Monday 10 March 2008

Grrr ...

Designer: It's a website for x-brand, so, you know, it needs to be really cool.

Stray: Ok.  No worries.  Right, now, accessibility - have you put some thought into how this layout behaves as the text sizes get bigger?

Designer: Oh, I don't think we need to worry about that.  It's not that kind of site.

Stray: Oh - yes - you're right - because people with disabilities aren't cool?

Designer: Um.  That's harsh.  I mean ... it's a business to business site.

Stray: Oh yes, of course - people with disabilities don't work!

Designer: No! Oh ... Er. Well ... it's just that it's not the client's priority.

Stray: Oh. Well, you know, if you could just make it clear to them that we're legally obliged to do it, and if they really want to ignore it they can sign a waiver ... but really, there's no excuse.

---

Twats.

Really?  I mean really?  It's not like I'm talking about making the whole site bloody breath activated, just about offering increased font sizes because you don't actually have to be congenitally blind to find 10-point-super-cool-almost-japanese-font over the top of photos difficult to read!

Grrr.

6 comments:

Greg K Nicholson said...

Yeah, web designers who think their job is only about visual design *must* be a little bit dim. Poor buggers.

But Why? said...

I sympathise. I've previously had issues with a customer who appeared to think that EU procurement directives applied only to other people. Fortunately there was an entire procurement department who were only too happy to convince them otherwise once they knew a bit of 'guidance' might be required.

Customers: can't live with them, can't get them investigated for malpractice...

But Why? said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
XXYXX said...

Stray sweetie, you have to remember that accessibility is about Cognitive Disabilities too (as well as visual, aural and motor disabilities) - and some retro web designers can have these and still think it's 1995 again.

Why would a B2B site need to be really cool as a top priority? Anyhow, being unethical is clearly a much higher one.

PS: You're playing with matches with me on this one! The biggest "disability" is, of course, getting older.

Anonymous said...

Sometimes the sheer stupidity of people makes me smile.

My latest run in with this sort of thing was "We don't want to sign the Non-disclosure/data security document, but can we give you the data anyway?"

Well, erm, sure.. You wouldn't happen to have any spare cash lying around you want to just give away too?

Jon M said...

Righteous anger Stray!