David

First of all, as has been stated by someone else, ADA has nothing to do, 
except perhaps tangentially, with accessible web pages.
Secondly, comparing accessible web pages with the Civil Rights Act is 
utter nonsense and, if truly believed by some, is an indication of totally 
self-centerness 
and out of contact with the realities faced by people of the real world.
I suspect, David, as an access trainer yourself, you well realize that a 
lot of the difficulties blind users face on websites is due not to 
problems associated with the websites (though some certainly might be 
designed better for all users) but due to a lack of familiarity with the 
power of their screen readers and operating system.
No perfect website, even if we could agree on what that might be, is going 
to solve the real issue for these users.
Moreover, what's more important:  Target having an accessible website 
according to the NFB definition or Target being in my community?
What's more vital:  a blind user being able to use an ATM or that bank 
being in existence. 

We clearly are living in different times.  The benefits won were done so 
in a time of economic prosperity and when money was available for such 
things both from the government and private industry.
Right now, the government focus is directed away to economic survival of 
the financial, auto and business sector; if it isn't, the rest might not 
matter. 
Some experts have suggested that the Obama administration, despite its 
campaign rhetoric and talk, may have to put aside its original agenda (at 
least for some time) as it will have to deal with the economic crisis and 
pump more money into that.
And that pumping money means that the government will have less for social 
issues; and even if the economic fix takes effect, that pumping will 
require taxpayers to ultimately foot the bill.
That, in turn, will cool the appetite of the public to support seemingly 
trivial things like ramped curbs, identifiable money, talking voting 
machines, and accessible pages -- all of which are nice and valuable 
things but hardly essential.
After all, the world got along without all of these until recently, and 
can do so again.
And businesses who truly value their blind customers, with or without 
sanction, will seek to have their sites usable by as many segments of 
society as possible.

Sure, I appreciate websites being usable (obviously so), but I also sense 
that medical care being affordable, folks having food on the table, the 
financial and banking system being stable, and a myriad of other things 
have a far higher priority in the grand scheme of things not only for me 
but the community as a whole.  
	 rather see my investment and saving accounts prosper because of 
economic certainty  than whether or not the provider's website is 
perfectly usable.
For one thing, I can always switch to another bank or brokerage firm; for 
another, if things are stable, I don't have to check on them so often to 
see what they are doing.

All things are important and benefitial, but some have greater importance 
than others.


Optasia Ministry offers a wide variety of free electronic Christian resources to
blind US residents;
Many of these are not available otherwise in free electronic format, and
some are particularly formatted for use on legacy and current portable reading devices.
Distributed on DVD and cds, details and a catalog can be found at
,
http://www.optasiaministry.org




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