Might the largest web sites suddenly become accessible?  That is they
would if some of the largest advertisers on the web, such as IBM and
Microsoft, yanked their ads off web sites that did not provide access.
This is explored in the column below from the boston Globe.

kelly


Making Web accessible

By Hiawatha Bray, Globe Columnist, 05/13/99


here's much to be said for being a titan of industry. There's
the money, the corporate jet, and the private island. But
there's also the power to bend others to your will.

That could mean crushing a few labor unions or stamping out some
annoying government regulation. Or it could mean the kind of
far-sighted move that IBM Corp. recently made. IBM said it would
stop advertising on any Web site that didn't pledge to respect
visitors' privacy. ''Our objective is not to cancel
advertising,'' said IBM spokesman John Bukovinsky, ''but to get
people to comply.'' And comply they shall, if they want a slice
of IBM's $60-million Web advertising budget.

It's a classic case of a big, powerful megacorporation throwing
its weight around in exactly the right way. At a single stroke,
IBM gave every major Web site an incentive to do what they
should all be doing anyway - looking out for the privacy of
Internet users. It's good business for IBM to reach out to
Internet-shy customers fretful about losing privacy. But it also
comes across as a noble deed.

But if I were IBM chief executive Lou Gerstner, I'd follow up
the privacy triumph with an even more daring act of enlightened
self-interest. I'd tell my Web advertising partners that in a
year's time I'd stop doing business with them unless their sites
were redesigned so that blind people can use them.

The concept is known as ''universal Web accessibility,'' and
even many Web savvy readers are probably ignorant of it. Those
who encounter the idea often respond with derision. The
Internet, they figure, is an inherently visual medium. Designing
Web pages for blind people makes as much sense as designing
sports cars for them.

Not so. Web sites can be designed to work with computer
technologies long used by blind people, such as software that
will read electronic text aloud. But to reliably use these
technologies, the Web site must follow some basic principles of
accessible design.

There's no excuse for not knowing the principles. The World Wide
Web Consortium in Cambridge, the international body that sets
standards for the Web, released a set of accessibility
guidelines last week. They list a number of relatively simple
steps to ensure disabled visitors can make use of the site.

Most of these steps aren't just good for blind people; they make
sense on general principle. For instance, if you attach text
tags to all pictures on a site, a blind user's screen-reader
program will tell him what he's missing. But the same tag also
flashes on the screen, so it's useful as a caption for sighted
Web surfers. Ever notice how a department store's wheelchair
entrance is the easiest one to use? In the same way, adding
accessibility to a Web site makes it a friendlier place for
everybody.

Complying with the accessibility standards is well within the
ability of professional Web designers. There's even a Web site
called Bobby, created by the Center for Applied Special
Technology in Peabody, that'll test the site. To Bobby-test some
of your favorite sites, go to www.cast.org/bobby.

Someday, major Web sites may have no choice but to become
accessible. There's a running argument about whether the federal
Americans with Disabilities Act requires businesses and
government agencies to make their sites universally accessible.
So far, the courts have offered no guidance. But it's not
unthinkable that the same law that requires wheelchair ramps
will soon be interpreted to require universal Web pages.

I share an entrepreneur's distaste for government intervention,
even in a good cause, but I'd set that instinct aside for the
good of 8.5 million Americans with serious visual impairments.

Then again, why should the government bully Web designers into
doing the right thing, when IBM can do it instead? Let them
threaten to pull their ads from sites that neglect the disabled.
Perhaps Microsoft will join in - those guys love to twist arms.
Maybe even the resurgent Apple Computer Inc. might issue such a
threat. It's been awhile since Apple has been strong enough to
push people around. Here's a chance for them to get back into
the habit on behalf of a worthy cause.


You can send electronic mail to Hiawatha Bray at
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This story ran on page D01 of the Boston Globe on 05/13/99.
(c) Copyright 1999 Globe Newspaper Company.


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