Paul Stanway Jr
07-24-2005, 09:52 AM
Accessibility could take a step backward
By Frances W. West
The Internet has no country borders--neither should the information technology that enables it to be accessible to all people.
At a time when travel and currency barriers continue to fall in Europe, several countries want to create new boundaries related to the Web. These nations want to establish a label or mark that would specify Web pages or products that are "accessible" to people with disabilities. However, such standards could differ from existing U.S. standards.
The reality is that if you are blind and use a "screen reader" to read Internet content out loud as you surf the Web, the product should be able to read sites from the U.S. government as easily as it reads ones posted by the government of Sweden. Agreement among governments on their policies for accessibility would accomplish this goal.
Read more at http://news.com.com/Accessibility+could+take+a+step+backward/2010-1071_3-5794513.html?part=rss&tag=5794513&subj=news
By Frances W. West
The Internet has no country borders--neither should the information technology that enables it to be accessible to all people.
At a time when travel and currency barriers continue to fall in Europe, several countries want to create new boundaries related to the Web. These nations want to establish a label or mark that would specify Web pages or products that are "accessible" to people with disabilities. However, such standards could differ from existing U.S. standards.
The reality is that if you are blind and use a "screen reader" to read Internet content out loud as you surf the Web, the product should be able to read sites from the U.S. government as easily as it reads ones posted by the government of Sweden. Agreement among governments on their policies for accessibility would accomplish this goal.
Read more at http://news.com.com/Accessibility+could+take+a+step+backward/2010-1071_3-5794513.html?part=rss&tag=5794513&subj=news