By: Stuart Johnston

Stuart Johnston — Thu, 17 Jul 2008 14:07:58 +0000

All solid processes start with some sort of standard and it’s unlikely be be an overnight hit so none should feel disheartened, Edward. You’ll be able to tell the grand-kids you were there.

Development of guidelines and standards should be in the hands of invited experts and it requires real commitment – good for you chaps. I don’t think that it matters which group you belong to – as long as you’re informed, open to cooperation and your motives are correct. That’s all.

I’m sure we’ll all carry on doing our best in the meantime, with what we have, and look forward to establishing good practice in line with other “grown-up” industries.

Good stuff and good luck with it.