Is a text-only version of your site necessary? (split from "Browsers for the blind")

[mate]

Coming in (very) late here, but I've just been in a similar discussion on another list. Here's part of what I said there:

Joe Clark's blog entry on Axxlog
http://axxlog.wordpress.net/archives/2004/07/06/bbc/ talks about the
way a recent report into the BBC's website praised it as being
accessible as it offers text-only versions of most pages. Joe briefly
discusses this and also links to this blog entry on Dive Into Mark
http://diveintomark.org/archives/200..._rule_them_all
which explains why this is not so in more detail and also links to
essays explaining it yet more fully.

Regarding people not using the text-only versions, the Axxlog entry
quotes a previous BBC report (that was totally ignored in the current
one):

"One reason for not selecting the text-only site may have been because
they were unaware of this facility…. Many disabled people express a
dislike of separate, text-only sites. There is a concern that the
text-only site may be out-of-date compared to the main site and it may
exclude certain information…. [S]ome disabled people regard it as
disempowering because choices are being made on their behalf that
result in less information. A frequently-repeated criticism of
text-only sites is the dislike of 'special' provision, as it is felt
to be stigmatizing."

I don't think we should forget there is a range of level of visual impairment, not just total blindness. Providing a text-only version could well deprive those with some or even most sight of a more enriching experience that a standards-compliant page complete with visual elements for those that can view them.

There are also people with mobility issues etc to whom a text-only version will make little difference without other accessibility measures also being implemented. Web accessibility is not just about totally blind people, though I expect that, as a group, they are the ones most severely effected by web *in*accessibility.

My 2 cents. :-)

mate. :-)

[wild boar]

back in the america online days, where a 56k modem didn't even exist, I'd say 60 percent or more websites then had text versions of their website. You had the html version, and text version. I believe text versions are out - and now it's html versions and flash versions. Hope this helps