What does accessibility really mean?
by Rob Mason ~ October 3rd, 2007 Filed under: Accessibility.
Seems like there’s a war going on. A secret geeky war, but a war nonetheless. It’s all about accessibility and what it should really mean.
The article is co-authored by two accessibility experts: Gez Lemon and Mike Cherim, and aims to outline the two views on what accessibility means or should mean.
In summary one party believes that accessibility is about everyone and everything, disabled or not, browser independent, etc, and that we should all aim to build websites that work for everyone. The other party is about making accessibility specifically for disabled users and that everything else should be called universality. This has become a hotly debated issue in the accessibility circles with lots of people wading into the fray.
My opinion, for what it’s worth, is that accessibility should be about everything for everyone. In essence ensuring anyone who can access the web can in turn access your website, however that may be and in spite of any technical or physical limitations.
Calling one part of the accessibility movement something else just sounds like splitting hairs frankly, but I can see the point. It’s a complex area at the best of times without getting into an argument over what we as the web community should call it.
Incidentally, the OED’s definition of accessible is: adjective
- able to be accessed
- friendly and easy to talk to; approachable
- easily understood or appreciated
So sounds like it’s the first camp that are right…
