Does accessibility stifle innovation?
I just read an article which argues that inclusivity can stifle innovators from innovating. I'm interested in peoples' thoughts.
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| By continuously innovating, we will solve more problems than we currently have answers to. Inclusivity runs counter to this process. Without an unfettered ability to innovate pushing forward new ideas, society as a whole will stagnate. Standards, guidelines and legislation will tend to mean that present capabilities provide the model for the future. |
Also, the opening of the article seems to convey the wrong end of the stick to me, so I've written them a quick message.
Jon Gibbins, dotjay.co.uk, accessibility.co.uk wiki.
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No
I think it just makes us work harder to be accessible and Inovative..... the challenge will bring out the better in designers.
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[size=9]Kyle J. Lamson
Analyst/Programmer III, State of Alaska
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The problem that this guy, and a few zillion others, have is that they regard web design as a purely visual thing. They put the visual appearance first, and then write the content to fulfill that vision. The result is often inaccessible, because the underlying document is not well-structured.
By starting with the document structure, i.e. the (X)HTML, you can create a page that makes sense when presented sans style sheets, which means it will make sense to a screen reader, a Braille display or a search engine.
Then you can start applying CSS to achieve your visual goals. Sure, you may have to add a few semantically empty <div>'s or <span>'s because of limitations of today's standards, but they do no harm to assistive technologies.
Accessibility doesn't mean that you cannot use Flash or whatever eye-candy your graphics designer heart desires. It just means that you'll have to provide an accessible alternative for flashy things that convey important information.
Accessibility doesn't stifle innovation at all. You just have to learn to do things in the right order: structure first, then presentation. Once your structure and semantics are in place, you can innovate as much as you like with the presentation, because there's always an accessible alternative – the unstyled HTML document.
Tommy has left the building
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Oh dear, someone else who does not interpret the law correctly
| Quote: |
| In October 2004, the third and final part of the Disability Discrimination Act (1995) will come into force (1) - stating that the providers of 'goods, facilities and services' must make 'reasonable adjustments' for disabled people.
This targets website publishers and designers like myself |
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| ..if a site offers a text-alternative version designed specifically for a screen-reader for a partially sighted or blind person, this potentially discriminates, because it's a sub-standard experience compared to the full version with text, graphics and imagery |
I cannot see providing an alternative site as discrimination but inclusion, besides, I am a firm believer that all sites can be made accessible without the need to provide a text only version. Correct use of HTML, (X)HTML, XML et al with proper attributes within elements is surely the way to go.
I totally disagree with his summation that
| Quote: |
| New areas of innovation could be cut in the bud |
Personally, I think articles like this do more harm than good. Oh well, back to the asylum
Mike Abbott
Accessible to everyone
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| Mikea wrote: |
| Oh dear, someone else who does not interpret the law correctly |
I pointed out in my message to him that the article's opening is misleading and he may be misinterpreting the law.
| Mikea wrote: |
| I cannot see providing an alternative site as discrimination but inclusion, besides, I am a firm believer that all sites can be made accessible without the need to provide a text only version. Correct use of HTML, (X)HTML, XML et al with proper attributes within elements is surely the way to go. |
Indeed, a single all-inclusive site is the way to go, but where one cannot make something accessible, an alternative is acceptable. In the case of a completely alternative site though, it may be seen as segregational.
| Mikea wrote: | ||
I totally disagree with his summation that
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I agree with Tommy that the author of this article appears to be a "visual" Web designer. I'm not sure exactly what he's getting at when he talks about "innovation"... he mentions the word in the title and for half of the article doesn't talk about it. I think he's talking about the rise of technologies such as Flash, etc. These technologies aren't stifled by accessibility, or by standards, or by legislation. Web technologies are growing up a little, and taking more onboard.
Jon Gibbins, dotjay.co.uk, accessibility.co.uk wiki.
