619 of you have perused our reader’s guide to the Sydney Olympics accessibility complaint, whereby Bruce Maguire, a blind person, launched a complaint in Australia against the official Olympic Web site, which he complained was inaccessible.
It was inaccessible. Sydney Olympic organizers were ordered to make relatively minor alterations by September 15, which naturally they didn’t do. (Why bother? The Olympics are a realm unto themselves.)
So now “Olympism” is about to be hauled in front of the legal system again, and will face monetary damages for refusing to comply with a lawful order. And then there’s the likelihood of a class-action lawsuit.
How terribly embarrassing. And entirely avoidable: Smart Webmasters code for accessibility. (You code for JavaScript and browser compatibility. What’s your excuse?)
We fully support everything Maguire has done and look very much forward to his continuing to nail the bastards. Feel free to quote us on that.
Posted on 2000-10-01