[Blindtlk] When disability sites are inaccessible?

[T. Joseph Carter]

Michael McCarty <mmccarty at aph.org> reposted a blog entry from May 6th over
on the other organization's list.  It comes from the Access Ability blog
( http://accessability.blogspot.com ), and I think it warrants some
serious discussion.  Here's a link to the entry:

http://accessability.blogspot.com/2008/05/blogcarnivalcom-says-they-dont-allow.html

Attached is a text version of the article, for your convenience.  The
question I have is: What does it say when even a site like this so-called
"Assistive Technology Blog Carnival" doesn't even care whether or not a
blind person can actually participate?  Clearly neither we nor they have
managed to successfully communicate even to the disability community that
access to the web is something we should not be denied, let alone the
notion that our right to it is protected by federal law in the US.

Of course, unless we're talking about a commercial entity based in the US,
since when can US federal law govern the Internet, a global entity?

How do we address these issues?  Is flooding some blogger's inbox really
the solution?  Harassing one webmaster at a time to make the Internet a
better place for blind people?  We must have a better solution than that!

Joseph

-------------- next part --------------
BlogCarnival.com says they don't allow blind people and they don't care if
that's offensive

I’m putting on my advocacy hat today. I’m steamed, so that cap might be
riding a little cockeyed right now.

Any regular reader knows that a royal thorn in my side is inaccessible
CAPTCHA. That is initially what this post is about, but moreover, it is
about web sites that turn their nose at providing accessibility.

I recently posted about the Assistive Technology Blog Carnival, Which at
first used a widget to allow user submissions via a site called Blog
Carnival.  (That site hereafter is referred to as BC).

However, it was soon discovered that to submit a post via the BC site,
users were required to complete a CAPTCHA with no accessibility feature.
Lon, the host of the Assistive Technology Carnival, promptly removed that
widget as soon as he learned about the inaccessibility of the BC site.
Users can still submit to the carnival through comments on the AT Carnival
site linked above, or via an email to Lon, whose email address is posted
on the page.

Lon, myself and a few others have taken the issue up with the BC site and
written letters asking for the site to consider using accessible CAPTCHA
technology which would allow blind users to access their site. These
letters have included suggestions of accessible CAPTCHA solutions such as
RECAPTCHA.  Unfortunately, nobody has received a response. Until today,
when I read that T. Reid, of the Reid My Mind blog Wrote about the
response he got from BC.

I’ve taken the liberty of copying the text of the infuriatingly smug
letter from a woman named Denise at the BC site. (See below).

After reading her letter, please make a choice and do something proactive
on behalf of people with disabilities. Write an email to the BC site and
express concern for providing an accessible web environment for all. The
email address for contacting Denise is: Support at BlogCarnival.com If you’ve
written a letter to BC already, then write again. Let them hear from you
that the stance BC is officially taking is just wrong.

I coined a phrase several years ago: “If you’re not including somebody,
then you are excluding them.” From the letter Denise wrote, it is very
ovvious that BC is making a choice to exclude members of the blind
community.

Here is the letter he received:

From: "BlogCarnival Support" 
Sent: Sunday, May 04, 2008 3:12 PM 
Subject: Re: Blog Carnival Refuses to admit the blind community 

Thomas - 

Thanks for your email about CAPTCHA and about the visually impaired
community. 

Unfortunately, Blog Carnival doesn’t have plans at this time to implement
CAPTCHA. We are considering redesigns of the site, but we do not have a
timeline for that. We will keep CAPTCHA in mind as we look at redesign
options. 

Good luck with your efforts to make the web a better place! 

Yours, 

Denise 
Support at BlogCarnival.com 


His response was:

—– Original Message —– 
To: "BlogCarnival Support" 
Sent: Sunday, May 04, 2008 6:34 PM 
Subject: Re: Blog Carnival Refuses to admit the blind community 

Denise, 

Thanks for the response. 

You said,"Unfortunately, Blog Carnival doesn’t have plans at this time to
implement CAPTCHA." 

By this I am assuming you mean no plans to introduce alternative CAPTCHA
solutions. That’s really too bad. Blog Carnival is missing out on an
opportunity to make a statement not only to those with visual impairments,
but the entire disability community. The statement, "Your participation is
important to us." 

I guess there is the possibility of an alternative statement based on the
future redesign. 

Based on this response, I personally will forgo from participating in
carnivals that use BC. I will continue to make others aware of the
official statement. 

Feel free to let me know if there are any changes in Blog Carnival’s
position on visual only CAPTCHA. 

Respectfully, 
T.Reid

What are you waiting for? Go send that email to Denise at BlogCarnival.com!