[WEB4LIB] W3C and database compliance

[Thomas Dowling]

>
> Don't mean to sound grumpy but I have those already and am currently
using
> Bobby.
> What I need are references to how well the different database services
such
> as OCLC FirstSearch, Information Access (Gale), and others are
conforming to
> the WAI suggested standards.  I have not found any citations in
Library Lit
> or any other database.  Any suggestions?  I will be contacting the
vendors
> but was hoping to get some background material.
>

The vendors with whom I've discussed web accessibility usually show
little recognition of what I'm talking about.  (Grossly unfair
stereotype*: "Sure, it's accessible--you can get to it from anywhere on
the net!")

About all you can do is to copy representative samples of vendors' pages
to a temporary space on your own web server and feed those URLs to
Bobby.  Don't expect a lot of them to meet even the priority 1
requirements.


Thomas Dowling
OhioLINK - Ohio Library and Information Network
tdowling at ohiolink.edu

*Equally gross actual message from a major vendor in the library world:
"Our position [not adding ALT text to images] is based on discussions
with [OhioLINK and other customers] who specifically noted that we need
not support Lynx clients...".