[Web4lib] Web technologies and public access

[Chris Alhambra]

David,

I don't know about Canada, but in the the US, there is the Section 508 of
the Disability Act that requires government websites to be accessible to
people with disabilities.  Flash-based navigation and Flash-based web pages
often (but not always) become big obstacles to accessibility.

While I will not go so far as to say that websites should not use Adobe's
Flash technology (which, when done right, can do some amazing stuff), I
think most text-based content can be rendered without resorting to Flash.
Using web standard HMTL with CSS can go a long way to complying with Section
508 in the US.

Also, while Flash has become widespread, pages requiring users to do some
updating of software before they can view the page is a hindrance.  Some of
your potential viewers may just go away instead of staying around while
Flash gets installed or updated (which seems to have happened at least twice
in the last six months).  If you don't care about that, that's fine.  If
some people complain, you'll need to explain your organization's
policy regarding accessibility to the content of your website.  For example,
is the use of Flash technology on your site necessitated by the specialized
content?

-------------------------------
Christopher Alhambra



On Jan 31, 2008 12:09 PM, David McDonald <Mcdonads at gov.ns.ca> wrote:

> I received a rather verbose tirade about a specialty web site that our
> library helped create.  We were involved minimally in the design of the site
> as the committee decided to contract that out to an outside source.
>  However, I have been asked to respond to this sharp criticism of the web
> site.
>
> I know it's not perfect and I know there are problems.  We had to create
> and design the site in about a month and half.  However, most of the
> complaints he had were dealing with accessibility.
>
> His primary complaint was that the web site required the use of Flash in
> order to view some its pages.  Unfortunately, when he clicked on the "update
> to the latest Flash player" link, he was confronted with the following
> message from Adobe:
> "We are unable to locate a Web player that matches your platform and
> browser."
>
> He states: "There is no need to use Flash, HTML can to the job."  He then
> goes on to discuss the proprietary nature of Flash and that it is not
> answerable to Canadian law ... blah, blah, blah.
>
> In my opinion, Flash should not be considered something extravagant that
> the average "citizen" doesn't have on his/her computer (or can't download).
>  Libraries should feel perfectly comfortable using Flash on specialty web
> sites as most people can use this type of software.
>
> My questions to the group are:
> To what extent do you believe that we should cater to patrons who may not
> have the latest and greatest hardware and software?  Do we need to kowtow to
> the lowest common denominator?  Should we include alternative pages that
> require no downloads?
>
> Thanks for any help.
>
> Cheers
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> David S. McDonald
> Systems and Library Technology Manager
> Nova Scotia Legislative Library
> P.O. Box 396,
> Halifax, Nova Scotia  B3J 2P8
> (902)424-5658 Fax (902) 424-0220
> mcdonads at gov.ns.ca
> _______________________________________________
> Web4lib mailing list
> Web4lib at webjunction.org
> http://lists.webjunction.org/web4lib/
>