We advocates get as excited as anyone else in the blindness community when new rulings or judgments come out in our favor. How soon will the accommodations take effect?-we want to know. How soon will it be until even the basic computer user will be able to detect an improvement in accessing the web?
The truth about regulations is that they take some time to catch on. Just note this recent notice from the Department of Justice regarding web accessibility compliance. For title II entities as classified by the Americans With Disabilities Act, the grace period can last up to two years. For private sector entities, it can be as long as three years.
Why, you may ask, does getting with the game take so long? Sure, if someone is adapting their own website or platform to WCAG standards, the process might happen quickly. Pictures may look clearer, fonts may more accurately reflect the headings and spacing necessary for everyone to read. Color schemes may be able to be adjusted for anyone’s visual acuity and contrasts may appear better in no time.
What happens when you are dealing with a corporate web environment which involves a team of programmers, researchers, and compliance to the compliance checkers? The time to bring that environment into the 21 st century may take days, weeks, or months given the amount of deadlines, meetings, and ideas garnered for the task.
In addition, we may wonder who are the beta testers companies and organizations use for testing out the new adaptations? Often it’s a cross-section of users. Ideally, that would mean that less experienced web navigators will weigh in with some input as do experts.
Care needs to be taken so that anyone from the beginning JAWS user to the master class web geek can work with the environment.
I know, I know, it’s frustrating for those who want a cleaner and less confusing environment. The statistics get bantered about as to how much of the web is accessible or how little is able to be navigated by us who have varying degrees of vision loss. The truth is that such determinations are always in flux. The challenge on our individual ends is patience and continued drive to be as web savvy as possible. Not everyone is going to be that expert. Not everyone will be able to write scripts. Yet, as we interact with companies’ web development teams, the environment open to us will continue to expand.
Boldly Blind 