[Accessibility_sig] Accessibility and standards harmonization

[Sharron Rush]

At 12:47 PM 6/12/2007, Pat Ramsey wrote:
>I thought I would pass this on as there may be some who are unaware of
>WCAG Samurai: http://wcagsamurai.org/

Interesting isn't it that Joe Clark launches this after being a 
member of the WCAG 2.0 Working Group for a year or so?   The W3C 
process, as so many other collaborative  endeavors, seems not to have 
agreed with him.

Guilty confession: I have an admiration and even sort of affection 
for Joe Clark, although I only met him once. I am a huge fan of his 
writing.  The guy can sure write...and think.

Joe Clark knows his stuff like few others.  The first piece of his I 
ever read had me howling with laughter and inspired me to rethink 
assumptions.  In a field where people are eager to wrap the "expert" 
banner around themselves, Joe has the history, the experience and the 
deep understanding to be, in fact, a true accessibility 
expert.  There probably is no one who can claim that title with more 
justification.  It is a mistake to dismiss Joe as many do.  He is 
definitely not a crank.  He is knowledgeable, articulate and as 
dedicated as they come.  I think his ego just gets in the way of his mission.

So I step back from the sniping that Joe does at the WCAG / the WAI / 
and the W3C - all that stuff about corporate control and 
bullies.  Somehow I am unconvinced that Joe was ever bullied in his 
life.  I step back and wonder, what is the goal?  what are we trying 
to accomplish here?  And the ultimate goal - that people with 
disabilities have improved access to online information and functions 
- is finally not served by this Samurai stunt.

Andrea's point about this WCAG Samurai creating yet another layer of 
accessibility standards is a very important one.    People often come 
to the accessibility arena reluctantly.  It does not build confidence 
in the art or science of accessibility for there to be such a lack of 
agreement among the most experienced practitioners .  I wish - very 
much - that Joe had had the patience to stay within the WCAG process 
and that the leadership in that process had found a way to keep Joe engaged.

That's a tall order I know when people feel strongly about their 
subject and their own point of view and when Joe can be so withering 
in his comments.  But finally, the good work that Joe et al did on 
the Samurai stuff will ultimately not be included in what most of the 
industry will accept as the standard, because that work has been 
marginalized both by the Samurai title and the way it was done.  Too 
bad.  As Andrea also noted, some of the points were excellent.

WCAG 2.0 has undergone major change in the last draft.  The language 
is more straightforward, the requirements clearer, and if there is 
good harmonization with the release of the 508 refresh, my hope is 
for consensus that serves the final goal - that accessibility to 
online resources is recognized and universally accepted as a shared 
and achievable responsibility.