You're not talking about something as simple as adding an entrance to a building. Regardless of embedded media, the Internet works based upon a principal that *requires* vision in order to access it, you're suggesting that we then revolutionize the very foundation of the Internet to accommodate a very select group of people.
And no, the solution isn't as simple as conforming to a new web standard or design element, and anyone who over-simplifies this argument into "can't you just do $x" obviously has never built a website. TTS (Text-to-Speech) technology is far from perfect and in some cases isn't feasible as it requires standard ASCII and doesn't take into account things such as Flash, Images, etc. Not only that, but talk about a slippery slope... are you seriously suggesting that every web site be accessible by the blind? What about Geocities, Angelfire, and the like? And why should the blind get preferential treatment over the deaf? Lets demand that every video or audio clip that gets uploaded to YouTube, Google Video, etc have a transcript or signer.
Get pragmatic here. Should I lose my vision there is an insurmountable mass of things that are going to be higher priority on my day-to-day list than "surf teh intarwebs". I would need to accept the realization that I won't be able to play video games or surf the Internet like I used to. Should *EASILY IMPLEMENTABLE* means of changing that come 'round, groovy, if not I recognize that I'm at a disadvantage to everyone else and may need to find alternative things to do with my life. But this is an issue for Web Developers and Programmers ONLY. If you don't professionally design web sites, maintain servers that run web applications, or code with an emphasis on web development, GTFO of this conversation, because your input is invalid and irrelevant.
But since I'm all for compromise how about we just use the UTF encoding for Braille?
"And there ain't nothin' wrong with Texans. Your average Texas redneck will give you the shirt off his back (not that you'd want it), have you over for dinner and offer you a place to stay if you needed it."
Unless you happen to be a member of the LGBT (Lesbian Gay Bisexual or Transgendered) community... in which case they'd rather string you up and hang you from a big ass tree in front of their house because it's the "Christian" thing to do. Pretty funny considering there was a saying about Texas... steers and queers or something?
In civil torts like these most legal fees aren't billed until after the case has been closed. The reason for this being that 9/10 the losing party is required to pay the legal fees of the winner as well as their own (which is part of the reason why the RIAA has been backing down a bit).
Your presumption further feeds into conglomeration way of thinking "we're bigger so we can intimidate you into backing down". Given evidence of this nature, and a competent lawyer it's not hard to sway a judge. Furthermore, the legal system is far from vague and isn't as blind to technology as you would presume -- it does offer some protections in realitively newer fields of technology. We can easily speculate as to why there isn't more legal protection offered to technologies (ignorant law makers, over-abundance of republican representatives, etc.) but they are just that, speculatory.
Instead of playing right into the hands of the corporations how about being just a tad-bit more proactive?
"For an MMO to be successful it must play to the lower common denominator. If a game requires any significant amount of player skill in order to succeed then it will crash and burn, as the average player simply isn't that good when you are talking about games with tens of thousands, hundreds of thousands, and especially millions of players."
Umm... it's called EvE Online and it's all but entirely player-driven content. I'm an admitted ex-WoW addict myself and EvE really is a breath of fresh air. I'm not forced to abide by whatever content the manufacturer shoves down my throat... with EvE the game is what you make of it. Hell even gaining FACTION is easier! (No more killing 100000 Furblogs to get faction with someone). EvE has taken the grind aspect out of the MMO experience.
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You're not talking about something as simple as adding an entrance to a building. Regardless of embedded media, the Internet works based upon a principal that *requires* vision in order to access it, you're suggesting that we then revolutionize the very foundation of the Internet to accommodate a very select group of people.
And no, the solution isn't as simple as conforming to a new web standard or design element, and anyone who over-simplifies this argument into "can't you just do $x" obviously has never built a website. TTS (Text-to-Speech) technology is far from perfect and in some cases isn't feasible as it requires standard ASCII and doesn't take into account things such as Flash, Images, etc. Not only that, but talk about a slippery slope... are you seriously suggesting that every web site be accessible by the blind? What about Geocities, Angelfire, and the like? And why should the blind get preferential treatment over the deaf? Lets demand that every video or audio clip that gets uploaded to YouTube, Google Video, etc have a transcript or signer.
Get pragmatic here. Should I lose my vision there is an insurmountable mass of things that are going to be higher priority on my day-to-day list than "surf teh intarwebs". I would need to accept the realization that I won't be able to play video games or surf the Internet like I used to. Should *EASILY IMPLEMENTABLE* means of changing that come 'round, groovy, if not I recognize that I'm at a disadvantage to everyone else and may need to find alternative things to do with my life. But this is an issue for Web Developers and Programmers ONLY. If you don't professionally design web sites, maintain servers that run web applications, or code with an emphasis on web development, GTFO of this conversation, because your input is invalid and irrelevant.
But since I'm all for compromise how about we just use the UTF encoding for Braille?
"And there ain't nothin' wrong with Texans. Your average Texas redneck will give you the shirt off his back (not that you'd want it), have you over for dinner and offer you a place to stay if you needed it."
Unless you happen to be a member of the LGBT (Lesbian Gay Bisexual or Transgendered) community... in which case they'd rather string you up and hang you from a big ass tree in front of their house because it's the "Christian" thing to do. Pretty funny considering there was a saying about Texas... steers and queers or something?
In civil torts like these most legal fees aren't billed until after the case has been closed. The reason for this being that 9/10 the losing party is required to pay the legal fees of the winner as well as their own (which is part of the reason why the RIAA has been backing down a bit).
Your presumption further feeds into conglomeration way of thinking "we're bigger so we can intimidate you into backing down". Given evidence of this nature, and a competent lawyer it's not hard to sway a judge. Furthermore, the legal system is far from vague and isn't as blind to technology as you would presume -- it does offer some protections in realitively newer fields of technology. We can easily speculate as to why there isn't more legal protection offered to technologies (ignorant law makers, over-abundance of republican representatives, etc.) but they are just that, speculatory.
Instead of playing right into the hands of the corporations how about being just a tad-bit more proactive?