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i'm sad to say it, but: i read the article, and have lots and lots of counter points to make to the guy...but i'm so drained by people like this guy who spread half-truths and FUD. basically what he's saying, to read between the lines: hey, we don't mind our little friends with disabilities, but they're holding us back and don't allow us to innovate. sheesh. he could say the same about architecture: architects could be designing outrageously innovative and avant garde buildings, if it weren't for those pesky regulations to make them accessible to visitors in wheelchairs or similar.
i'm at the point where i really can't be arsed to deal with moronic arguments like these again...
Patrick H. Lauke / webmaster / University of Salford
co-lead: WaSP Accesibility Task Force
take it to the streets ... WaSP Street Team
personal: splintered | photographia | redux
co-author: Web Accessibility - Web Standards and Regulatory Compliance
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Should we write a counter article,
| Quote: |
| Do morons stifle accessibility ? |
Mike Abbott
Accessible to everyone
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| redux wrote: |
| i'm at the point where i really can't be arsed to deal with moronic arguments like these again... |
I know what you mean, redux. I know you've been on it longer than me, but even so, I'm getting fed up with seeing things like this and sending off a message to try to point them in the right direction. The trouble really comes though when someone replies and totally disagreed with you. But if noone says anything, what's to be done about such misinformation and mal-education?
Jon Gibbins, dotjay.co.uk, accessibility.co.uk wiki.
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What makes me laugh is the idea that these ‘new’ regulations stifle creative freedom? What freedom? Has he failed to noticed that he has always been constrained in how he can build a web site?
Cheers
Kevin
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Guy's perfectly free to go off and innovate on his personal sites.Kajun
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For those interested, Tommy has posted a blog entry in relation to thoughts raised by the Disabling Innovation article.
Picking up on part of what Tommy said:
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| Maybe we wouldn't have had Flash if the accessibility requirements had been in effect ten years ago? |
I think that Flash may still have been introduced, just in a more thoughtout way, approaching such a project. Albeit a primarily visual tool, Flash may have had accessibility built in from the start and perhaps we'd be further down the road towards other innovative technologies.
The Web is growing up, becoming more of the "information resource" that it should be, rather than an online magazine or newspaper or brochure. I see no reason why innovation should be stifled through consideration of others.
Take, for example, some of the innovations and experimentations that have been and are being inspired by music. Some of the experiments related to Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) and music have inspired new, more natural, real time metaphors for control over musical creativity. This has been in part inspired by the desire to make the world of music more available to people who cannot necessarily play a traditional instrument. I have been involved with a charity that has designed its own music performance and composition tool for use with disabled musicians. In the process, there has been need for some innovative control methods.
I think the author's concerns are not really concerns at all. I think that legislation such as the DDA do not stifle innovation at all. If anything, it presents a challenge and inspires innovation.
Jon Gibbins, dotjay.co.uk, accessibility.co.uk wiki.
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| dotjay wrote: |
|
I think that Flash may still have been introduced, just in a more thoughtout way, approaching such a project. Albeit a primarily visual tool, Flash may have had accessibility built in from the start and perhaps we'd be further down the road towards other innovative technologies. |
hear hear...exactly.
Patrick H. Lauke / webmaster / University of Salford
co-lead: WaSP Accesibility Task Force
take it to the streets ... WaSP Street Team
personal: splintered | photographia | redux
co-author: Web Accessibility - Web Standards and Regulatory Compliance
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I just want to point out that I wasn't saying that Flash should never have been invented. The question was an extrapolation of the fears stated by the author of the original article.Tommy has left the building
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| TOOLman wrote: |
| I just want to point out that I wasn't saying that Flash should never have been invented. The question was an extrapolation of the fears stated by the author of the original article. |
Understood, Tommy. Sorry, didn't mean to come across that way (if it did).
Jon Gibbins, dotjay.co.uk, accessibility.co.uk wiki.
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No worries, Jon. I just wanted to avoid a barrage of 'go **** yourself you Flash-hating *******' replies in case someone got it the wrong way. 
Tommy has left the building
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