Web Development

Ask something
Discussion Locked

Website Accessibility, important? or not?

0 helpful
4 replies

by jaqui

Closed to new repliesThis discussion is closed. It stays readable, but it takes no new replies.

It's no secret that I think it is important to make websites accessible by ALL.

Tonight, I had dinner with someone who requires assistive technologies when working with computers. He uses screen readers.

hmm, the oddest thing, seems this person has issues with flash, javascript and content that changes while the page is being displayed.
[ like the fun little content tabs at the top of the discussions page, where it rotates through 4 items ]

seems content changing and rich media are not conducive to assistive technology users.

oddly, this person's favorite browser is lynx. exactly the browser I prefer, for much the same reasons, no frames, no images, no flash, no javascript, no tables.

maybe the PTBs here on TR should look at the mobile site for inspiration to get TR accessible by the visually impaired.

4 replies

by boxfiddler

are not conducive to dialup users either. I've gotten to the point that when I have to use dialup I don't do anything but check my email. Site loads all over the web are slower than snail slime.

by charliespencer

I switched to DSL about six months ago, but until then at home I used dial-up as my only web access. I installed a flash block plug-in and didn't bother with the media content. Slow but quite functional. That said, I didn't and don't download any media content or participate in peer sharing.

by jasonhiner

take this issue to our engineering and Web development teams to discuss.

I'm familiar with screen readers. I have a couple friends that use them.

We would definitely like to be accessible to all users. But also remember a site this large is a moving target so there will be times when we inadvertently do things that cause problems for some users.

by jaqui

is a good tool.
what lynx displays is what many mobile devices display.

It also helps to see where "features" can break functionality.
[ little things like the site navigation could be "styled" with css and plain html links instead of broken functionality without javascript. ]

This discussion is closed to new replies.