“According to the Education Department, 41 percent of the 16,720 complaints filed in the 2016 fiscal year came from three people,” one of whom has filed thousands of similar complaints over the web accessibility of schools’ websites. Now the department intends to wrest back some control of its civil rights docket, which sounds like a long overdue move. [Erica L. Green, New York Times]
4 Comments
The attack on the web in the name of “accessibility” is either for the payoff or is vindictive but is not even to the benefit of the disabled. The free market can do a lot if left alone. For example, my cable company has captions that can be enabled and we use it sometimes when the actors in some show tend to mumble or the show/movie has bad sound quality. Just like no one ordered grocers to have gluten-free or diabetic food, but nevertheless they do. But how can the blind expect that they can watch movies? And “accessibility” can even extend to people with severe mobility problems who have trouble using a mouse. Are we going to shut down the internet for a few disgruntled people? It appears we might.
It’s amazing how something developed and mandated by the government becomes so popular that it passes into legend as a free market success story. The captions you mention are there because they are required by law, and another law requires TV manufacturers to include the hardware to decode and display captions. Another law and FCC regulations require broadcasters to include captions on their internet broadcasts. The original technology was developed by PBS and public television station WETA. Congress created the National Captioning Institute and provided it with federal funding to cover much of the cost of years of captioned broadcasts before imposing mandates on broadcasters that escalated over decades.
The free market didn’t build that.
41%? Vote early, vote often.
Audio description is how netflix labels it. Described video service is how it was initially labeled. Later shortened to described video. That’s how the blind people roll. Unfortunately, as a cludge, it was sent out as a second audio program and in many cases spanish overrode that for broadcast tv since there can be only one…
There is a night and day difference between audio described and “regular” content for me. But that is a federally mandated program requiring certain targets of described content, etc and it also builds over years.
I pay for netflix content just like my sighted brethern, I also have paid for the occasional family movie. What is wrong with the market addressing me as a customer? I won’t belabor web accessibility here other than my normal statement of I try to assist them to make it usable by me.
Okay, I can’t… How much do I cost them vice how much do I save them by noticing reversions in content and other issues? The goal for me is text which is the simplest thing to provide in nearly all cases. That doesn’t mean lawyering up though, and if they make it clear they don’t want my business, I carry it elsewhere and let my friends know as well. Okay, yes, I claim to have friends… đŸ˜€