The Accessibility Backlash

Friday June 16, 2006

I’m worried about the onset of the accessibility backlash. Many of us are talking about accessibility until we’re blue in the face, or stunned into submission after banging our heads against brick walls for so long.

I have three examples of why I’m worried about an accessibility backlash.

A friend of mine was extolling the virtues of the new Google-run facility for building webpages. I said I thought it was a good idea but was a bit worried about the fact that Google was churning out websites for people with sloppy code and therefore endorsing potentially inaccessible websites. He looked confused for a minute until there was a glimmer of recognition in his eye. “Oh”, he said, “blind people”.

I was in a meeting with somebody who was in charge of a cms that created free websites for community groups. This is something I’m involved in as part of my paid work and wanted some pointers from someone further ahead of the game than me. Accessibility wasn’t mentioned until about half an hour into the meeting. He chuckled, raised his eyes and said “I wondered when you were going to ask about that.”

None of his websites, all three hundred of them, were particularly accessible. “Suddenly we’ve all got to use CSS”, he moaned, “how long is that going to last? We’ve got to be AA standard, how long before they change that? What’s the next thing going to be?”

Most alarmingly, I was in a meeting at work when the accessibility backlash loomed its ugly head again. There was talk of providing a translation service for our website when somebody turned to me and said “this is something we should have a look at, we’ve already done enough on disability.”

So this is what I’m up against. Friends aren’t interested in accessibility because it doesn’t affect them. It’s only about blind people. Peers are dismissive because it’s just the latest thing, another buzzword or trend, and colleagues see it as just another hoop to jump through, a box to be ticked that’s marked ‘accessibility’.

I’d be interested to hear if anyone is having similar headaches, what they’re up against and how they deal with it.

I can identify with everything you’ve said. In the end it comes down to personal pride – you either become like the naysayers, or you educate them. The former isn’t an option (I’m not compromising my values), so I’m pursuing the latter path. No-one ever said it would be easy, and they were right. :-)

Dan    21 June, 12:53 PM   

I can relate to what you’re saying, but think maybe I’m lucky in the company I work for.

The higher management very much understand the need to make sites accessible, but perhaps not that it should be thought about at the conception phase. I’m usually brought in once it has been built, a few weeks before it goes live , which is not ideal.

Emma    26 July, 08:53 PM   

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