ThePickards
standards, accessibility, and ranting and general stuff by the web chemist

A phrase you might have come across, if you’ve looked into disability issues at all, particularly as they relate to the web, or you’ve looked at the topic of web accessibility is people who are sometimes termed internet disabled.
Now this isn’t an official term (at least, so far as I know), but from the contexts […]

Read: Being Internet Disabled »

I’ve criticised the way that SOCITM have handled accessibility in their better connected report a couple of times before.
But while it is still very important, I feel, to stress the problems with using WCAG 1.0 as a simple measure of accessibility, and I feel that myself and others have been right to criticise SOCITM’s approach […]

Read: Baby Steps with B.C. »

This is the question I’ve been asking myself for some time. Note specific use of the word measurement. I believe accessibility assessments are useful; but I’m not convinced that trying to assign a rating to a site is at all helpful and indeed I think it can actually be harmful.
I’ve been looking at the accessibility […]

Read: Is Accessibility Measurement Harmful? »

I am a believer in web accessibility. To me, this basically means attempting to make sites so that they are usable by as many people as possible; primarily avoiding discrimination users with disabilities, but also where possible seeking to ensure that sites can be used across different platforms and browsers, and so on.
Some people wouldn’t […]

Read: Whose (guide) line is it anyway? »

Okay, I know this report came out a little while ago, but I’ve been too busy with other stuff (working with the PSWMG to contribute to an accessibility supplement for SOCITM’s Better Connected report, amongst other things) and it’s been a while since I’ve had the opportunity to consider accessibility issues here.
So now I’m going […]

Read: Antisocial Networking »

I mentioned before that the COI had produced a consultation document called “Delivering Inclusive Websites” which I, on behalf of the the PSWMG responded to.
I spoke to the document’s author over the phone and I felt that we had a very constructive discussion, highlighting our areas of concern that related to the document and looking […]

Read: PSWMG: Where We Stand »

The COI released a consultation document some time ago called “Delivering Inclusive Websites”, which basically consisted of their recommendations for accessibility best practice in public sector websites, along with the concept of a stick – that the gov.uk domain names would be withdrawn for sites failing to meet the minimum conformance level.
The consultation period is […]

Read: Delivering Inclusive Websites »

This is going to be somewhat of a long post about accessibility, about a lawsuit that relates to accessibility, and to the attitudes of people towards disability. It’s therefore going to touch on legal matters and technical matters, but mainly it’s going to be around the arguments around different attitudes towards accessibility/disability issues and the […]

Read: Accessibility vs the Free Market: Attitudes to Target »

Sometimes being someone who is committed to web accessibility feels like it’s not a good thing.
You get the feeling people feel you’re some kind of zealot (even if you aren’t); you get the feeling that other people think that when you raise the issue of accessibility you’re being awkward or causing problems, that it’s […]

Read: Accessibility: Making it all worthwhile »

Firstly, what gives me the right to propound my proposed public sector guidelines to you all? What makes me think I know more about accessibility than the WAI or the UK Cabinet Office?
Nothing.
What I do have is considerable experience and knowledge in the field of accessibility, and considerable experience and knowledge of working in the […]

Read: Proposed Public Sector Web Accessibility Guidelines »