Here’s a longish post from the UK Usability list from the RNIB usability chief defending their ‘access for all’ stance against some of the slurs on the list…
All very good, but why does their site just SUCK?!
Sites that are accessible just don’t have to look this bad – they SHOULDN’T look this bad when they are meant to be setting the bar high.
Now here’s an idea – why not open up the RNIB site for a CSS Zen garden style event so we can stop whinging about it and have a go – now that would be something useful to do Henny!
Anyway, here is the defence:
Hi All,
I’m a bit late responding to this one having just got back from leave
but would like to clarify RNIB’s position on how we promote and advise
on accessible web design.
Accessible web design is “design for all” regardless of ability or
disability. This has been at the heart of the RNIB’s Campaign for Good
Web Design over the last 6 years and a key message we flag when we speak
at conferences, give presentations, provide training or communicate
throughout the RNIB Web Access Centre (http://www.rnib.org.uk/wac) and
via our enquiries line.
While we are an organisation that represents blind and partially sighted
people we do not promote accessible web design to the exclusion of
others – that simply wouldn’t be accessible web design after all! Our
advice, and the See it Right checkpoints that we promote, encompass all
user groups. Indeed, the key to providing good consultancy on accessible
web design is to know when one solution that helps certain user groups
does not adversely affect another. Additionally some people may have a
number of disabilities preventing ease of access to the web.
And so on really… you get the idea but you can…
To that end our See it Right guidelines do not “cherry pick the W3C
Guidelines which are written specifically for blind users.” The See it
Right guidelines incorporate those WAI (Web Accessibility Initiative)
WCAG (Web Content Accessibility Guidelines) that are practical,
achievable and make websites accessible to all. A copy of the
checkpoints and their rationale can be downloaded from
http://lm.chinwag.com/t/1016901/3390989/19941/0/. We also provide further guidance in the Design and
Build section of the RNIB Web Access Centre.
We have actively and openly encouraged all website owners to build sites
that are accessible to all and not just to specific user groups such as
screen reader users. If a website owner decides to build to the benefit
of one user group it is something that they alone have opted to do and
not something we have suggested. We have always promoted accessibility
across the board and continue to do so with all site owners we are
either directly or indirectly in contact with today.
RNIB also works closely with other disability advocacy groups such as
RNID, Abilitynet and Mencap. With Abilitynet we run the See it Right:
UseAbility logo scheme which combines RNIB’s accessibility audit with
Abilitynet’s user testing by a panel of users with various disabilities.
We also actively participate in two WAI working groups and work together
with Vision Australia, Braillenet (France), Bartimeus (Netherlands) and
other European groups.
For more information visit us at the Web Access Centre at
http://www.rnib.org.uk/wac and our blog at
http://www.rnib.org.uk/wacblog.
Henny
Senior Web Accessibility Consultant
RNIB Web Access Team
