[Accessibility_sig] Oh how bad it is ...

[Jim Thatcher]

Hi all,

I received this email today through my web site. I suggested: find a
presidential candidate who signs on to passing a new ADA that will in fact
apply to the internet and work for him or her. Other suggestions? Reginald
is copied on this (Reginald Deal [tx1996aggie at gmail.com]).

Jim,

I just found your web site.  I am a blind grad student here in San Marcos.
I am so sick and tired of no one wanting to stand up and bring ADA into
modern society and include high tech.  What is it going to take, why is
there no class action against yahoo for always using inaccessible captions
when they as much as admit it on their site.  Why are Senators like Cornyn
using the same technology and not allowing me the right to contact via the
web my own Senator?  Why has there been no public service campaign, no
organized effort to put pressure on corporate and government agencies.  Why
is Fidelity Investments allowed to not give me a job because they could not
bring their computer systems I would need to be a financial service rep into
proper design so JAWS or other screen readers would function?

If the issue was based on race, or even physical access in a chair, this
would have been a massive slam dunk years ago...What is it going to take to
get people organized, and file a class action suit against a multitude of
offenders, who frankly know better?  If www.craigslist.org can use an audio
form of caption, then so can yahoo, and the many other sites that utilize
this system.  How secure am I, when I have to give my password and email to
another friend so they can complete a transaction for me?  More than once, I
have literally had to do this, all in the name of inaccessible captions.
Yet I see no organized effort to make this known.  Sure it's well known
within the blind circles and some tech folks recognize it, but talk to any
public policy official and they seem clueless.

Please let me know what I can do to contact others and make this a known
issue.  I'm going all out on this one because I'm tired of the games
being played, and I am even for going political and seeing what the
Presidential candidates take is on this issue.

Sincerely,

Reginald Deal



Jim
 
Accessibility Consulting: http://jimthatcher.com/
512-306-0931