[Web4lib] Web technologies and public access

[Pons, Lisa (ponslm)]

I agree with John, at the very least you should present the content in
html and Flash.

Although the law may be murky, government entities in the US are
required to be accessible- including websites. I see you are in a
legislative library, so might want to check the law.

As a previous poster said, without knowing the content, it is difficult
to judge your question specifically. If not central to your mission, one
could argue that it need not be accessible, nor present the content
alternatively. 

But I personally find it difficult to tell someone, by the design of my
page: "well, we think it looks pretty like this, and we don't care if
you can see it or not". We wouldn't put up barriers in the real world,
and I don't believe we should in the virtual world either.

Lisa Pons-Haitz
Webmaster
University Libraries
Cincinnati, Ohio

 

> -----Original Message-----
> From: web4lib-bounces at webjunction.org 
> [mailto:web4lib-bounces at webjunction.org] On Behalf Of John Fink
> Sent: Thursday, January 31, 2008 12:30 PM
> To: David McDonald
> Cc: web4lib at webjunction.org
> Subject: Re: [Web4lib] Web technologies and public access
> 
> It sounds like you already have the answer and are looking 
> for validation here, but without seeing the site in question 
> or knowing anything about the content I have to agree with 
> the complaint.  Using Flash for content that can be 
> represented in HTML is a bad design decision.  Flash should 
> be used only when it makes sense -- for movies and the like, 
> and maybe not even then.  I can't even get Flash to run 
> properly on my own computer, which is
> 64 bit Linux.

> >  However, I have been asked to respond to this sharp 

> > 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

>