Why always in USA – can Europe share pls?
Monday 11th May 2009 by admin0
COMMENTSOne thing that has always concerned me is the way that most web developers I know in the UK are just not interested in Accessibility and the support, information and encouragement is not available.
There appear to be GREAT conferences and expos in the USA with some really notable speakers. Some of the competitions like those for the Knowbility ‘Accessibility Internet Rallies’ sound fantastic, but what support would they get in the UK or Europe?
It really appears (with a few exceptions) that the US is leading the way in promoting accessibility. It is about time that everybody promoted accessibility!
There is so much that needs to be done (yes including changing this blog to a more accessible version – I am guilty too) but is it possible to start a real campaign targeting the UK and Europe?
Popularity: 2% [?]
May I humbly suggest you look at http://www.stcuk.org/content/view/118/1/? This conference is called “Accessibility in Technical Communication and the Workplace”, and it will be held in Cambridge 13-14 June 2009. (Disclaimer: I am a member of STC, but not involved in this particular event, although I support it wholeheartedly.)
Recently, there was the EAFRA conference (http://eafra.eu/) and the Web4All in Madrid (http://www.w4a.info/2009/).
I agree that we can use more awareness-raising, but I think these efforts are good, and my impression is that the Madrid event was fantastic and packed with information.
Karen, you wrote:
“May I humbly suggest you look at http://www.stcuk.org/content/view/118/1/? This conference is called “Accessibility in Technical Communication and the Workplace”, and it will be held in Cambridge 13-14 June 2009. (Disclaimer: I am a member of STC, but not involved in this particular event, although I support it wholeheartedly.)
Recently, there was the EAFRA conference (http://eafra.eu/) and the Web4All in Madrid (http://www.w4a.info/2009/).
I agree that we can use more awareness-raising, but I think these efforts are good, and my impression is that the Madrid event was fantastic and packed with information.”
Thanks for this, I am aware of these conferences, but what I was/am trying to do is create more of a discussion if you know what I mean. Many of us cannot afford the luxury of attending regular overseas conferences (nice though it would be) and many of the ‘designers’ I am trying to get motivated in my blog etc. are the small business who again cannot afford the cost and or time to attend conferences like these.
I have a number of ideas about raising awareness, no doubt many are in existence, but finding the ‘central’ reference place is not always easy – shame.
The real problem is that people like me (small businesses) work 12-18 hours a day and then we have to set about researching stuff. There is so much to do to raise awareness, so many contacts to try and make etc… that I could spend all day doing it but then I’d get no work done.
I do not mean any offence to the great work that many people do out there in Europe, just that sometimes I feel like ’stiring the pot a bit’ because about 99% of designers/web developers I come across just don’t care about accessibility. Partly from a lack of knowledge – ‘Hey I got dreamweaver and I am a web designer’ attitude and partly from ‘Why should we bother’. In my mind legislation needs to be tightened and some examples made. But that will clogg the courts and will it really do anything? For me highlighting the benefits are much better.
Any how thanks for your comment, I will post it unedited.
If you have any further comments/ideas love to hear them – like your blog.
Regards
I feel that we deal with similar issues in the US. It is really not about the conferences being organized. Many of the conferences I go to are packed with people who are promoting accessibility. This is wonderful, but it is more important to raise awareness among people who would not go to the conferences, and most likely a conference is not the best place for them to start. However, I do see validity for accessibility conferences.
Also, my personal opinion is that in the U.S. there is too much talk while in the UK much more work is done behind the scenes.
I would like to hear more about your ideas or suggestions, I’d be happy to help.
Tom