DISQUS

Jacek Antonelli · 1 year ago

Excellent article for understanding why accessibility is so important. I think it just doesn't occur to many able-bodied people that not everyone has the luxury of perfect vision, hearing, full use of their body, the manual dexterity to use a mouse, etc. It takes education, reminders, and a conscious effort for software developers to think beyond their own needs and usage patterns, and consider those of other people.

But don't think that serving the needs of disabled users is something you should only bother with to appear "sensitive" and "caring", or that disabled users are somehow second rate and won't offer any value as users! Many of the most brilliant, passionate people I have met in Second Life live with some sort of disability in real life. For most of them, I didn't even know at first that were disabled -- I just knew that they were interesting people who were a joy to chat and interact with.

My own life is considerably richer for having met them. How many other wonderful people are out there, but unable to use the software because of some condition or another? How much richer would their lives be, and mine, and yours, if they weren't held back by thoughtless, inaccessible software design?