Jim Clark,  one of the early backers of Netscape communications walked
away with a billion dollars when the company was sold to America Online.
It is interesting to point out that the multi-billion dollar company Aol
Time Warner is relying on volunteer unpaid labor to develop access.
Well, at least they are working on this.

Kelly

>From: Aaron Leventhal <
[log in to unmask]>

>As the new accessibility lead for Netscape, I'm very glad to see some
>discussion of Netscape accessibility.
>
>First, let me make sure everone understands that the Netscape 6.x
product
>line is a completely new code base - it has little or nothing to do with
>Netscape 4.x, it's like comparing apples and oranges. Whatever
>accessibility Netscape 4.x had or didn't have, is completely irrelevant
to
>new versions of Netscape being developed today.
>
>I will admit to some problems. Netscape 6.0 was probably pushed out the
>door a bit early -- there were too many bugs, and there was little
thought
>put toward accessibility, whether with the keyboard or with 3rd party
>accessibility software. That said, I think a lot of usesr will be quite
>pleased by Netscape 6.1. It's support for standards is truly second to
>none, because it was built from scratch for the standards. It's user
>interface is beautiful and fun to use. If you wish to try it, you can
>download a Netscape 6.1 preview release at
>
http://home.netscape.com/browsers/6/index61pr.html?cp=briinf
>
>Accessibility is now an important push at Netscape. Many of the
>accessibility features have not been fully implemented. For example, we
do
>not yet support the MSAA API, needed by screen readers, for the entire
>user interface. If you're interested in our development efforts, see
>
http://www.mozilla.org/projects/ui/accessibility.
There are articles about
>our work there, and you can find pointers to our accessibility mailing
>list in the Keyboard UI Design FAQ.
>
>We have been working on several fronts, especially:
>- Keyboard accessibility - this benefits everyone
>- MSAA support, so that we can work with screen readers, voice dictation
>packages and other 3rd party accessibility solutions in Windows
>- Appearances preferences, such as font size, zooming and colors
>
>Because we're an open source project, we're always interested in
whatever
>feedback or input people want to give us, especially in the area of
>accessibility. If Netscape accessibility is important to you, don't be
>shy. There are many volunteers working on the code base, filing and
>triaging bugs, testing and writing documentation. At some point, we need
>volunteers to help test Netscape with all the accessibility aids
>availbable on the market. Don't worry, we're not relying on volunteers,
>but the nature of open source means that we do not turn away qualified
>individuals who wish to make their mark on our product. If you don't
like
>something about the way other browsers solve the problems of
>accessibility, here is your chance to help make a browser that does what
>you like.
>
>While I would not currently recommend Netscape to any of my friends with
>disabilities, I would tell them to look forward to full accessibility in
>some upcoming version, and that accessibility is being escalated as a
high
>priority item. I would ask web designers merely to adhere to the W3C
>standards - that alone will keep their pages from being unusable in
>Netscape, and I guarantee they will always have visitors that prefer
Netscape.
>
>Thank you,
>Aaron Leventhal
>Netscape Accessibilty
>
>
>David Poehlman wrote:
>
>>Hello Martha and all,
>>
>>I've used Netscape in the past and in its day before ie became
>>accessible and the assistive technologies became a better fit for it
and
>>vice versa, due in part at least, to the introduction of and
>>improvements in Microsoft Active Accessibility (MSAA).
>>
>>I would hope but cannot provide an official response on this that the
>>most accessible choice would rule the roost and that choices where
>>possible are allowed whatever that choice needs to be at any given
time.
>>As netscape continues to move in its current direction, it seems to be
>>more and more difficult for assistive technologies to support.  I
>>stopped using it when 6 came out.  I also found that for me at least
>>that even though I could stick with an older version, more and more
>>pages were making a better fit with ie but that is another matter.
>>
>>Lastly, to make matters more complicated, I understand that it is not
>>always just a matter of subbing one browser for another but that there
>>network infrastructure considerations that may make this not possible
or
>>practical so as someone asked me and I now ask here, How much resource
>>is too much.
>


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