March 28, 2007

Is it accessible or universal?

Joe Dolson, a stalwart of the Guild of Accessible Web Designers GAWDS, tries to define the difference between universal access and accessibility in a new article on his blog.
I like his distinction that universality is about device independence, not about the human ability to use or understand a Web site.
Both are important for designers to understand, and often the way to achieve either is the same. Still, they are not synonymous and we need to be clear in our speaking and writing which we are discussing.

1 comments:

John said...

Hey Mary,
This is good stuff, but we need more! Usability will become design... I think anyway... Well hope.
I was fortunate enough to learn a little of it during my studies, but sadly it's too often overlooked or misunderstood...
Anyway, more good posts please, I'll be checking in again!