October 7, 2002, 11:58 AM ET
Monday's recommended reading
"Common Principles: A Usable Interface Design Primer" offers good tips on "maximizing interface efficiency." "14 Principles of Polite Apps" applies to Web sites, as well. (Links from InfoDesign)
Nathan Ashby-Kuhlman rips into Knight Ridder sites' URL schemes, which, when played with, are completely nonsensical. And I thought www.ohio.com/mld/kentucky/ would give me Ohio news.
October 7, 2002, 11:56 AM ET
Accessibility court cases worth thinking about
Does the Americans with Disabilities Act apply to the Internet? Are Web sites (at least, American ones) required by law to be accessible to alternate browsers such as screen readers? Two lawsuits could decide this once and for all, reports a law.com article.
The court cases involve the Web sites of two airline companies, which offer exclusive Web ticket price discounts and happen to be inaccessible to screen readers. Obviously, because there's no other way to get these discounts, users who can't access the site can't get the discounts.
It'll be interesting to see how this turns out. According to the law.com article, many believe this could end up before the U.S. Supreme Court. Mark Pilgrim says this could be an "accessibility watershed." Slashdot folk are already asking whether they should redesign their sites to make them more accessible.
But what about news sites? Does this matter to them?
Duh.
Most news sites don't offer exclusive ticket prices -- but many offer exclusive news. They're producing more and more online-only content, from breaking news stories to exclusive columns. If alternate browsers can't access this online-only content -- and that content is of some value -- you can bet that's a lawsuit waiting to happen.
And forget about the lawsuit threat for a second, and think about the larger role journalists play. Philosophically, it's critical that there be universal access to journalism, because it's one of the most important foundations of democracy. Plus, it's insanely hypocritical that news organizations, which historically have trumpeted freedom of information, tend to produce Web sites grossly inaccessible to users of alternate browsers. (For more on this, see my interview with a blind Internet user.)
Don't wait until the law makes you do it. Make your site accessible now. The longer you wait, the more you'll have to clean up later.
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