Hi Denis,

Without seeing the report I think it's difficult to state just where the
problem was in task completion as described in the overview. You're
certainly correct in stating that better access tools are needed.  But I
think it's also pretty clear that web design -- poor web design -- is a
major culprit in locking users out from accessing web-based resources. I
don't think the purpose of the report is to address system-wide problems
-- just web-based ones.

There are many factors that could have influenced the results of the
Nielsen Norton accessibility report. Off the top of my head some of these
are:

1. Time limit imposed
2. technical ability of subjects
3. Quality of access tools
4. access tools unfamiliar to subjects

With the control group experiencing a 12% failure rate I think it's pretty
clear there's a problem with how some of these sites are designed;  it's
not just an AT issue. Web designers are still not using HTML properly and
still not testing their sites for usability.

-*- Dan Comden                   [log in to unmask]
    Adaptive Technology Lab      http://www.washington.edu/computing/atl/
    University of Washington     http://www.washington.edu/doit/

On Thu, 1 Nov 2001, Denis Anson wrote:

> Dan,
>
> My point is that he was blaming the web for the problem, when the
> problem may not have had anything to do with the web.  We need better
> accessibility tools in general, not just for the web.  The web is just
> one environment where a person with a disability must operate.  You need
> access to all environments.